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| A roux-based sauce.** |
Ingredients
Equal parts, by weight (you can estimate)
- Flour
- Fat (butter, margarine, vegetable oil, animal fat, e.g.,
bacon grease or lard)
Preparation
- Heat the fat over medium-low until it is a liquid. If you’re
using butter, cook it slowly until the bubbling stops.
- Stir in the flour, blending until smooth.
- Continue stirring over medium heat until the raw flour
taste is gone, usually 3-5 minutes.
- The longer you cook a roux the darker it gets, imparting
more color and flavor to the intended dish. Sometimes you want a roux to be
white, sometimes darker.
- Add to intended sauce, soup, stew, gravy, stirring briskly into the dish to avoid lumps, then bring the whatever to a high simmer until thickening occurs, usually just a minute or two. It’s
best to use a whisk and not to add to a very hot item. The more you add, the
thicker it gets; best to start with just a little
 |
A sure sign of a profes-
sional cook: the ability to
hold hot objects, bare-
handed, with impunity.
|
Variations
- Cowboy roux (also called a white wash) Blend equal parts flour
and water, add as above. Since the flour is raw going into the final dish, it
must be cooked longer than when adding a standard roux, usually at least five
minutes. Taste test to be sure.
- Cornstarch (corn flour), used in lesser amounts when mixed
with water, blends easier, doesn’t have a raw flour taste to worry about, and
can impart a bit of shine to the finished product.
;^)
