You've probably heard about the five basic sauces of French cuisine? They are also called “mother” sauces or “great” sauces. They form the basis of the culinary tradition of France, they can be found in a huge number of recipes, and the large-scale and world-famous “edifice” of French cuisine is built on them.
Perhaps, standing on a par with veloute, espagnole, hollandaise and tomato sauces, bechamel is still half a step ahead - maybe because it is more famous? Or because it is especially delicate and versatile and goes well with a huge number of dishes? Or is the secret of its popularity in the special aura that is created around the Bechamel sauce - an aura of sophistication and elegance? Be that as it may, this particular recipe is the main one of the five parts that form the “backbone” of French cooking.
Knowing how to cook bechamel is practically a rule of good manners. Agree, you can’t show up in the kitchen, declare yourself a guru and start impressing guests without first learning the basics and theory. So, in order to become a chef, among other exams, you will have to pass a test specifically on the ability to cook the right bechamel - this is that undeniable and necessary basis. Let's figure it out.
Conventionally, Bechamel sauce can be divided into two parts: rublon or roux (French roux - red) and milk (cream).
Rublon is flour mixed with butter, fried until lightly golden. The standard proportion is 1:1, although some chefs sometimes change it depending on their own preferences.
The amount of milk added to the sauce can also vary significantly in different versions. Depending on the thickness of the sauce you need, you will need a little more or a little less liquid. The general rule is this: for liquid bechamel sauce add 120-180 g of roux per 1 liter of milk, for thick sauce - 300 g of roux per 1 liter of milk (thick, “like paste”, bechamel is the basis, for example, of soufflé). It’s easy to remember this ratio (for a sauce of medium thickness): parts of roux = 1 to 1, milk = 5 times the sum of the parts of roux. So, if you take 50 g of butter and flour, then pour in 500 ml of milk.
The basic, classic bechamel sauce is minimalistic - it's milk, flour, butter, salt and pepper. This sauce is the basis for the preparation of other sauces or part of dishes - lasagna, moussaka, dishes with spinach, complex pastas. But most often, milk for making Bechamel sauce is pre-flavored - with herbs, roots, spices. The goal is to give neutral dishes a more expressive taste, such as baked fish or a slice of chicken fillet. To do this, add the required set of natural flavors to cold milk (nutmeg, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, thyme, dill, onion, garlic, coriander, caraway, parsnip or parsley root), and then slowly bring to a boil - it is believed that only This is how the aromas of herbs and roots are revealed best. After boiling, turn off the fire, cover the pan with a lid and leave for 2-3 hours to infuse. After the specified time, the milk must be strained through cheesecloth or a fine sieve and only then used to prepare the sauce.
From the history of sauce
In general, the story is as simple as the world: they say that the famous sauce was invented by Louis Bechamel, the majordomo of Louis XIV, the king who ensured the flourishing of an absolute monarchy for his country. Alas, there is no intrigue, interesting turns of events or secret intricacies, despite the fact that the era itself was characterized by an abundance of mysteries and secrets. However, there is one “zest” in the loud but short epic called “Béchamel”: historians strongly doubt that the invention of the recipe belongs personally to the king’s manager of affairs, the eponymous Mr. Béchamel. Most likely, the sauce was first prepared by one of the court chefs, but the cunning majordomo, sensing how he could earn the favor of the king, quickly attributed the invention to his own person.
The famous “white sauce” was first mentioned in Le Cuisinier François in 1651 - the book was written by the court cook of Louis XIV, François Pierre de La Farenne, and it was he who left a written indication of the newfangled sauce. After this, the culinary manual was republished many, many dozens of times (only in the next 75 years - at least 30 times!), The popularity of the sauce continued to grow.
There was no exact recipe in the book, however, there is reason to assert that bechamel has survived to this day practically unchanged: the same wheat flour, the same high-quality butter, the same milk.
Classic recipe for Bechamel sauce
To start experimenting and creating, you need to learn how to implement a basic sauce recipe. In fact, there is nothing complicated, a little practice - and you will succeed!
