B�chamel Sauce - Let�s Turn This �Mother� Out!

This is the sauce I mentioned in the Broccoli post yesterday, and no, I hadn�t posted it. So here you go. This is one of the five �Mother Sauces.� In traditional culinary training, students first master these mother sauces and then use them to create literally hundreds of variations. B�chamel is the basic �white sauce� and is used in many popular dishes. I�ll admit, this is not the most thrilling lesson ever, but it is an important one as far as building a solid foundation of classic culinary skills.

As far as product recommendations go, make sure you have a decent sauce pan to make this in. Don�t use cheap pans, since they have very thin bottoms and the sauce will scorch. In the clip, I used this 4-qt. Stainless Sauce Pan, and it should work for you too. Also, a Wire Whisk is a must, but you probably have one of those already. Lastly, you�re going to see me grate fresh nutmeg into the sauce. If you�ve never done this, you�ve never really tasted nutmeg! The ground stuff in the grocery stores goes stale very quickly and really loses its flavor.

Ingredients:
1 quart milk
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup flour
salt and cayenne pepper to taste
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
4 springs fresh thyme