How to make bechamel sauce with a delicate taste and without lumps

Most classic sauces were invented during the Roman Empire. But they became world-famous thanks to the French court chefs. To date, France has presented the world with about 3 thousand kinds of various sauces. But they are all based on five basic recipes.

1. Bechamel. It is prepared on the basis of butter, white flour and milk. The Italians also liked the sauce, which season them with lasagna and pasta.
2. Velut. It is prepared on the basis of light meat or fish broth with the addition of flour and butter. The delicate taste of the sauce is in perfect harmony with meat dishes and seafood.
3. Espanyol. It differs from previous sauces in that the butter-flour mixture is fried to a dark brown color. The veal broth and tomatoes add a rich flavor to the sauce. Espanyol is usually prepared in large quantities, then to freeze and add to dishes as necessary.
4. Tomato. The basis is fresh tomatoes and olive oil. Onions, garlic and aromatic herbs are added to taste. This is the most popular sauce, which is used in almost all cuisines of the world.
5. Dutch. It is prepared on the basis of egg yolks and butter. A smooth creamy sauce reminiscent of mayonnaise blends best with seafood and vegetable dishes.

Classic bechamel sauce recipe

Features. All experiments at the stove begin with basic classic recipes. If you decide to go up a notch in culinary art, a step-by-step recipe for bechamel sauce for lasagna, moussaka, pasta and other popular dishes will become a solid foundation for further development. For more than three hundred years, the cooking technology and set of components are unchanged.

Ingredients for Bechamel French Sauce:

• 50 g of flour;
• the same amount of butter;
• 0.5 l of milk (2.5%);
• A pinch of salt and ground white pepper.

Cooking

1. Melt butter over low heat. It should simply melt and not fry, otherwise the final product will have a yellow color and a burnt aftertaste.
2. Add flour. Rub a mixture of flour and oil in a pan with a wooden spatula. When the mixture disperses to homogeneity, arm yourself with a whisk and beat for about a minute to froth the mass.
3. Add cold milk. Do not stop working with a whisk, pour a thin stream over a tablespoon. When a third of the milk is already in the pan, stir until all the lumps have dispersed. Now you can enter the remaining milk.
4. Boil. Increase the heat to medium and boil the sauce. After that, it should boil for another five minutes with continuous stirring.
5. Season. Turn off the hotplate and add salt and pepper to the sauce according to your taste preferences.

5 modern variations

Knowing how to make bechamel sauce in a classic variation, you discover an unlimited space for experimentation. Based on the basic recipe, you can get new tastes and textures that complement and favorably shade your favorite dishes.

Spicy

Features. Bechamel with spices is so popular that many consider this option a classic. Nevertheless, the technology for making spicy sauce is somewhat more complicated. In addition, the consumption of milk will be a little more, since it boils off during cooking.

You will need:

• 50 g of flour;
• the same amount of butter;
• 0.6 l of milk;
• a little salt;
• bay leaf, cloves, nutmeg, a mixture of peppers, aromatic herbs and other spices to your taste.

Cooking

1. Fry flour and butter, as in the classic recipe. Leave to cool.
2. Wrap the spices in cotton and tie them tightly with thread. Dip the package in cold milk. If you use only ground spices, they can be added directly to the liquid.
3. Boil the milk and boil it for another quarter of an hour.
4. Cover the container with a lid and let it brew for a couple of hours.
5. Strain the milk and boil it again.
6. In the hot liquid, add the butter-flour mixture prepared earlier, and whisk the mass with a whisk to separate the lumps.
7. Continuing the whipping, put the sauce on the fire. When the first bubbles appear on the surface, turn off the hotplate to prevent the sauce from boiling.

Onion

Features. Classic spicy onions will add new spicy shades. This option will appeal to fans of hearty homemade food. Onion bechamel perfectly complements meat and potato dishes.

You will need:

• 50 g of flour;
• 70 g of butter;
• 0.3 l of milk;
• 0.3 l of steep meat broth;
• half a large onion or one small;
• a pinch of salt;
• a pair of bay leaves.

Cooking

1. Mix the broth with milk and put on fire.
2. Send finely chopped onion and bay leaf here.
3. When the liquid boils, let it boil for another three minutes and let it brew for a quarter of an hour.
4. In the meantime, melt the butter in a saucepan and lightly fry the flour in it.
5. Strain the previously prepared broth and slowly mix it into the butter-flour mixture.
6. After boiling the sauce, salt it and cook for another 20 minutes.

Vegan

Features. If you do not eat animal products, this does not mean that you will not be able to feel the delicate taste and aroma of Bechamel. Especially for such cases, a recipe without butter and milk is developed.

You will need:

• 200 g cashews;
• 0.4 l of water;
• 50 g of flour;
• two tablespoons of olive oil;
• a pinch of salt;
• spices to taste.

Cooking

1. Soak the nuts in boiling water for five minutes.
2. Drain boiling water, and fill in cashews with cold water in an amount of 0.4 liters.
3. Use a blender to smooth the mixture. If it turns out a little thick, you can add some more water.
4. Combine the olive oil with flour and lightly fry in a saucepan.
5. Whisking the mixture with a whisk, slowly, introduce "nut milk."
6. While stirring, cook the sauce until it begins to thicken.
7. It remains only to add salt and spices and let the mixture cool.

In the microwave

Features. Sometimes an obstacle to the discovery of new culinary facets is a banal lack of time. Fortunately, there is a simple recipe for bechamel sauce for the microwave, adapted to modern realities and technical capabilities.

You will need:

• 50 g of flour;
• the same amount of butter;
• 0.6 l of milk;
• a pinch of salt;
• nutmeg to taste.

