Frugal Feeds | 16 Delicious Variations on Medium White Sauce--Your food will never be boring again!

Today we will look at the next thickness of white sauce. White sauce number 2 is the standard sauce thickness. It is what we most commonly expect from a creamy sauce. It sticks to the spoon a bit, has a great body and luscious mouth feel. It is used for creamed or scalloped dishes, mock hollandaise, gravy, creamy sauces and chowders. Once you learn this one you will have an abundance of dishes at your fingertips. It makes a lot of different basic sauces!

For this Base White Sauce #2 you will want:

2 Tablespoons fat
2 Tablespoons starch
1 cup liquid, usually 2% milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of pepper

You will need a whisk, a pouring cup and a saute pan.

In a medium sized saute pan over medium-high heat (usually 7 on the dial), melt the fat. Sprinkle the starch over the melted fat and whisk it until it is smooth, bubbly and fully mixed. Allow it to cook for five minutes. You have just made a Roux.

Using about one third of the liquid at a time whisk it into the Roux--fat-starch mixture.

Have the liquid fully whisked in before adding the next third of liquid. By this careful process you end up with a sauce that is free of lumps.

Add remaining liquid and fully whisk in.

Once all of the liquid is whisked in--drop the temperature to medium low (usually a 4 on the dial) and let it simmer until it thickens slightly. Add the seasoning to taste and serve.

This makes 1 cup of medium, number two, base White Sauce. Basic White Sauce #2 provides you with 90 calories and 30% of your daily fiber.

Here are some ways to use that to make a lot of different sauces.

For Brown Sauce, browned flour in fat and add low sodium beef stock. Add 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce.
For Mushroom Sauce 1, use brown sauce and add 3/4 cup sliced, sauteed mushrooms and 1 teaspoon summer savory.
For Mushroom Sauce 2, do not brown flour, use reduced fat cream instead of stock, use white pepper and do not add savory.
For Cheese Sauce, toss 1/2 cup low fat grated cheese with 1 teaspoon flour. Add a few Tablespoons at a time to White Sauce 2 that is kept warm over a low burner. Stir until it melts before adding next Tablespoons of cheese. White wine or dry mustard are great additions.
For Mock Hollandaise whisk 2 Tablespoons lemon juice, 2 egg yolks and 2 Tablespoons butter and add to warm White Sauce 2.
For Chowders add 1 lb. cooked lean meat (or 2 cups vegetables or 2 cups seafood), 1/4 lb. diced, cooked, drained lean bacon, 1 1/2 cups diced, cooked potato and 1/4 cup minced onion, to 4 cups White Sauce 2. Heat through, add black pepper to taste.
For Creamed Dishes add 1 1/2 cups vegetables or minced/sliced cooked meat to 1/2 cup White Sauce 2. Serve over toast.
For Au Gratin Dishes top with 1/2 cup toasted bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated low fat cheese to the Creamed Dish and place under broiler briefly to melt the cheese.
For Cream Gravy use butter for fat, lean cream for the liquid, add 1/2 pound cooked, drained, lean pork breakfast sausage and 1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper. (highly caloric and uses expensive ingredients, use this sparingly)
For Foamy Egg Sauce make White Sauce 2. Beat one egg until foamy and whisk in 1 teaspoon of the White Sauce. Whisk egg/sauce mixture into remaining White Sauce and simmer briefly.
For Veloute Sauce, use strong low sodium chicken broth for liquid. Place chicken broth in a saute pan and bring to boil. Boil until the amount of broth has reduced by at least half. This is your strong broth.
For Chaud-Froid Sauce, soak 1 Tablespoon plain gelatin or 3 Tablespoons Agar Flakes or 2 teaspoons Agar powder in cold water for fifteen minutes. Add to the hot Veloute Sauce. Allow to cool.
For Poulette Sauce, whisk 2 two egg yolks and 1 cup cream. Add to white sauce. Bring to temperature and whisk in 2 teaspoons butter--one at a time until fully incorporated--add a few Tablespoons lemon juice and some minced parsley. High in calories, use sparingly.
For Bechamel Sauce, use a 1/2 cup 2% milk and a 1/2 cup low sodium stock for the liquid.
For Onion Sauce use low sodium beef stock for the liquid and add 1/2 c. sauteed onions.
For Sauce Supreme use low sodium chicken stock and add 2 Tablespoons lemon juice and 2 Tablespoons parsley.

When you add cheese, cream, butter or meats to the recipe it adds calories and fat. When you add vegetables it adds a small amount of calories but greatly increases the nutrients and fiber. Use egg whites when it calls for eggs and you will reduce the calories and fat, but it will also reduce the creaminess.

