Bechamel



On Tue 21 Mar 2006 09:55:54a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Bob (this
one)?

> Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>> On Tue 21 Mar 2006 06:28:22a, Thus Spake Zarathustra, or was it Peter
>> Aitken?
>>
>>
>>>"Donald Martinich" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>news:[email protected]...
>>>
>>>>In article <pgHTf.70585$%[email protected]>,
>>>>"Peter Aitken" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>"Dee Randall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>>>>>news:[email protected]...
>>>>>
>>>>>>I've never made a bechamel that I would consider exceptional or even
>>>>>>acceptable (for me). Today I tried a different tactic.
>>>>
>>>>snip!
>>>>
>>>>>Sounds delicious but PLEASE do not call it Bechamel sauce. Bechamel is
>>>>>one of those few recipes that has a definite history, rooted in
>>>>>classical French
>>>>>cooking, and it does not use cream but rather milk or white stock.
>>>>>Call it Dee Dee Sauce if you like - but let's preserve the meaning of
>>>>>traditional recipe names!!
>>>>
>>>>I'm all for that, Peter! And in that spirit, I will quote from my 1961
>>>>English edition of the Larousse Gastronomique: "Originally, the
>>>>bechamel was made by adding a liberal amount of fresh cream to a thick
>>>>veloute sauce."
>>>>
>>>>D.M.
>>>
>>>That's quite interesting because Julia has it different. I guess even
>>>the "classic" recipes are not set in stone.

>>
>> Fettucini Alfredo anyone?

>
> That's not really a sauce, you know...


Did I say "sauce"? <g>

> I bet that's never come up before.


LOL!

> No, seriously.


"seriously"

> Pastorio
>




--
Wayne Boatwright Õ¿Õ¬
________________________________________

Okay, okay, I take it back! UnScrew you!
 
Dee Randall wrote:

> There are four theories on the origin of Béchamel Sauce:
> a.. The Italian version of who created this sauce is that it was created
> in the 14th century and was introduced by the Italian chefs of Catherine de
> Medici (1519-1589), the Italian-born Queen of France. In 1533, as part ofan
> Italian-French dynastic alliance, Catherine was married to Henri, Duke of
> Orleans (the future King Henri II of France. It is because of the Italian
> cooks and pastry makers who followed her to France that the French came to
> know the taste of Italian cooking that they introduced to the French court.
> Antonin Carème(1784-1833), celebrated chef and author, wrote in 1822: "The
> cooks of the second half of the 1700's came to know the taste of Italian
> cooking that Catherine de'Medici introduced to the French court."


And you're gonna make us guess the other 3? Does the winner get a
prize? <g>
 
Dee Randall wrote:
> Then I added the finished mushrooms and the spaghetti to the big pan of
> bechamel and used tongs to separate them as they cooked. This really tasted
> like carbonara.


Carbonara?

Do you mean Alfredo? (and by "mean" I mean in the American colloquial
sense, because in Italy they kinda don't know what Alfredo is, they
call pasta in white sauce something like pasta in white sauce...though
I don't imagine this will actually forestall the flamewar about to
erupt...)

--Blair
 
Blair P. Houghton wrote:
> Dee Randall wrote:
>
>>Then I added the finished mushrooms and the spaghetti to the big pan of
>>bechamel and used tongs to separate them as they cooked. This really tasted
>>like carbonara.

>
> Carbonara?
>
> Do you mean Alfredo? (and by "mean" I mean in the American colloquial
> sense, because in Italy they kinda don't know what Alfredo is, they
> call pasta in white sauce something like pasta in white sauce...though
> I don't imagine this will actually forestall the flamewar about to
> erupt...)
>
> --Blair


Dammit, Blair...

You have the brains of a yadda, yadda and wouldn't know a yadda, yadda
and your use of English is worse than an illiterate yadda, yadda...

Just in case nobody else jumps in. I mean we have a system to uphold.