Cooking

1. Melt the butter and grind it with flour.
2. Heat the mixture in the microwave for one and a half minutes.
3. Slowly pour cold milk into the mixture, intensively whipping the mass with a whisk.
4. Return the container to the microwave, but for five minutes.During this time, you will have to pause the device a couple of times to stir the mass.
5. Salt the sauce and add spices if necessary.
6. If clots form, strain the mass through a sieve.

Cheese in a slow cooker

Features. Another achievement of technological progress is the multicooker, which greatly facilitated the life of housewives. With this appliance you can prepare a delicate sauce, which, in combination with viscous cheese, perfectly complement homemade hot dogs, hamburgers or pasta dishes.

Composition. You will need:

• 60 g of flour;
• 70 g of butter;
• 0.5 l of milk;
• 200 g of grated Dutch cheese;
• a pinch of salt;
• nutmeg and black pepper to taste.

Cooking

1. Turn on the slow cooker in soup or stew mode.
2. Put butter in a bowl, melt it.
3. Add flour while stirring with a silicone spatula.
4. When the mixture becomes homogeneous, slowly pour in the milk, without ceasing to stir.
5. Without closing the lids, bring the liquid in the multicooker to a boil and boil a little more so that the thickening process begins.
6. Add salt, spices and cheese. When the latter is completely melted, the sauce can be considered ready.

How not to spoil the dish: 6 tips

What dishes is bechamel cream suitable for? Cooking is not just the ability to combine and process products. This is a real science, combining knowledge from physics, chemistry and other industries. To properly and tasty cook white bechamel sauce, you need to remember about six subtleties.

1. Proper utensils. The pan or stewpan should have a thick bottom and non-stick coating. To prevent damage, stir the sauce with a wooden spatula or silicone whisk.
2. Temperature contrast. Hot butter-flour mixture should be combined only with cold milk. And vice versa. If the components are at the same temperature, the sauce will be lumpy or stratified.
3. Milk only. No other dairy products can be the basis for bechamel. True, some chefs like to experiment with cream. But they must first be diluted with vegetable or meat broth so that they do not curl.
4. Knowing of limits. Bechamel is primarily a milk sauce. The delicate taste and aroma of milk should dominate, so do not overdo it with spices. They should only slightly shade the sauce.
5. Consistency. Thickness should be such that Bechamel sauce slowly drained from a spoon, enveloping it. For lasagna or moussaka, the sauce may be thinner.
6. Right feed. Before serving Bechamel on the table, it needs to be heated. As it cools, it will begin to crust.

Where to use: 7 recommendations

Pasta, lasagna and moussaka are not all dishes in which you can apply a delicate white sauce. Based on the reviews of the hostesses, seven variants of the usual homemade food can be distinguished, which can be varied with the help of bechamel.

1. Casseroles. Minced meat, vegetables, pasta - everything that you have in the refrigerator can be mixed, poured with sauce and sent to the oven. Delicate white substance will perfectly bind all components of the casserole.
2. Jellied pies. In this case, Bechamel works on the same principle as in the casserole - binds the components and creates a delicate layer.
3. Pancakes. Fry boiled chicken with mushrooms and onions. Add Bechamel and grated cheese a couple of minutes before cooking. Wrap the filling in pancakes. They will soak in the sauce and become very tender.
4. A fish. Any white fish goes well with milk sauce. Before baking fish in the oven, pour it with bechamel and sprinkle with aromatic herbs.
5. Vegetables. If you are on a diet, the basis of the diet is probably boiled, steamed or baked vegetables. French nutmeg sauce will make them not so fresh and tasteless.
6. Sandwiches. Do not lubricate them with harmful and high-calorie mayonnaise. Replace it with cheese and milk sauce.
7. Julien. With bechamel they will turn out less caloric than with cream.

Among historians and culinary experts, disputes about who owns the authorship of the famous sauce do not cease. Despite the fact that he bears the name of Louis Bechamel - the majordom of Louis XIV, there is a version that he only appropriated the recipe of one of the court chefs, wishing to earn the appreciation of the king. Whatever the case, for more than 300 years, a delicate white sauce has been winning the hearts of gourmets. Having learned how to cook bechamel sauce at home, you will gain fame as a culinary master in the eyes of family members and guests.

Reviews: “Royal dish!”

My Bechamel is always ready. I cook it in a large volume, and then lay it in containers and freeze it. (I had a friend in Italy, everyone does it there). This sauce is obtained as the basis for almost everything: fry the mushrooms and stew in the sauce; and carbonara paste; I can’t say the exact recipe, because I’m doing it by eye, the only thing is that when I make flour and butter, I dilute with cream (even min%) about 300-500 grams, and then add milk to the desired densities. In this case, the sauce acquires a sweet and creamy taste.

Svetlana Shcheblykina (Safonova), http: //flap.rf/ Food / Bechamel sauce

I always add Muscat. Making lasagna easier. I take 400 ml of milk, pouring half a cup into a cup. I put the rest on fire, add half a glass of cold milk to 2 tbsp. l flour without top. Stir until smooth. When the milk begins to boil, gently stirring, add the mixture from a glass. Add the nutmeg, and two large handfuls of cheese, prefer Cheddar. I let it thicken, dissolve the cheese, try on salt. Next I spill Lasagna. I often use this Bechamel base, add different ingredients there, depending on the dish

miki, http://www.woman.ru/home/culinary/thread/4603894/

It is with buckwheat and boiled meat that bechamel is elegantly combined, a classic. In the form of butter, a layer of ready-made boiled buckwheat, a layer of meat (a piece or chopped, or even scroll), pour sauce, sprinkle with cheese and bake. The royal dish!

Jerusalem girl, http://forum.say7.info/topic27625.html

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