Cream sauces

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Ok, I've got a very basic recipe of a thickening agent and cream. Other than cheese, what would be something good to mix in?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

No jizz answers, please.

[Special K]

Thyme, pine nuts, Spinach, garlic, lemon juice perhaps?

[Slayer]

thickening agent

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I'm at the seasonal thinning stage, actually. I thicken over the holidays, and the worst part of winter.

[The Czech Republic]

Agent, wouldn't it kick ass if we didn't get any major snowfalls from here on out. Last year we had a weekend in February when it was like 65, then the next day we got 8 inches. I was crestfallen.

 

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Haha. Are you new here? We're due to be shat on once more in February bigtime, with a few minor 1-2 inch accumulations otherwise. After that is the retarded March blizzard that melts in the same week, and everyone gets a cold.

[The Czech Republic]

Yeah, pretty much

[MarvinisaLunatic]

Tapping knowledge gained in the first class I took at JWU, Stocks and Sauces, this is pretty much all you need to know.

 

First of all, the basic cream sauce is whats called Béchamel, its refered to as one of the 5 mother sauces (along with Velouté, Espagnole, Hollandaise/Mayonaise and Vinaigrette) because they are the bases for just about every other sauce you can think of.

 

 

Béchamel

1 cup milk

2 TBSP metled butter/Flour

salt/pepper/nutmeg to taste

 

Cook the melted butter and flour for about 4-5 minutes. In the meantime heat the milk and then add it to the roux (flour/butter mixture) and simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes until thickened (this will be a medium consistency, less/more roux would change that)

 

From that you can do:

 

Standard Cheese Sauce

Béchamel + grated cheddar cheese (better than the powdered stuff in packets or the crap in jars and too easy to make)

 

Mornay Sauce

Béchamel + Gruyere and Parmesan Cheese + heavy cream (best "white" mac+cheese ever..)

 

Curry Sauce

Béchamel + 1 tsp curry powder (excellent chicken or rice)

 

Sauce Soubise (aka onion sauce)

Béchamel + Onions (sauteed and pureed) + heavy cream

 

Aurore Sauce

Béchamel + 1tbsp tomato paste (good with fish)

 

Sauce Albert (aka Horseradish Sauce)

Béchamel + grated horseradish + white wine + cayenne pepper + heavy cream (good with beef, but its not Arby's Horsey Sauce)

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Marvin, you're the shit. What are the constituents of the other "mother" sauces?

 

Bechamel is exactly what I was working with, only I was using half and half instead of milk.

 

I put a few cheeses in it, and some spices.

 

Figured something with more oomph would be nice, and the Albert deal looks about right.

[MarvinisaLunatic]

Marvin, you're the shit. What are the constituents of the other "mother" sauces?

 

Bechamel is exactly what I was working with, only I was using half and half instead of milk.

 

I put a few cheeses in it, and some spices.

 

Figured something with more oomph would be nice, and the Albert deal looks about right.

 

Velouté - take the milk from a Bechamel and replace it with stock (vegetable/fish/chicken).

 

Espagnole - meat stock, browned mirepoix, a darker (longer cooked) roux and herbs. Think grandma's gravy..

 

Hollandaise/Mayonaise - emulsified egg yolks and fat with lemon juice added, although in hollandiase, the egg yolks are cooked over a double boiler whereas in mayonaise they aren't. Also included in this category are Aïoli and Remoulade sauces.

 

Vinaigrette - standard emulsion of Oil and Vingear aided by an emulsifier, most commonly found in dry mustard or egg yolks.

 

Surprisingly, tomato based sauces were not included in the 5 mother sauces although we were taught that it was the 6th.