Ingredients:
50 g butter;
50 g flour;
500 ml milk with 2.5% fat content;
salt, ground white pepper.
Melt the butter over low heat. Make sure that the oil is not fried, otherwise the sauce will not be white, but yellow or brown.
Add flour to the melted butter and begin to quickly rub it into the butter with a wooden spatula and whisk. It will take you 1-2 minutes to combine the flour and butter - during this time the mixture will foam slightly.
In a thin stream and in small portions (literally a spoon or two), start adding cold (!) milk, each time stirring and beating the sauce until smooth. The fire is as low as possible, or remove the pan from the stove altogether. Enter a smaller portion of milk - 100-150 grams. When it becomes clear that there are no lumps in the sauce, add the remaining milk, increase the heat to medium, bring to a boil and cook the sauce over medium heat for 5-7 minutes. Don't forget to stir constantly!
Season the finished sauce with salt and pepper.
The sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 3 days, covered with oiled film.
White sauce with nutmeg
This sauce - with spices - is known even better than the classic version. The principle of preparation and the proportions of ingredients are the same, only more milk may be used since we will cook it. What spices are used most often? Nutmeg, as well as bay leaf, cloves, ground peppers. You can add a small onion and other spices and herbs, or you can get by with just nutmeg.
Ingredients:
50 g butter;
50 g flour;
600 g milk;
salt, nutmeg, spices and herbs to taste.
Prepare the roux as described above. Let it cool.
Grind the herbs and spices in a mortar, place in a cloth bag and place in cold milk. Bring to a boil, then cook for 10-15 minutes. Discard the spice bag (if you didn't have one, be sure to strain the milk through a sieve). Add hot milk to 500 ml if it has boiled down too much.
Place cold roux into hot milk. Stir. If the milk has cooled down, put it on the stove, but do not bring it to a boil - we need hot milk, as it is before it boils.
Whisk the roux until the sauce is smooth.
Watch this wonderful video of Gordon Ramsay making bechamel sauce with cheese in his inimitable style. It is not necessary to understand English, you can even turn off the sound - you will understand everything without it.
Vegan bechamel
If for some reason you cannot temporarily or permanently eat animal products (diet, fasting, vegetarianism), no problem: you can make Bechamel sauce without milk! Read carefully, it's very tasty.
Ingredients:
200 g cashew nuts;
350 ml water;
60 g flour;
2 tbsp. l. olive oil;
salt, pepper, nutmeg to taste.
Pour boiling water over raw cashews and leave for 4-5 minutes, then pour out the water, place the nuts in a blender bowl and fill with clean water again - this time cold, add 300 ml. Turn on the blender, bring the mixture until completely smooth, gradually pour in the remaining 50 ml of water, and if necessary, dilute the resulting nut milk with a little more liquid.
Mix flour with olive oil and lightly fry in a saucepan. Pour in the nut milk in a thin stream with constant stirring, stir until completely smooth. Cook over low heat until thickened. Finally add salt, pepper and nutmeg. If necessary, the resulting sauce can be strained through a fine sieve.
Tomato sauce "Béchamel"
A very non-standard combination, a kind of anti-white sauce, but still it is bechamel, albeit not in the usual “clothing”. Try it by all means! The sauce is perfect for pasta, sandwiches, and baked potatoes.
Ingredients:
50 g butter;
50 g flour;
500 ml milk;
1 tbsp. l. tomato puree;
salt, pepper to taste.
Grind the butter with flour, place the mixture in a frying pan with a thick bottom or in a saucepan and, stirring, lightly fry until light golden brown (for details, see above, in the basic recipe). Pour in milk in a thin stream, literally 50 ml at a time. After each “dose”, knead the flour mixture until completely homogeneous. Gradually add all the milk. At the end, add salt, pepper, spices and tomato puree. Stir, the sauce is ready.
How to cook Bechamel in the microwave
Of course, this recipe is far from a classic - it can’t even be called canonical. However, it can be a great help for those who want to cook, but prefer to do it with minimal time and effort.
