Escoffier At Home

Tag: roux

0139. Sauce Normande, Normandy Sauce

Escoffier recipe for making sauce normande, Normandy Sauce, at home (Escoffier 139).

This sauce is special for serving with Sole Normande but also has a wide range of applications as a basis for other fish sauces. It is a very smooth, white, cream-based sauce with a light, but complex, taste. Perfect in recipes using whitefish, such as sole or tilapia.

Not the easiest of recipes unless you already just happen to have some velouté de poisson, mushroom stock, mussel stock and fumét de poisson laying around…

Mise en place for sauce normande:

Sauce Normande

In a large stockpot, whisk together fish velouté, mushroom stock, mussel stock and fish fumét. Bring to a simmer.

In a bowl, whisk together lemon juice, egg yolks and 180g of heavy cream. Whisk this “sour” milk into the just-simmering sauce, and reduce it by one-third on low heat. This will take some time, as you’ll want to keep the heat low to avoid scorching the sauce.

Once it has reduced, remove the sauce from the heat and strain into a clean saucepan. Finish the sauce by whisking in 114g of cubed, room temp butter and 120g of heavy cream.

Let cool and store in a sealed plastic container.

Ingredients
660g (2 3/4 cups) fish velouté
111g (1/2 cup) mussel stock
130g (1/2 cup) mushroom stock
167g (2/3 cup) fish fumét
3g (1/2 teaspoon) lemon juice
5 egg yolks
180g (3/4 cup) heavy cream
114g (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
120g (1/2 cup) heavy cream

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Kitchen knife and cutting board
Measuring bowls
Large stockpot
Wooden spoon
Wire whisk
Rubber spatula
Strainer or chinois
Medium Saucepan
Plastic containers

24 November 2012
0013. Roux Brun, Brown Roux

Escoffier recipe for making roux brun, brown roux, at home (Escoffier, 13).

What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux brun (“roo BROWN”), is made the same way as roux blanc and roux blond. The only difference is it’s cooked longer, until the flour turns a strong brown color. Its taste is described as very toasty or nutty.

Mise en place for brown roux:

Roux Brun, Brown Roux

Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 30-35 minutes — or until the flour turns a strong brown color.

This dark roux may used to thicken up many types of gravies and heavy, darker sauces. When you cook the roux for this length of time, the clarified butter separates from the flour. Escoffier even suggests the butter may be saved for another use. I just stir it up to re-incorporate the oil a bit before using.

When mixing a roux into sauce, be careful to either a: mix cold roux into a hot sauce, or b: mix hot roux into a cold sauce. This activates the starch so it will thicken your sauce.

White roux and blond roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for shorter lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

Ingredients
225g clarified butter, unsalted
275g sifted, all-purpose flour

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Plastic container

20 November 2012
0014. Roux Blond, Blond Roux

Escoffier recipe for making roux blond, blond roux, at home (Escoffier, 14).

What is a roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blond (“roo BLON”), is made the same way as roux blanc. The only difference is it’s cooked few minutes more, until the flour starts turning a golden blonde color. Keep cooking it and you get roux brun.

Mise en place for blond roux:

Blond Roux

Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for about 15-20 minutes — or until the flour smells nutty and begins to turn a golden color. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

This roux is used to thicken up lighter-colored sauces, like fish velouté.

White roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked for different lengths of time. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

Ingredients
225g clarified unsalted butter
275g sifted, all-purpose flour

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Plastic container

20 November 2012
0015. Roux Blanc, White Roux

Escoffier recipe for making roux blanc, white roux, at home (Escoffier, 15).

What is roux? It’s a simple thickener, made with only two ingredients – butter and flour! Roux blanc (“roo BLONK”), is cooked much shorter than roux blond and roux brun. This can be made in just a few minutes.

Mise en place for white roux:

Roux Blanc, White Roux

Make some clarified butter, by melting the unsalted butter, skimming off its foam and saving the yellow butterfat.

Mix the clarified butter and flour together in a heavy pan and cook on low heat, whisking for 5-10 minutes — or until the flour smells a little nutty and takes on a sheen. It may take more or less time depending on the level of heat used.

Remember, you want to cook it just long enough to cook out the real floury taste.

This roux may used to thicken up white sauces.

Blond roux and brown roux are made the exact same way, only cooked longer until the flour browns more. Here’s a shot of them side-by-side for comparison. From left to right: white, blond and brown roux.

Ingredients
225g clarified unsalted butter
275g sifted, all-purpose flour

Equipment
Salter digital scale
Cutting board and kitchen knife
Heavy-bottomed pan or medium saucepan
Wire whisk
Plastic container

20 November 2012