Béchamel
Ingredients
- 15g butter
- 15g flour
- 250ml milk
- salt, pepper and optionally grated nutmeg
Method
- Make a roux by melting butter over low heat and adding flour. Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring regularly. The flour needs to be cooked and will start to smell of biscuits or cooking pastry.
- See notes below, but what works for me is...
- Add the milk in three or four additions, can be hot or cold. Incorporate each addition till smooth(ish) before adding next. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer very gently, stirring regularly, for 5-10 minutes. The simmering helps get rid of any remaining lumps.
- Season
Notes
- Sometimes milk is flavoured with bay leaf, in which case heat milk with bay leaves, switch heat off when it comes to a boil and allow to infuse for 30 minutes.
- Some insist milk must be hot, others that cold is perfectly OK
- Some say milk must be added in several additions, other say just chuck it all in and lumps will sort themselves out later with simmering or by passing through sieve
- What is crucial is
- Roux must be cooked out. Should start to smell of cooking pastry or biscuits. Alternatively taste to see if it still tastes floury
- Once sauce is made and come to a boil it needs to be cooked gently for a while.
- Once béchamel is cooked out, you can add and melt in cheese for a cheese sauce.
- Can also be enriched with cream and egg yolks after simmering, and simmer for another minute. With cheese this is a Mornay sauce.
- Using a combination of milk and stock, or cooking liquid from vegetables, is also good for some dishes