Ingredients:
50 g flour;
50 g butter;
600 ml milk;
salt, nutmeg and other spices to taste.
Grind the melted butter with flour, place the bowl in the microwave for 1.5 minutes at maximum power.
Take it out and pour in all the milk in a thin stream, stirring constantly. A homogeneous mass is needed. Return the bowl back to the microwave for 4.5-5 minutes, maximum power. Periodically pause the cooking process and stir the contents of the bowl. At the end, add salt and nutmeg, mix well and strain through a fine sieve.
If you need a thicker sauce, increase the cooking time to 6 minutes.
- Use the right cookware - a thick, non-stick pan with one handle. Grind and stir with a wooden spatula and a convenient whisk.
- The main secret to a homogeneous, smooth, lump-free béchamel is the temperature of the sauce parts. Their contrasting, diametrically opposed temperatures: if the roux is hot, cold milk should be poured in, and vice versa: hot milk should interact with the cold roux. It is acceptable if both are warm, other options other than those listed are a recipe for disappointment. But if, nevertheless, the sauce turns out to be lumpy and completely unsuitable for consumption, pick up a blender and run it thoroughly through the resulting mass.
- Cooking time for the sauce after boiling is 5-7 minutes. In textbooks on French cooking you will find the following recommendation: “Cook the sauce for no more than 10 and no less than 40 minutes, since in 10 minutes the taste of raw flour will not have time to develop, and in 40-60 minutes the sauce will lose the taste of raw flour.” This is a scientifically proven fact. Classic bechamel is cooked according to all the rules for about an hour. Briefly, quickly, in less than 10 minutes, prepare bechamel at home.
- Don't over-fry the flour - it should just be slightly golden, creamy and have a subtle nutty smell. If the flour darkens thoroughly, the sauce will be bitter, and it will also lose its color - after all, you are preparing a white sauce. The color of the sauce is delicately light beige, light cream, without pronounced brown or yellow notes.
- Do not try to speed up what should a priori be cooked slowly. The heat under the frying pan should be minimal; it will only become medium at the final stage, when you pour all the milk into the pan. Burnt sauce is not the best alternative to saving time.
- The classic component of Bechamel sauce is milk. Sour cream and other fermented milk “comrades” will inevitably curdle, this is not an option. However, you can take the cream, but it should be borne in mind that the cream are also not the simplest guys, they can also play tricks with their ears and curl up at the most inopportune moment. For this reason, many cooks dilute them with broth - vegetable or meat.
- Bechamel is beautiful with its viscous, delicate consistency and creamy aftertaste. No one forbids the use of spices when preparing it, however, keep in mind that the creamy aroma must remain the leading one, everything else should stand modestly on the sidelines and only highlight the main idea of the sauce.
- The sauce can be made liquid or very thick - it depends on your further goals. The “correct” consistency of a universal homemade bechamel will allow the mass to flow evenly from the spoon, slightly enveloping it with residue. Under no circumstances should the finished product fall into a thick lump, nor should it rapidly flop down into a liquid, indistinct something. If the sauce is too thick, dilute it with milk and then heat it up. Thicken any roux that is too thin with a roux specially prepared for this purpose, and then simmer for another minute.
- If you serve bechamel to the table as an accompaniment to certain prepared dishes (and do not use it as a component of a recipe), it must be served hot - as it cools, the sauce will become crusty, which is completely unacceptable. Therefore, serve warm and use immediately. Well, or almost urgently.
- If you make too much sauce, the leftovers can be safely stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Be sure to cover thoroughly with cling film or pour the sauce into an airtight container.
What to use Bechamel sauce with? 10 available ideas:
- Lasagna. Classic. Of course, there are recipes for making lasagna without bechamel sauce, but still the main and most popular recipe involves its use; many seriously believe that lasagna without bechamel is like borscht without beets.
