White sauce is more than just sauce. It is fundamental to recipes from soups to soufflés
I’ll start by explaining how to make a cheese sauce from the medium white sauce. This particular cheese sauce is called “Welsh Rarebit” and is served over toast.
Our ingredients are:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 ½ cups diced or shredded cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon prepared mustard
Select a pan with a small bottom made of a material that heats evenly. Cast iron, aluminum and copper all heat evenly. Often stainless steel pans are made with a copper or aluminum bottom so that you have the stainless steel in contact with the food and the copper or aluminum on the outside to provide the even heating.
Look at the three pans in the picture. Either the one on the left or the one on the right would work because they have narrow bottoms. The one in the middle would not be suitable because it is so wide at the bottom. The small one at the left is cast iron covered with enamel. It is ideal for small recipes that need very even heating.
Heat the milk in a microwave if you have one, or use some other method to heat it.
Put the butter in the pan and turn the heat to medium. When the butter has melted, stir in the flour. Let it continue to heat for a minute or two until the mixture bubbles. Don't forget to keep stirring.
When the butter and flour have bubbled together, take the pan off the heat and stir in the milk. Return the pan to the heat and continue stirring until the mixture thickens.
How will you know when it has thickened? It may take a little practice to recognize the change. You will begin to see a little steam rising from the pan and the mixture will begin to look a little different as you raise the spoon. These are subtle changes. Watch the surface. If it begins to boil, you are certainly done. Take the pan off the heat right away.
Pour it over a piece of toast and enjoy it.
Next we'll explore some of the reasons to master the art of making a white sauce. You can probably see how this cheese sauce could be varied. Try a different kind of cheese, or omit the Worcestershire sauce for starters. Vary the amount of cheese. Some recipes call for less cheese. Try the sauce over cauliflower or some other vegetable. Or use it to make macaroni and cheese.
White sauce can be thin, medium or thick depending on how you plan to use it. Thin sauce is used to thicken cream soups, medium sauce for enhancing various foods, and thick sauce is used with egg whites for soufflés.
We will start with a white sauce made with one cup of milk.
For a thin sauce use: 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon flour
For a medium sauce use: 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour
For a thick sauce use: 3 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons flour
Think 1,2,3 to remember these proportions that go with 1 cup of milk.
Happy cooking,
Ruth Ann