See, once you get this one under your belt you will have a lot of variety available for your meals!

Frugal Feeds | 9 Recipes for White Sauce Creates Endless Diversity in your Dishes

Understanding white sauce will open up a tremendous amount of options for your recipes. Although called a sauce, and in some cases used as a sauce, white sauce is actually more of a binder. Think of it as either a thin, liquidy glue, a standard white glue, a paste or a caulk. When thought of in these four terms it is closer to how we use it.

Today we will focus on white sauce number one--thin, liquidy glue.

For White Sauce #1 you will need:

1 T. fat--olive oil, coconut oil, nut butter
1 T. starch--white whole wheat flour, whole wheat flour, whole oat flour, 3/4 T. brown rice flour or 3/4 T garbanzo bean flour
(Pan browned flour makes it less thick but more flavorful.)
1 c. liquid--2% milk, plain milk alternative, low sodium broth, wine, juice or water
1/2 t. seasoning--salt, pepper, herbs, spices, low fat cheese, bacon

Makes 4, 1/4 cup servings, or about one ladle-full each


For the Traditional White Sauce #1 that works out to be:

1 T. olive oil
1 T. white whole wheat flour
1 c. 2% milk
1/4 t. salt

You will need a whisk, a pouring cup and a saute pan.

In a medium sized saute pan over medium-high heat (usually 7 on the dial), melt the fat, if using coconut oil, and bring to a low simmer. If using nut butter add a bit of water to the nut butter before bringing to a simmer. Sprinkle the starch (white whole wheat flour) over the simmering fat and whisk it until it is very smooth, bubbly and fully mixed. Allow it to simmer for five minutes. You have just made a Roux. Using about one third of the liquid (2% milk) at a time whisk it into the Roux--fat-starch mixture.

Have the liquid fully whisked in before adding the next third of liquid. By this careful process you end up with a sauce that is free of lumps.

Once all of the liquid is whisked in--drop the temperature to medium low (usually a 4 on the dial) and let it simmer until it thickens slightly. Add the seasoning (salt) to taste and serve.

This is the sauce you would use for making a thin white sauce for left-over chicken, a cream-of-something soup, a creamy wine sauce, and a bechamel. One serving of White Sauce #1 gives you 70 calories.


For the White Sauce #1 using Corn or Potato Starch:
Melt the fat in the pan. In a bowl whisk together the liquid and the starch until fully smooth and lump free. Add liquid to pan, whisking regularly. Add seasoning and allow to thicken.


For the Thin White Sauce for Chicken
Change it up from plain white sauce to something different every time.
Things to change:
Add mustard (be sure it doesn't contain vinegar, lemon or other acid or your sauce will curdle) or use mustard powder
Add some grated low fat cheese once you remove the sauce from the heat, and stir to melt
Add Summer Savory
Add Rosemary
Add Thyme



For the Cream-of-Something-Soup
Recipe, as it is, is one serving for a soup. To make it a family sized four serving soup change the ingredients to:

4 T. fat
4 T starch
4 c. liquid
2 t. seasoning

This change to the serving size for Basic White Sauce #1 makes each serving of Cream of Something Soup provide 281 calories and 16% of your daily fiber.

Veggie Soup: Add leftover cooked vegetables at 1/2 cup per person
Broccoli Cheese Soup: Add 1/2 c. broccoli and 1/4 c. shredded low fat cheese per person--add the cheese after you remove it from the stove but before you serve. Stir until melted through.
Cream of Mushroom Soup: Add 1/3 c. sauteed mushrooms and some garlic to taste.
Cream of Tomato Soup: Whisk in 3 c. tomato puree, 2 T. tomato paste and 1 tsp. black pepper.
Cream of Potato Soup: Add 2 diced, cooked, medium sized potatoes and 1/2 cup crumbled bacon or imitation bacon bits.

Adding vegetables increases the nutrients. Adding cheese increases the fat and calories.

 
For a Creamy Wine Sauce:
You will need to replace at least 1/2 of your liquid with red or white wine, depending on how strong a wine flavor you are seeking.

For a Creamy Bechamel Sauce:
You will need to replace 1/2 of your milk with low sodium beef or low sodium chicken broth, depending on how strong a meat flavor you are seeking. Low fat broth reduces the calories in the White Sauce #1 recipes.

You now have a simple sauce that can be used to enhance flavor, mask left over meats, add variety to dishes or to take small amounts of left overs and turn them into filling soups. Add a few croutons from last week and the taste and texture will be outstanding.

Tomorrow we will cover White Sauce #2.