Sauce Chivry - Herbed Béchamel Recipe

heavy cream

🥗Healthier: Greek yogurt

💰Cheaper: milk + cornstarch

Greek yogurt reduces calories while maintaining creaminess

white wine

🥗Healthier: white grape juice

💰Cheaper: cooking wine

White grape juice offers sweetness without alcohol.

Stick the bay leaf to the onion with the cloves, and place it and the milk into a small saucepan over low heat until the milk shimmers.

Chop up 4 Tbsp of fines herbes, or just tarragon, or herbs indicated by your particular use case.

Place the herbs and wine or vermouth into the small saucepan over medium heat, bring it to the boil, and let it simmer to reduce au sec, until about 3 Tbsp of liquid remains.

Melt the butter in a medium to large saucepan over medium-high heat, then add the flour to the melted butter before it has much chance to bubble.

Stir the flour and butter together thoroughly, and continue to stir as the roux cooks for about two minutes, or until any color is seen on the edges or bottom.

Immediately take the roux off the heat and continue to stir, allowing it to cool slightly.

Pour in the milk in stages, omitting the onion bouquet, beating together the milk with the roux after each addition.

Return the sauce to the heat and simmer for a short time, stirring constantly, until it thickens and does not taste of raw flour.

Take the sauce off the fire; the béchamel sauce is finished and may be stored for later use.

Return the sauce to the heat and stir in the herb essence, using a strainer and spoon or ladle to press all the liquid out of the herb mass.

Allow the sauce to cook for a minute or two, then add the butter and chopped herbs and remove from heat.

Mix everything together well and give it a dash of hot sauce.

Add the seasonings and fine-tune by tasting.

Cooking Techniques

Equipment Needed

Spice Level:

Dietary

Allergens