Other: use cornflour instead. (An appropriate quantity of cornflour, mixed in advance with a small amount of cold milk; heat the rest of the milk, pour in the mixture, stir like mad for a couple of minutes, it miraculously thickens into a homogeneous mass and is basically foolproof.)
I don't know if this is an acceptable substitute for "real" white sauce in all circumstances, but it's certainly entirely legitimate for the purposes I've used, which generally involve mixing cheese into it next.
It also has the advantage of being acceptable to coeliacs; since my sister is one and there's a chance I may be declared another the week after next, this is helpful to me...
Start with a pan of cold milk, add a good size knob of butter. Warm. Scatter a spoon or two of plain flour into the milk and melted butter and whisk or stir gently. Allow to thicken. That's it.
I tend to (a) make cheese sauce (which I believe isn't quite the same as white sauce) or (b) resort to a packet mix thing and do the adding milk gradually thing.
Add milk by degrees, yes, but first add flour (or cornflour, it doesn't matter) by degrees to your fat. The other secret is to keep stirring continuously, and not allowing the milk to boil.
Melt a knob of butter. Remove from heat. Stir in flour. Put back on heat, and stir for a moment. Add a little bit of milk, and remove from heat, and stir until it's a smooth paste. Put back on heat, add more milk, whisk, add more milk, whisk more, add more milk again, whisk even more. Heat to not-boiling, stirring all the time[mew], and keep on a very low heat, still stirring, for a few minutes more.
[mew] At this point, you add your parsley or cheese or whatnot. For onion sauce, you saute the onions in the butter way back at step one.
Either (a) start with flour'n'butter and work the milk in slowly, probably starting out with a fork to squish the lumps out of the unpleasantly glutinous paste and (b) whisk like beggary while you heat it to break any remaining lumps up then, or (c) put it through a sieve (I believe this is timeplease's preferred method!)
Heat up all the milk to near boiling point in one pan. Melt butter in another pan, and mix in an equal weight of plain flour. Cook on a low heat for a couple of minutes. Dump all the butter and flour into the milk, and stir constantly while over a very low heat until you are just short of the desired thickness of sauce. A whisk can be used if there are any persistant lumps.
There is another error - that's heating too quickly, especially at the early stages - recipe for LUMPS, that is. If you heat it slowly enough it's lump-free all the way. Also, scalding the milk when adding the first few splashes can lead to potential curdling.
It's pretty reliable, though. I remember arguing with the HE teacher when we were learning sauces because she was teaching another way (chuck everything in and whisk like a maniac) and I said my way was better.
Interesting, since this is the only way that is guaranteed to give me a lumpy sauce :-). I can't get the paste to stir into the milk. What kind of milk do you use (low fat? Full fat?) I ask, because I wonder whether the fat content makes a difference (I use skimmed or semi-skimmed usually).
You're right, it isn't in the slightest a proper roux. What is is directions for making a perfectly sensible white sauce, of any thickness you desire by fiddling the quantities, without any ingredients that you don't have in the cupboard, which can be modified into cheese sauces for lasagne, cauliflower cheese, fish mornay, or indeed any other white sauce-based sauce you care to mention, with no more difficulty, and considerably less expense, than assembling one of those horrible packet sauce thingies.
Works for me :)
I doubt I'd use it as a simple white sauce, but then I never eat simple white sauce...
As others have said: either do it by the roux method, or add all the milk at once and whisk whilst it's heating. Both should end up non-lumpy, honest[1].
Every time I make white sauce I do it differently.
Sometimes I bother with a a roux, other times I do the Delia style all-in-one method. Generally I'll add all the milk at once. A good baloon whisk will deal with lumps.
TTOTD: if you've fried onions in your butter before making the sauce, don't be terribly surprised when there are lumps in it. :-)
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 01:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 01:50 pm (UTC)I don't know if this is an acceptable substitute for "real" white sauce in all circumstances, but it's certainly entirely legitimate for the purposes I've used, which generally involve mixing cheese into it next.
It also has the advantage of being acceptable to coeliacs; since my sister is one and there's a chance I may be declared another the week after next, this is helpful to me...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 01:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 01:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 01:52 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 01:56 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 01:57 pm (UTC)[mew] At this point, you add your parsley or cheese or whatnot. For onion sauce, you saute the onions in the butter way back at step one.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:06 pm (UTC).
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:10 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:12 pm (UTC)It's pretty reliable, though. I remember arguing with the HE teacher when we were learning sauces because she was teaching another way (chuck everything in and whisk like a maniac) and I said my way was better.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:34 pm (UTC)1) make a good smooth rue out of the butter and flour before adding milk (and maybe more flour)
2) USE A WHISK. I cannot overemphasise this, it will rescue nearly any lumpy white sauce you ever make.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:39 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:42 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 02:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 03:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 03:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 03:23 pm (UTC)1) melt butter
2) add flour and cook gently, stirring, for 1-2 mins, till right sort of texture/colour
3) remove pan from heat. Add all milk (from cold) and stir through.
4) Return pan to low heat and cook for around 5 mins, stirring near constantly.
Adding all the milk at once and from cold stops the flour cooking into lumps.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 03:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 03:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 03:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 04:21 pm (UTC)Works for me :)
I doubt I'd use it as a simple white sauce, but then I never eat simple white sauce...
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 04:53 pm (UTC)[1] Smith, D., How to Cook, Book 1.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 07:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 07:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 08:10 pm (UTC)Sometimes I bother with a a roux, other times I do the Delia style all-in-one method. Generally I'll add all the milk at once. A good baloon whisk will deal with lumps.
TTOTD: if you've fried onions in your butter before making the sauce, don't be terribly surprised when there are lumps in it. :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2005-01-31 08:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2005-02-03 12:55 am (UTC)