We are long overdue for a recipe post, and today we're getting one of my favorites. Before I jump right into it though, let me remind you that there's only 4 days left to enter the FREE giveaway, and so far only 2 people have entered. So give Stephanie and Jennie a run for their money (that's just an expression...it is really FREE to enter) by visiting the
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And now for our recipe. I am a big fan of the basic white sauce (also known as a Roux sauce for the more culinary-inclined). To make a basic white sauce:
- Add equal parts melted fat (shortening, butter, oil, etc) and flour in a sauce pan. This will form a roux, essentially a ball of flour and fat.
- Slowly add milk and the roux dissolves into your liquid, thickening the liquid. (Don't add the milk all at once or you're more likely to get lumps).
- Continue adding milk (or other liquid) until the sauce is at your desired consistency.
- Add other ingredients and seasonings to turn into whatever dish you're working on.
Simple enough, and oh so versatile. I use this in making all my cream soups (chicken corn chowder, cream of cauliflower/broccoli, etc), in making my pot pie gravy filling, my cheese sauce for mac and cheese, and I know you can make custards and other desserts with it as well. So this is one tool you definitely want in your cooking arsenal. And the best news is, you can do it COMPLETELY with food storage! THRIVE sells butter powder, powdered milk, and flour. Everything you need to make your basic white sauce. Just add water and away you go. Now, this isn't a Whitney Hemsath original idea... it's been around for quite a while under the name of "Magic Mix". But thanks to THRIVE, you can make your own Magic Mix at home.
Here is the basic ratio for Magic Mix:
1 part THRIVE butter powder
1 part THRIVE flour
2 parts THRIVE powdered milk (Non-Instant)
Many people love to mix up the above ingredients into a big batch of Magic Mix, keep it in their pantry, and then use it as needed in their favorite recipes. If you do that, I suggest 1 cup butter powder, 1 cup flour, 2 cups powdered milk. You'll wind up with 4 cups of Magic mix to use in your favorite recipes.
If you've pre-made your magic mix, for a white sauce you'll simply need 1 part magic mix to 2 parts water. Whisk them together in a sauce pan, removing all lumps, and it will thicken as it cooks.
If you don't have magic mix in bulk and want just a
single serving white sauce recipe, here you go:
1 Tbsp THRIVE butter powder
1 Tbsp THRIVE flour
2 Tbsp THRIVE powdered milk (Non-Instant)
1/2 cup water.
Mix the dry ingredients in a saucepan with a whisk. Whisk in water, and cook over medium heat. Sauce will thicken as it cooks, and this will yield about 1/2 cup of white sauce. I love this recipe for white sauce. I added my liquid all at once, it only took about 15 seconds of whisking to get rid of any lumps, and in 3-4 minutes it was thick and warm and wonderfully done. I made it today for lunch, and decided to add:
- 1 Tbsp light cream cheese
- 1 Tbsp Parmesan
- 1.5 Tbsp THRIVE FD Spinach
- Garlic Salt to taste
Cooked it in the pan till the cream cheese was melted and the spinach had reconstituted. Poured it on top of some leftover noodles, and here was my lunch. The sauce could probably have served two people, but I love me some alfredo, so I ate it all myself. I will probably add more Parmesan next time, because everything tastes better with more cheese. But it was yummy and very filling as is.