- Paste. Bechamel is one of the most popular sauces served with spaghetti, penne, tagliatelle and other pasta. The creamy aroma and enveloping structure turn any pasta into an almost masterpiece.
Mushroom béchamel sauce
- Casseroles, tarts and pies. If the filling that you planned to put in the pie seems a little dry to you, a little bechamel will not only save the situation - it will transform it to incredible results! Boiled fish, fried minced meat, unleavened vegetables - everything will be wonderful and tasty in the company of this sauce.
- Pancakes. If you mix mushrooms, fried onions, boiled chicken fillet, a little grated cheese and bechamel, you can make an amazing pancake filling. Form them into “bags”, tie them with a feather of green onion - you have a delicious snack ready.
- Baked fish. Place any neutral-tasting fish (sturgeon, pike perch, cod, hake, pangasius) in a baking dish, pour Bechamel sauce mixed with lightly fried mushrooms and cheese over it, bake until cooked. Simple, elegant, delicious.
- Oven-baked or steamed vegetables - cauliflower, potatoes, celery root, broccoli, pumpkin and others.“Béchamel” will give discreet-tasting and often rather bland vegetables an interesting flavor note. A little grated Parmesan - and an incredibly healthy, tasty and aromatic dinner is ready.
- Asparagus. Classics of the genre. Asparagus and bechamel are made for each other! The taste is refined, delicate, very delicate and “clean”.
- Eggs. Cooked in the oven with Bechamel sauce, they will become a real feast of taste! Add some sautéed spinach to the ramekins and get the famous Eggs Florentine.
- Sandwiches. Down with harmful mayonnaise, try seasoning the components of sandwiches and burgers with classic “white” sauce. By the way, this is an excellent reason to learn how to cook Croque Monsieur - this sandwich is impossible without the famous bechamel.
- Julienne. Yes, yes, season the chicken, mushrooms and cheese with the classic Bechamel sauce and get a delicious dish in its perfection.
Today, it is no longer so important who was the first to come up with the idea of preparing a milk sauce based on flour and butter, it does not matter what spices can be added to the milk and what proportion to choose in order to make the ideal Bechamel sauce from the point of view of a particular person. Another thing is important: based on the classic recipe, cooks tirelessly come up with new and new recipes. Who knows, maybe very soon we will hear something unusual from you? Dare and do not be afraid, many wonderful discoveries were made by amateurs.
Do gloomy autumn everyday life only make you want to wrap yourself in a blanket and fall asleep until spring? Add bright weekends and delicious food to them. For example, I come from Italy, a country where they know a lot about well-prepared dishes and food combinations. We invite you to treat yourself to meat lasagna, the recipe of which was shared with us by the chef, author of two cookbooks and TV presenter of the “ProSTO Kitchen” program on the STS TV channel Alexander Belkovich.
What you need for 10 servings:
- 1 large onion
- 60 ml vegetable oil
- 4 cloves garlic
- 800 g ground beef
- 500 g tomatoes in their own juice
- 100 ml dry white wine
- 500 g lasagne sheets
- 200 g suluguni
- 200 g hard cheese
Bechamel sauce:
- 30 g butter
- 30 g flour
- 200 ml 20% cream
- 600 ml 3.2% milk
- Nutmeg
- A few pinches of salt
Cooking time: 1 hour 40 minutes
How to cook:
Chop the onion into cubes. Fry in oil at maximum temperature until slightly golden, then add crushed garlic.
Immediately after, add the minced meat. When the minced meat is fried, without removing from the heat, add chopped tomatoes in their own juice. Also pour tomato juice into the frying pan.
Pour in the wine and stir. Simmer for 30 minutes over medium heat. If the filling thickens too much, add a little water.
While the filling is stewing, prepare the sauce.
Bechamel sauce: Melt butter in a frying pan, add flour. Stir until smooth over medium heat. Then, stirring constantly with a whisk, pour in the cream and milk. The sauce should begin to boil and thicken a little. Season with a little nutmeg and salt. Bring to the correct consistency and remove from heat. The sauce should be slightly thick, but runny and not runny like water. Strain the bechamel through a fine sieve to prevent any lumps from getting into the dish.
