You'll Roux the Day!

Ahhh the Roux! A decidedly French concoction, designed to thicken sauces and add richness to them.

The Roux works well with virtually any cream or cheese sauce that you wish to have a thicker consistency. You'll see this item used a lot in Cajun cooking, and in French cuisine. The ratio is about 1:1, so 1 tbsp fat (butter usually) and 1 tbsp flour.

I started with about 3 tbsp butter, and flour on a medium-low stove top setting. Don't crank up the heat, as butter has a fairly low smoke point, and will rapidly turn from yellow Noms, to separated water and burned fat in no time on high.

Why does this look good already? Oh yeah, butter!

Now, once the butter is melted and the flour is stirred together, it will form the start of a blonde Roux. The longer you cook the Roux, the darker and nuttier smelling it will become. Also, the less thickening power it has. So if you want a thick sauce, keep it blonde. If you want nuttiness, depth and a looser sauce, slowly stir the Roux for a few minutes longer and it will start to turn a darker shade of brown. Remember, slow and easy does it.

Bubbly goodness!

Since this is a blonde Roux, it will bubble a bit to make sure the flour is cooked and incorporated, and should have a slightly loose consistency, like a warm pudding before it sets up.

Once this is done you are ready to incorporate it into whatever dish you'd like. May I suggest an Alfredo sauce? You can use cornstarch for thickening, but the Roux adds richness and depth along with the thickness. One last thing, like cornstarch, make sure once your Roux is added to your sauce, bring it to a boil to maximize it's thickening power.