In French cuisine, there is said to be five mother sauces. These are the classic sauces that are an absolute staple in French cuisine and serve as the base to many of the traditional dishes. Béchamel is one of these five sauces and is one of the more basic ones to master. The best thing about this sauce, besides its irresistible creaminess, is that it is used as a base in a lot of dishes.
Instructions
- Warm up 2 cups of milk either in a saucepan or a microwave safe bowl. It doesn’t have to be scorching hot but should be warm to the touch.
- Melt 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a pot.
- Pour in 3 1/2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour into the butter and stir with a wooden spoon. At this point, the mixture will be pretty clumpy which is ok.
- Pour in just a couple tablespoons of the warmed milk and stir with the spoon to break up the blob.
- Then, pour in the rest of the milk slowly, whisking all the while. You want to get it as smooth as you can.
- Cook while continue to stir so it doesn’t burn until its thickened nicely.
Use Béchamel for the base for croque madames, mac and cheese, ratatouille and more!
