Béchamel, the mother of several other sauces, is a lovely white sauce that is so versatile and easy to make that it has become my go-to sauce for many Euro-centric recipes. The sauce is made with different consistencies depending on how you plan to use it.

For example:

• Thin béchamel is a lovely base in a cream soup or for scalloped potatoes;
• A medium-thick version of béchamel is used for making chowders, pouring over meats or vegetables like gravy or used in casseroles like lasagna, mac and cheese, scalloped potatoes, etc.;
• The thick version of béchamel is excellent as a crepe filling or a soufflé; and,
• a binding béchamel is excellent for holding together ingredients such as a croquette batter. You want the croquette to hold its shape well for if the sauce is too wet, the croquette will fall apart.

Some variations include:

• Replacing the milk for cream to make a cream sauce;
• Adding cheddar cheese to make mac and cheese;
• Adding white wine to make a creamy white wine sauce; and,
• A vegan version by using unsweetened soy milk and oil instead of milk and butter.

Here’s are the recipes for all four versions of béchamel sauce, thin, medium, thick, and binding. The main difference is the ratio of butter/oil and flour to the liquid of your choice. The technique for making the sauce is the same for all three versions.

Hands-on time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 scant cup

INSTRUCTIONS

1.Using a glass measuring cup, pour out 1 cup of milk/soy milk and warm in the microwave for a minute.

2. In a small pot, melt the butter over low heat.

3. Add the flour and whisk to moisten.

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4. Cook over low heat for 1-2 minutes until you smell a slightly nutty aroma. You just want to cook it until the flour loses its raw taste. Do not let it brown otherwise, the flour will lose its thickening properties.

5. Remove the pan from the fire and add 1/4 cup of the warmed milk and whisk well to remove lumps. Slowly add the rest of the milk while continuing to whisk to incorporate it into the flour mixture.

6. Add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

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7. Place the saucepan back on the burner and cook the sauce over low/medium heat for about 10 minutes until the sauce begins to bubble.

8. The sauce is done when you can draw your finger over the back of a spoon dipped in the sauce leaving a clean track. In the case of the thicker béchamel sauces, they will begin to thicken much sooner, but keep cooking the sauce for the full 10 minutes as it needs to reach its maximum thickness.

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9. Once it has thickened, use it as is or add any other ingredient you like.

10. If I want to add vegetables (except for potatoes which I add only after the sauce is finished) to the béchamel, I always add them right after I toast the flour. This way, I speed up the overall process as I cook my vegetables as I continue to make the sauce. AND, the cooked vegetables get coated with small bits of flour, thereby preventing my sauce (or gravy) from getting lumpy! I love it when I can kill two birds with one stone.

1.. If you are making a binding béchamel, you want it to be the consistency of tight mashed potatoes that hold their shape well when shaped into a croquette. You can adjust the final consistency by adding a tablespoon or two of milk after cooling the sauce with the vegetables overnight in the refrigerator.

Note: The secrets to success are:

• Not to brown the flour, just it cook enough to get the raw taste out;
• Warm the milk beforehand, don’t add cold milk to the hot pan;
• Move the pan off the hot burner before adding milk;
• Add only a few tablespoons of milk at first to the flour mixture to ensure that there are no lumps;
• Add the rest of the milk slowly while mixing well;
• Place the pan back on the low burner and cook SLOWLY- be patient – and mix constantly until the sauce boils and thickens.
• If all else fails, strain the sauce and add a bit more flour, if needed, and cook the sauce for another 5-7 minutes to remove the raw taste of the added flour.

Written by Anju Kapur of Anju’s Table. All content and images on this site are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without my permission. Should you wish to share this recipe on your site, please add a link to this post as the source.