Add a little oil to boiling water, then one by one (5-6 pieces at a time maximum) boil the lasagne sheets. Oil is needed to prevent the sheets from sticking together. While they are boiling, make a preparation: pour cold water into a large container, into which you also need to pour a little oil. This is necessary so that the sheets do not stick to the form. Cook for 3-4 minutes until they become softer and more elastic. Place the cooked sheets in cold water with oil to cool.
Spread a thin layer of bechamel sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Place the cooled layers first on the corners of the mold, then covering the walls and bottom.
Half of each layer should hang over the edges of the mold. The next layer is minced meat with tomato paste. If you have fresh or dried basil, add it.
Then grate the cheeses on top: hard and suluguni. Repeat layers: bechamel - sheets - minced meat - basil - cheeses. The number of repetitions of layers depends on the size and height of your shape. When all the layers are laid out, close the lasagna with the second overhanging halves of the layers, pour over the bechamel sauce and sprinkle with a small amount of cheese. Cover the lasagna pan with foil, pressing the edges tightly. Place in the oven at 200 degrees for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, remove the foil and bake the lasagna for another 15-20 minutes until it is browned and golden brown. Cool the lasagna.
Bon appetit!
For the dish:
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1/2 onion
- 1 carrot
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 pinches of oregano
- 300g minced meat
- 1 tbsp. l. tomato puree
- 1 tbsp. l. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tbsp. red wine
- 400 g tomatoes
- 50 ml milk
- Black pepper
For the sauce:
- 25 g butter
- 25 g flour
- 300 ml milk
- Pinch of nutmeg
- 60g cheese
- 30g hard cheese
- 6 lasagne sheets
Preparation:
Photo: courtesy of TV channel "Yu"
- Heat olive oil in a frying pan.
- Grate the carrots, chop the onion and garlic and sauté.
- Season with bay leaf, oregano, Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
- Place the mince in the middle of the pan and stir.
- Add tomato puree and cook for 30 seconds.
- Cook until all the meat is browned.
- Add the wine, when it has evaporated, add the tomatoes.
- Cook for another 2-3 minutes, then add the milk, turn off the heat and set aside.
- For the sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan.
- Add flour and stir until thickened.
- Over low heat, add a third of the milk and whisk.
- Add the remaining milk, whisking constantly.
- Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
- Simmer the sauce for another minute before adding the cheese.
- Stir and remove from heat.
- Place half the mince in the bottom of the lasagna dish and cover with pasta sheets.
- Pour the cheese sauce over and add the remaining minced meat on top.
- Cover with pasta sheets and top with cheese sauce.
- Sprinkle with hard cheese and oregano.
- Add a little salt and pepper, scrape down the edges of the pan and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Bon appetit!
The Italians are great for inventing pasta, and the whole world has picked it up and created thousands of sauces and fillings for it. All lovers of delicious cooking know that there is nothing cooler than delving into the fundamentals and basics, and based on them complicating and expanding the recipe. One of the most popular and basic sauces, bechamel, is prepared simply from “homemade” ingredients. But any pasta with it becomes tasty, and its creamy texture complicates the dish, making it almost restaurant-quality.
Once you've mastered bechamel, it's time to get smart with it. I love the combination of white sauce with mushrooms and cheese. If you take a piece of plain cheese and the same blue cheese, this is what the doctor ordered. You can fry mushrooms, add a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and maybe hot cayenne. You can experiment endlessly, this is exactly what basic recipes are created for.
Let the pasta (200 g) cook. It is only tasty when slightly undercooked, al dente. So I usually cook it a minute less than what the package says. But in any case, try it as you go. Be sure to remember about rule 1110 - for 100 grams of pasta, add 10 grams of salt and a liter of water.
Cut mushrooms (5-6 pieces) into thick slices. 
And fry in butter until cooked. 
Interesting: Bechamel (French béchamel) is a base sauce based on roux (a heat-treated mixture of flour and fat, used as a thickener) and milk.
