Medium White Sauce and Variations
CATEGORIES
INGREDIENTS
  • Servings: 2 cups
  • 1/4 c. butter
  • 1/4 c. flour
  • 2 c. milk
  • 1 tsp. salt
DIRECTIONS
  1. Melt butter over low heat in saucepan; do no let brown. Stir in flour to make a smooth paste. Add milk all at once and cook quickly, stirring constantly. When sauce bubbles and starts to thicken, remove it from heat at once.
  2. Add salt and any other desired seasoning. (If cooked too long, white sauce gets too thick and the butter separates out. When this happens, add a little more milk and cook quickly only 'til sauce bubbles.)
  4. Variations:
  6. Thin White Sauce: Use 2 Tb. butter and 2 Tb. flour.
  8. Thick White Sauce: Use 6 Tb. butter and 6 Tb. flour.
  10. Bacon: Pan-fry 3 slices bacon & use drippings for part of butter. Add drained crumbled bacon to sauce.
  12. Ham: Pan-fry 1/4 c. minced ham w/some fat and use drippings for part of butter. Add ham to sauce.
  14. Mustard: Add 1/2 tsp. dry mustard, first dissolved in 2 tsp. water to make a smooth paste.
  16. Horse-radish: Add 1 1/2-2 tsp. grated horse-radish.
  18. Curry: Add 1/2-1 tsp. curry powder, first mixed wtih 2 tsp. water to make a paste.
  20. Parsley: Add 2 tsp. parsley flakes or 2 Tb. chopped fresh parsley.
  22. Chives: Add 2 tsp. freeze-dried chives or 2 Tb. chopped fresh chives.
  24. Dill: Add 1-2 tsp. dill weed.
  26. Saffron: Add a pinch saffron for an attractive yellow color.
  28. Egg: Add 2 diced hard-cooked eggs (wonderful on spinach, asparagus and broccoli).
  30. Cheese: Add 2 c. grated or shredded process cheese and stir 'til it melts, heating if necessary. Some like to make a white sauce with 3 Tb. flour instead of 4 Tb. when making Medium White Sauce to which cheese will be added. The cheese thickens sauce a little.