The many uses of white sauce

What is white sauce? It's a mixture of some form of fat, flour, and milk. In it's most basic form it's often served as country gravy over biscuits or chicken fried steak. For most people, if they use it at all, that's where it ends. But, white sauce is an amazingly versatile recipe.

Before we go any further in its uses, let me give you the recipe.

2 T. white flour (whole wheat flour will work sometimes, but you need more of it)
2 T. fat (bacon drippings, fat from hamburgers, oil, butter)
1 cup milk (any kind: cow, rice, soy, almond, etc)

Heat the fat in a skillet or saucepan. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for about 2 minutes. This step is essential, because it removes the raw flavor of the flour. Slowly add the milk while stirring constantly. Continue to heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens and begins to boil. You can season it to taste with salt and pepper. True southern gravy has quite a bit of pepper in it and is usually made from sausage or bacon drippings or ham fat.

The beauty of this mixture is that it has the consistency (though not the flavor) of cream. It can be used anywhere you want a non-sweet, creamy texture. One of the most common places I've seen it is in casseroles. It takes the place of the canned creamy soups that many people put in their casseroles. I've used it in place of mayonnaise in my spinach, artichoke dip.

Altering White Sauce
This sauce can be altered quite a bit. The flour can not be left out or changed, because its particular combination of flavor, gluten, and starch is essential to the way this works. Most basic gravies can be done with cornstarch, but the process is different. When using flour to thicken things, you need to add it to the fat, cook it, then add the liquid. When using cornstarch, you start with a liquid, then add a mixture of equal parts cornstarch and water.

Even though the flour cannot really be altered, the other ingredients are infinitely variable. The fat can be any fat. If you're making it as a gravy for meat, use the fat that you cooked the meat in. If you want no flavor from the fat, use oil. One of my favorite onion recipes is to saute onions in oil, then add the flour and milk to that. I serve it in an individual bowl and sprinkle it with cracker crumbs. Voila. Creamed onions. Sausage gravy is basically the same thing. Crumble and cook 1/2 pound of sausage. Add 4 T. of flour and cook that in. Then add 2 cups of milk and cook until thick. This is absolutely delicious over biscuits.

The real miracles take place when you start playing with the liquid. The best turkey gravy is made from the liquid that accumulates in the bottom of the pan while the turkey was cooking (called drippings). Add a little water to the pan, and scrape up the browned bits that are stuck to the pan. Pour these drippings into a measuring cup and skim off the fat into a smaller measuring cup. Taste the liquid. If it's too strong add water or milk. I usually end up with 3-4 cups of liquid from one turkey. Pour the fat into a pan. You want between 1 and 2 Tbsp. for each cup of liquid you have. Heat the fat then add 2 Tbsp of flour for each cup of liquid. Continue with the directions for white sauce, using the drippings instead of milk.

White sauces are used in so many recipes: souffles, alfredo sauce, gravies, sauces, casseroles. But the most amazing use I've ever seen is in chicken croquettes. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients
2 Tbsp butter (or any solid fat)
1/3 cup flour
1 cup milk (any kind)
2 1/2 cups finely chopped chicken (you can use canned)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion (optional)
salt or onion salt
Seasoned Breadcrumbs
Oil for frying

Use the butter, flour and milk to make a white sauce. It will be very thick because it has 3 times as much flour. Add the chicken and onion. Add salt or onion salt to taste (probably about 1/2 tsp.). Refrigerate this mixture until it is almost solid, at least 2 hours. Heat 1-2 Tbsp oil in a skillet. Form the chicken mixture into patty shapes and coat with breadcrumbs. Place in skillet and fry on both sides until golden brown. Serve warm. These do not keep very well.

White sauce is a perfect example of the amazing properties of flour. When you begin to understand the basics of cooking and how ingredients work together you will begin to enjoy the creative process and enjoy the food.