Ok, so here is the promised post about the roux. Of course, first I must begin with a story. I can't remember where I learned to make a roux. I think I have been doing it forever. About 27 years ago, I got a divorce and moved back to New Jersey to be near my family. For 17 years I had been a military wife and enjoyed our travels. Moving around to different parts of the country and the world, helped spur my interest in cooking. When I was married, we never came home for Thanksgiving, but instead prepared a large dinner and invited young single men who couldn't get home to have dinner with us. So back to the roux. My first Thanksgiving back to New Jersey was spent with my sister, her husband and his very large family. I was so excited to spend the holiday with family. I went the night before and helped prepare my grandmother's famous sausage stuffing. (yes, I will post it closer to Thanksgiving) I also went over early in the day to help set the table and so forth.
Now the bird comes out of the oven, just as beautiful as can be and I see my sister reach for a jar of gravy to heat up. Now this was many years ago; my sister is now a fabulous cook. I said, "You're not making gravy from scratch?" She said she didn't know how. So I took over. Took some fat from the pan added some flour and made a roux. We then poured in the pan drippings some seasoning, and ta-dah! We had gravy. For several years after that I was the gravy maker, and then my sister took over.
So what exactly is a roux? A roux is equal parts of fat and flour cooked and stirred until the flour is incorporated into the fat. I know, when I say fat, I can see you all cringe. Think butter, olive oil, pan drippings. Cooking the flour and fat together eliminates the pasty taste of raw flour. At this point you can add any of a number of liquids and make a sauce or gravy. It was actually the base I used to make the cheese sauce in the macaroni and cheese recipe I posted.
Without trying to sound too scientific, here is why this works. The granules of flour become incased in the fat and when liquid is added and the mixture is heated and stirred, the flour absorbs the liquid, and thickens the sauce. The thickness of the sauce is a direct relation to the flour to liquid ratio. For a medium sauce or gravy think 1 1/2 tablespoons of flour to 1 cup of liquid. So if you are adding three cups of liquid, you multiply the amount of flour and fat by three. Get it? I don't want to make this sound harder than it is. I never measure. But if I were you I would measure until you feel confident. Really, you just need to measure to make sure the flour and fat are equal.
So how do you actually do this? Let's use butter as our fat. Measure three tablespoons of butter into a heavy bottomed pot. This pot is important, if it is a thin aluminum pot, it will get too hot and burn. We are talking slow even heat here. When the butter has foamed, add the flour and begin whisking. Cook slowly over low heat for three or four minutes, or until the flour barely begins to brown. Now add your liquid. Heating the liquid in the microwave also makes it easier to incorporate into the flour/fat mixture. Let's make a white sauce and use milk. Add it very slowly, just a little at a time or you will end up with lumps. Keep whisking as you add. When all the liquid is incorporated, raise the heat. Keep whisking, as soon as it begins to boil, lower to medium and keep stirring as it thickens. Season with salt and pepper.
What else can you do with this? Lots. Add chicken stock, lemon juice and white wine as your liquid, with a few sprinkles of dried thyme, salt and pepper. A lovely sauce for chicken. Use beef stock, red wine and rosemary for a beef burgundy type of sauce. When making gravy with pan drippings, if you don't have enough liquid, add stock-chicken, beef, or vegetable depending on what you are cooking. If you add cheese to the white sauce, you have cheese sauce. The flour fat mixture with white wine and cheese is the basis for fondu. (ooooh remember the fondu parties of the 70's?)
Only one word of caution, if the sauce is too thick just add more liquid. If the sauce is too thin, DO NOT add more flour. You will end up with horrible lumps. And you don't want the reputation of the one who makes lumpy gravy!! You can add a slury of flour stirred into liquid and dissolved, but then you run the risk of that floury taste. You can add instant mashed potatoes-just a tablespoon at a time. I don't do this because I am afraid of all the chemicals, but it does work. Cornstarch dissolved in water also works, but will sometimes cause the sauce to become clear. Chinese food is often thickened with cornstarch. What I usually do, is make another roux, add some liquid and add this back to the too thin mixture.
I hope I didn't overwhelm you with too many details. It's much easier than it seems. Ask my friend Denise. One night when I was there she was cooking something and making mashed potatoes and lamented that she had no gravy. We went to the stove, I showed her how to do it using beef stock, and she is now a pro at making gravy! So have fun with this. Experiment. What's the worst that could happen? Please give me feedback on this one!! Let me know if you tried it and how it turned out!
Till then:
Happy Cooking,
Carol
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