Béchamel Sauce

Béchamel (ie. the basic white sauce) is one of the four mother sauces of French cuisine. It looks deceivingly easy to make, having only 3 ingredients, but making it smooth and without lumps is going to get you at least once. Tonight was my first time making it, and I had lumps.

If you do get lumps, there are two ways to fix it.

1) strain it through a sieve

2) add in other things to the sauce to distract the eater from the lumps

Traditionally, one uses flour and butter for this sauce. I used cornstarch and margarine instead, because that's what I have. Cornstarch has twice the thickening power of flour, so just double or halve the recipe accordingly.

What makes béchamel sauce indispensable to the aspiring chef is that it serves as a base for basically any cream sauce. You can add cheese, flavour it with herbs, or put in whatever creative combinations you can think of. I used thyme and basil for mine.

When working with fresh herbs, make sure to research their uses. For example, thyme takes time for the flavour to come out, so I put it in to the sauce early on. Basil, on the other hand, loses its flavour very quickly, so I put it in at the end.

I also added onions, mushrooms, and a bit of turkey (all sauteed first in margarine) at the end before pouring it on rice to make it more of a feel. You can also use it as a pasta sauce, or even pour it onto meat.

Basic Béchamel Sauce

• 1 tbsp margarine
• 3/4 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup milk

1. Melt the margarine in a non-stick pot. Do not let it burn! Use medium-low heat.
2. Add in the cornstarch and stir until mixed. It will form a clumpy paste--do not panic, this is supposed to happen. It's called roux. Cook it for 2 minutes.
3. Add a ladle-full of warm milk (different recipes vary here, some say to use cold milk, others say room temp., and others warm. I tried room temp. and it was lumpy, so try warm). The roux will absorb some of the milk and make seem to get clumpier. Clumpy is okay, lumps are bad. Keep stirring to mix the milk with the roux.
4. In fact, if you can get someone to help you, one person should stir and one should pour the milk. Just don't stop stirring. Add another ladle of milk and stir some more. Continue slowly adding milk until it's all smooth.
5. You're now going to simmer until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Make sure the heat is still on medium-low or the milk will burn (easy to check by tilting the pot, the burnt milk will be stuck to the bottom). I added the seasonings such as thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic powder here.
6. Add the other flavourings near the end, like cheese and basil. Add vegetables last. Heat through for a minute or two. Make sure to taste it before you serve!

Makes 1 cup of sauce.