Take a saucepan with a thick bottom, we need it to not cool instantly when adding cold milk. Add a cube of butter and flour (25 grams each). 
Heat over high heat, stirring with a spatula. You want to get a homogeneous mass that will roll up a little. 
At this moment, pour in the first of three portions of milk. I take a little more milk (300 g). Pour in 100 grams and immediately stir with a whisk. You need to do this constantly to get rid of lumps. 
As soon as the sauce has set, pour in another portion of milk (100 g). Look at the photo, there are no lumps, the sauce is thick. 
Stir again with a whisk constantly, as if whipping the mass. As soon as the sauce begins to thicken again, pour in the third portion of milk (100 g). 
Here we stir with a whisk until the sauce confidently covers the back of the spoon. Remember that as it cools, the sauce will thicken even more, so you need to remove it from the stove with a slightly thinner sauce than you want to see in the pasta. It often happens that you overlooked it or didn’t have time and the sauce thickened quickly. Then pour in more milk a little at a time and stir with a whisk.
It is best to immediately pour the sauce into another container (so that it does not heat up in the saucepan). If you wait some time before serving, cover with film so that it touches the surface of the sauce. We do this so that a crust does not form. 
Special aesthetes can add grated Parmesan or pieces of Dor Blue. The sauce will be more voluminous and charismatic. 
April 27, 2017 No comments
Sauces are liquid, aromatic condiments served with the main dish. Chefs actively use sauces both when serving them together with ready-made dishes, as well as directly during the preparation of the dish itself (for brining foods with sauce or baking with sauces).
The sauce includes a liquid base and additional ingredients, such as vegetables, herbs, spices, fruits and herbs. There are not so many basic, base sauces that are prepared on a precisely defined liquid base. But there are a huge number of other sauces, which are various variations on the main themes.
Chef's sauce recipes are varied, but can be organized based on their base.
1. Sauces based on broths with flour. These are sauces based on meat, fish, and mushroom broths. These include the main espagnole sauce, as well as velouté. Espanol (French: La Sauce espagnole) is a famous brown sauce made from red wheat flour fried in butter until golden brown and rich meat broth. Among the auxiliary ones one can highlight demi-glace (French demi-glace), Jus Lie sauce, exquisite perigueux and robert. Veloute is a classic white sauce made from toasted golden flour and light chicken or veal stock. Among its derivatives one can highlight the French cuisine sauces allemande and poulet, and the national sauce of Georgian cuisine satsivi, etc.
2. Sauces based on vegetable and cereal infusions
3. Sauces made with milk and flour. This type includes traditional bechamel - a milk-based sauce prepared with white wheat fried in butter without changing color.
4. Butter-based sauces. One of the main sauces from French cuisine is the so-called Hollandaise, which is prepared in a water bath with egg yolks and butter. Its derivatives are Béarnaise sauce, Sauce Choron, as well as Meunière and Dijon sauces.
5. Sauces based on vegetable oil. The central one is, of course, mayonnaise, and additional ones include a piquant aioli sauce, the famous cold tartare, and remoulade. In addition, Italian pesto is also prepared with oil.
6. Sauces based on grated, chopped or boiled vegetables or fruits. This variety includes tomato sauces, Georgian tkemali sauce, various chutneys, Italian meat Bolognese, hot pepper sauces (Tabasco sauce, harissa, etc.), Italian mostarda sauce and Mexican gauacamole.
7. Sauces based on juices and vinegar. This type includes, for example, pomegranate sauce and spicy English Cumberland.
8. Sauces based on fermented foods, including fish (Nam Pla Thai and Vietnamese sauce Nuoc Nam), soy sauces (for example, hoisin and teriyaki).
9. Sauces based on fermented milk products such as sour cream, yogurt, etc. These include Greek dzadzyki sauce (ttzatsiki).
10. Sweet sauces with a variety of fruit and berry infusions, to which juices, milk, and red wine can be added. Thickeners in such sauces are potato starch, less often flour.