No need to thank me.

Pastorio
 
"Dee Randall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Kent, when you say, 2/3 oil to 1 part flour. Do you mean 2/3 cup of oil
> and 1/3 cup of flour and how much milk for those amounts?
> Thanks
> Dee Dee
>

Hi Dee Dee,
It's the reverse of what you said. For 1 of cup flour you use 2/3 cup of
oil. In the microwave you have to put in a bit more oil than that, as
needed. The usual ratio for making a roux with butter is 1 part butter to 1
part flour. For olive oil it is less, particularly on the stove. As per your
example when I want to make a very brown roux I will do it on the stove top
with 1 cup of flour and 2/3 cup oil and store the unused portion in the
frig. It will last a long time, as long as the oil can be left in the frig,
and much longer than a butter based roux. I do this routinely. It is much
more heart healthy than the old fashion roux, and it gives you a glistening,
much nicer sauce.
Kent
Kent

>
> "Kent" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Try making your roux in the microwave using olive oil and flour, in about
>> a 2/3 oil to 1 part flour. Microwave this on a 3 or so setting. Any oil
>> picks up MW radiation far more than other ingredients.
>> Then add heated milk and whisk. Heat more and whisk. Then heat a bit
>> more and whisk.
>> There you have it, your bechamel.
>> Recently doing this I made the best crab newberg I've ever had, and
>> nothing made it to the stove top. I couldn't believe it. We get live
>> Dungeness Crab here, steam it, eat what you can, then make crab stock,
>> and make crab newberg from the leftover, if you can imagine there being
>> any.
>> Kent
>>
>> "Dee Randall" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> I've never made a bechamel that I would consider exceptional or even
>>> acceptable (for me). Today I tried a different tactic.
>>>
>>> I was going to have a different meal altogether but when I looked in the
>>> frig there was 3 cups of cream and some brown crimini mushrooms. The
>>> cream was 8 days out of date, but still acceptable, and the mushrooms
>>> might have been if-y when I bought them (in a cellophane pack).
>>>
>>> I cleaned up the mushrooms to where they didn't smell too amoniac and
>>> fried them. While they were frying I got out and compared Giada's and
>>> Mario's bechamel sauce and found that Mario's recipe fit my 3 cups of
>>> cream (without calculating the difference of Giada's 4 cups' recipe).
>>> Both called for milk - not cream. I didn't care because I've never made
>>> a fit bechamel so far -- always lumpy and spending more time with lumps
>>> than the cooking!
>>>
>>> I heated the cream in the microwave slowly to about 160º while I heated
>>> the 5 T butter (both recipes called for the same amount of butter) and
>>> then sprinkled 1/3 cup flour into it. Giada' recipe said to cook 2
>>> minutes, Mario's said to cook 6-7 minutes. I cooked until starting to
>>> turn a little brownish, as Mario said, maybe about 4 minutes. DH poured
>>> the hot cream into the butter/flour mixture 1 cup at a time while I
>>> whisked. It was very thick; I would assume mainly due to cream instead
>>> of milk. I added 1/2 the amount of salt and nutmeg called for, and it
>>> still was pretty pungent with salt & nutmeg. NO LUMPS!
>>>
>>> Then I added the finished mushrooms and the spaghetti to the big pan of
>>> bechamel and used tongs to separate them as they cooked. This really
>>> tasted like carbonara.
>>>
>>> I saved the rest of the bechamel (in the freezer) for another day.
>>> Necessity was the mother of invention as I rescued the mushrooms and
>>> the rest of the cream that I had bought to make chocolate truffles.
>>>
>>> Served with 'organic' fresh carrots, salt & pepper; butter lettuce with
>>> oil and vinegar and a glass of wine, French for DH; Italian for me.
>>>
>>> It's now snack time and a movie -- thanks TJ's for salza and chips - as
>>> they say, "Good to go."
>>> Dee Dee
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>

>>
>>

>
>