Named after a French general. Am I lying?

[madbaker]

This week's Resolution Recipe: Soubise Sauce.

3/4 cup Bechamel sauce:
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 Tbsp flour
salt and white pepper
pinch of nutmeg

Scald milk: heat just until bubbles form around the edge of the pan. In a small saucepan, melt the butter and stir in the flour. Cook until bubbly but not browned, stirring occasionally - about 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk all at once. Season with salt and pepper; reduce heat to low and simmer until thick, about 10 minutes. Stir in the nutmeg.

remainder of the sauce:
1 Tbsp butter
1 large onion, minced (I used 1 small onion and 3 shallots)
Bechamel from above
1/4 cup cream
more salt, pepper, nutmeg

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until extremely soft but not browned, about 20 minutes. Stir in the bechamel and simmer gently over low heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and strain if desired (that's classic, but I didn't bother; I don't mind a more rustic version). Return to low heat and stir in the cream. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

What worked: It was fine over chicken. Although the dinner was a bit excessively white (baked chicken, Soubise sauce, and roasted white carrots...)

What didn't: Much richer than we normally eat. Also a bit more work than I thought it merited. I accidentally browned the onion/shallot slightly, reducing the all-white aspect.

Will I make it again? Probably not. Cream sauces just aren't really my normal thing.

What I'm reading: Harry Turtledove, Opening Atlantis

Comments

[strmonkey.livejournal.com]

It sounds wonderfully rich! After hospital food I bet even I could only eat about 4 bites of it but oh I like to die trying! I think your substitution of shallots would give it a deeper flavor-that and I LOVE shallots in most dishes!

[hrj.livejournal.com]

It does sound a bit like "make a white sauce ... and then use that to make a white sauce".

[klwilliams.livejournal.com]

The answer to the second does not necessarily relate to the veracity of the first. Today's Mrs. Byrne's Dictionary word from the Page a Day calendar:

Veriloquent: Speaking truthfully.

[serendipity17.livejournal.com]

It sure does. I didn't realize there were derivative sauces from bechamel apart from mornay and other "bechamel plus Things". "Things" =/= onion+roux.