Roux (pronounced "roo") is a thickening agent for soups and sauces with roots dating back more than 300 years in French cuisine. Made by cooking a flour and oil paste until the raw flavor of the flour cooks out and the roux has achieved the desired color, a properly cooked roux imparts silky-smooth body and a nutty flavor while thickening soups and sauces.
Roux can be made with a variety of oils and animal fats. It is commonly made with vegetable oil, olive oil, or clarified butter, but can also be prepared with bacon grease or other rendered fats. Its distinction from other thickeners is that the starch, in this case flour, is cooked before use. Cooking removes the flour's raw taste but maintains its excellent thickening properties. This enables roux to be a stable, smooth, and delicate thickener. When cooked to a golden or brown stage, roux takes on a rich, toasted flavor, adding color to a soup, stew, sauce, or other dish.
Roux can be made with a variety of oils and animal fats. It is commonly made with vegetable oil, olive oil, or clarified butter, but can also be prepared with bacon grease or other rendered fats. Its distinction from other thickeners is that the starch, in this case flour, is cooked before use. Cooking removes the flour's raw taste but maintains its excellent thickening properties. This enables roux to be a stable, smooth, and delicate thickener. When cooked to a golden or brown stage, roux takes on a rich, toasted flavor, adding color to a soup, stew, sauce, or other dish.
Roux is the thickening agent of four of the mother sauces of classical French cooking: sauce béchamel, sauce velouté, allemande sauce, and sauce espagnole.
Read more: All About Roux
serves 4
- 1 1/2 ounce package wild mushrooms
- 1 1/2 cup vegetable broth, boiling
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 tablespoons butter, divided
- 3 8-ounce packages of white button or portobello mushrooms, washed and chopped
- 4 large shallots, minced
- 4 large cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped sage
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper
1. Mix 1 cup boiling broth with the white wine.
2. Heat a tablespoon of butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped mushrooms, remaining broth, shallots, garlic, sage. Cook until fragrant and soft.
3. Add the second tablespoon of butter and, when melted, add the flour. Stir rapidly, letting the flour thicken with the butter into a paste. Have a whisk ready! Slowly pour in the mushroom broth and white wine, whisking rapidly. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking, until the mixture thickens. It should thicken to the consistency of a thick gravy.
4. Add the chopped parsley, stirring until wilted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately over pasta with plenty of fresh Parmesan.
No comments:
Post a Comment