Chefs use a wide variety of cooking methods in their sauce recipes. One of the simplest is mixing different cold ingredients. Also, some sauces are prepared in a way called emulsification. This is how mayonnaise, tartar, hollandaise sauce, béarnaise sauce, beurre blag and others are prepared. To prepare bechamel and veloute sauces and many sauces based on them, chefs use a flour sauté called “roux.”
Currently, classic sauce recipes from chefs are slightly inferior in popularity to lighter and simpler sauces, but the ability to prepare them accurately is still valued.
Cheese sauce
Cheese sauce is one of the most popular sauces. Today, they eat any dish with it, from chips to fresh vegetables. Let's look at a simple recipe for cheese sauce from chefs. It is recommended to use natural yogurt for its preparation, so it will be tasty and healthy. And the cheese for this sauce must have a bright taste.
Required ingredients:
Gorgonzola cheese - 100 g
butter - 50 g
thick natural yogurt - 1 cup
ground nutmeg
Step 1
Take butter and soften it at room temperature.
Step 2
Press 100 g of Gorgonzola cheese through a fine sieve.
Step 3
Mix thoroughly or beat the butter, Gorgonzola cheese, and yogurt using a mixer. Cheese sauce is best served with appetizers such as deli meats, toasted baked goods, bread or crackers.
Créme de champignons is always served hot and goes well with meat, chicken and any game. You can use it to season pasta.
Required ingredients:
Chicken broth – 200 g
champignons – 250 g
shallots – 1 pc.
creme fraiche - 1 tbsp. l.
butter - 4 tbsp. l.
flour – 10 g
salt
ground black pepper
Step 1
Peel the onions and rinse the mushrooms, chop everything finely, fry in 3 tablespoons of butter over moderate heat for about 10 minutes.
Step 2
Take a thick-bottomed saucepan and fry the flour in the remaining butter for a couple of minutes. Stirring constantly, carefully pour in the broth and cook for about 3 minutes.
Step 3
Add shallots and mushrooms, mix thoroughly and add creme fraiche. Bring to a boil, remove from heat. Season with salt and ground pepper.
Required ingredients:
Fresh figs – 500 g
red grapes - 400 g
orange – 1 pc.
balsamic vinegar - 1 tbsp. l.
olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.
salt
ground black pepper
Step 1
Cut the figs into slices, remove the red grapes from the branches, make sure that the berries are without stalks. Place the figs and grapes on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and place in an oven preheated to 200 degrees for about 10 minutes.
Step 2
Remove the zest from the orange and cut it into small strips. Squeeze out the orange pulp.
Step 3
Combine roasted figs, grapes, orange juice and zest, balsamic vinegar, and a little salt and pepper. Place in the refrigerator and leave for about 4 hours. Chutney sauce is perfect served with meat or poultry dishes.
Despite the fact that this is one of the simplest recipes, chefs use this sauce to lubricate game grilled over coals or in the oven. It should also be served with it.
Required ingredients:
Ready tomato sauce - 400 g
tomato paste - 3 tbsp. l.
small onion – 1 pc.
garlic - 4 cloves
Worcestershire sauce – 1 tbsp.
apple cider vinegar – 75 ml
olive oil – 50 ml
dark brown sugar - 1 tbsp. l.
mustard powder - 1 tsp.
ground black pepper
Cayenne pepper
salt
Step 1
Peel the onion and 4 cloves of garlic and chop fairly finely separately.
Step 2
In a deep frying pan with a thick bottom, heat the olive oil over moderate heat, add the onion, and fry until soft, about 5 minutes. Then add garlic and fry for another couple of minutes.
Step 3
Add tomato sauce to the onion and garlic and bring to a boil. Pour sugar and mustard powder into half a glass of boiling water, stir until they are completely dissolved.
Step 4
Add tomato paste and apple cider vinegar, stir again and pour the resulting mixture into the tomato sauce. Season with a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
Step 5
Remove the sauce from the heat and cool before serving, which will take about an hour.
