03 September 2009

bechemel

First I'm going to tell you that cooking with cream-of-anything-soup makes me slightly uncomfortable. I don't mean anything by that, but it's true nevertheless. And in my desire to eat sour cream enchiladas and chicken bakes with sauce, I have devised an adequate solution: white sauce as a substitute. Here's the recipe I use from The Joy of Cooking cookbook:

Melt in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat: 2 tablespoons butter.
Whisk in until smooth (about 1.5 minutes): 2 tablespoons all purpose flour.
Remove the pan from head and slowly whisk in: 1 cup of milk.
Return the pan to heat and bring to a simmer, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Cook 1 to 2 minutes.
(I always add salt and pepper and usually a couple of other spices or herbs. Tonight it was just some thyme, but I sometimes use paprika.)

It's so easy I don't even mess it up usually, and it was perfect in enchiladas and tonight I used it in a sausage/rice bake. I haven't tried it yet in the crockpot (the other great cream-of- cooking giant) but if I do (and if you'd care to know) I'll let you know how it goes. Plus, I love saying bechemel.

4 comments:

  1. well, i agree about not really enjoying using cream of whatever simply because it seems so unsophisticated. or unhealthy? i dont know. like, i like using basic ingrdients thrown together into something delicious and the can of cream of whatever makes it too mysterious.... but i must admit that i have relied on those cans a time or two so this is a welcome alternative! i guess the only other reason i would continue to use the mysterious cans is lack of time unfortunately. convenience wins sometimes. sad but true.

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  2. i know what you mean with time, but really, this takes about four minutes. seriously.

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  3. mar.vel.ous. And I suppose if you really desired the chicken flavor you could always add a little chicken boullion (the natural kind, of course). Good tip, Mel.

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  4. Yum! I too have said goodbye to the canned cream of _______ soups and started making my own. The recipe I use is pretty similar and yes, it is quick too. Thanks for the tip!

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