Recipes from
Base Recipes
Roux
Roux is a basic thickening ingredient that can add some butter flavor when blond to a slightly nutty flavor when browned. Roux will add a level of opaqueness to your dish but will retain its thickening properties for long cooking periods.
Servings:
N/A
Yield:
Varies
Prep Time
15 minutes
Cook Time:
20 minutes
Total Time:
35 minutes
Preparation
- Measure out Butter
- Measure out Flour
Direction
Heat a frying pan to medium-low heat. Add butter and let melt before adding the butter. Wisk butter and flour together until well blended.
For a blond (light ) roux lower heat and cook, stirring regularly to keep for scorching and cook for at least 15 minutes. The cooking time is important as you want to cook the flour taste out of the roux. If it starts to darken lower the heat. This roux will have a buttery flavor without any doughy flour-like taste.
For a medium roux make a blond roux and then raise temp to medium heat and stir continuously until golden brown to a caramel brown depending on what you are looking to accomplish. Do not let this scorch at all.
The darker the color the more nutty and toasted flavor you will get.
Customize
- None
Substitute
- butter for oil of choice if your do not want a buttery or nutty taste. I have never found a need for a substitution in these roux
Notes:
There is a much darker version of this known as Cajun or dark roux. It is a little more involved to make and has limited use. It has not been included here as we have it as a stand-alone recipe.
If there is too much flour (i.e., it is thick and past like when hot) you will have a harder time getting it to disperse evenly and not create lumps in your sauces.
If your roux is too thin you will end up adding more roux to the recipe to get your desired thickness and end up changing the flavor with the amount of butter added.
The nice thing about a roux is that it will not break down and lose its thickening quality with prolonged cooking; Something very common with your starch-based gravies. Ever make that perfect gravy and by the time you serve it has become thin; starches.
The downside of flour-based thickeners is they will always be a little opaque/cloudy. It is impossible to get a translucent/clear sauce with flour the way you can with some starches (like Arrowroot).
How to Video