Chef's tip:
This sauce can be stored in pasteurized form, for which you take several times more ingredients, prepare the sauce and pour it into pre-sterilized jars.
Required ingredients:
Homemade mayonnaise – 200 ml
good tomato ketchup - 1 tbsp. l.
cayenne pepper - ¼ tsp.
Tabasco - 4-5 drops
lemon juice – ½ tsp.
salt
ground black pepper
Step 1
Mix mayonnaise with tomato ketchup, cayenne pepper, and Tabasco or Worcestershire sauce.
Step 2
Add the juice of one lemon slice. Salt and pepper.
Step 3
Refrigerate until set, at least 2 hours.
Required ingredients:
100 g green basil
120 ml extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp. l. grated parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp. l. grated pecorino cheese
1 tbsp. l. pine nuts
sea salt (coarse)
Step 1
Wash the basil and dry. Peel the garlic and cut into slices. Grind basil, nuts, garlic in a blender into a uniform mass, add salt. Add grated cheese.
Step 2
While whisking, gradually pour in the olive oil in a thin stream.
Chef's tip:
Pesto sauce can be made at home and it will take you very little time. Many nutritionists agree that this sauce is very healthy and suitable for proper nutrition, but this cannot be said, for example, about the equally famous mayonnaise.
Tkemali sauce
Required ingredients:
Coriander - 3 tsp.
ground red pepper - 1.5 tsp.
dry dill - 2 tbsp. l.
fresh tkemali plums - 1 kg
chopped fresh cilantro - 3 tsp.
water – 50 ml
garlic - one head
dry mint - 2 tsp.
1. Wash the plums and cut them in half. Place them in a saucepan, add water and cook over low heat until they are completely boiled.
2. Drain the plum mass into a separate bowl. Place the plums in a sieve and wipe. Place the pureed plum pulp on low heat and cook for about 40 minutes, periodically adding the broth until the mass becomes thick.
3. Wash the cilantro, dry it and chop it finely. Add all the spices and cilantro to the saucepan. Cook for about five minutes.
Bechamel sauce
Béchamel sauce is one of the foundations of French cuisine. It is perfect for eggs, fish, and many other baked dishes.
Required ingredients:
Butter - 4 tbsp. l.
flour - 50 g
milk - 300 ml
fresh nutmeg
salt
ground white pepper
Step 1
Take a saucepan with a thick bottom, melt the butter over low heat, add flour and, stirring constantly, fry until golden brown, 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Step 2
Add half the milk and mix thoroughly. Pour in the remaining milk, season with nutmeg, a pinch of salt and pepper.
Step 3
Return to low heat and cook, stirring, until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
Required ingredients:
Large avocados – 2 pcs.
medium tomatoes – 4 pcs.
onion – 1 small head
salt
ground black pepper
cilantro
lime juice
Cut the avocado. Remove the pit. Scoop out the pulp with a tablespoon.
Finely chop the tomatoes, onion and cilantro.
In a deep bowl, thoroughly mash the avocado pulp with a fork, add finely chopped tomatoes and onions. Add cilantro and stir. Add salt, ground pepper and lime juice to your taste.
You can serve guacamole sauce with corn chips.
Chef's tip:
To prevent the sauce from turning black, you need to place an avocado pit in the middle of the prepared snack.
Smoked bacon - 300 g
garlic - 1 clove
parmesan - 100 g
egg yolks – 6 pcs.
cream (fat content 22%) – 150 ml
olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.
salt pepper
Peel and chop the garlic. Cut the bacon into small pieces. Heat olive oil in a saucepan and fry garlic and bacon, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Grate Parmesan. Bring the cream to a boil, cool slightly, add cheese and stir.
Beat the egg yolks until foamy and add to the cream and Parmesan mixture. Mix with sautéed onions and bacon.
It should be remembered that it is not the sauce that is added to the pasta, but vice versa. In addition, the sauce should be just right so that the pasta does not float in it, but is in the required proportion.
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