I think I first heard about roux, watching Jeff Smith the Frugal Gourmet. I’m pretty sure I learned how to make a roux before watching Justin Wilson. Roux is very much associated with Cajun and Creole cooking. Ironically, my jambalaya and my dirty rice and my red beans & rice don’t use it. (I’ll eventually make a gumbo.)
So I generally make roux to make Béchamel sauce, and gravy. For the Béchamel sauce I use unsalted butter. For gravy, I use pan drippings: bacon, sausage, turkey, roast pork, roast beef, chicken… Up until recently, I’d make the roux for breakfast gravy after cooking bacon or sausage. The thing is, sausage(es) is what we have with pancakes – which don’t have gravy. The last couple of weeks though, I’ve made the sausage roux and saved it with the leftover sausages. Instant gravy mix! Today we had fresh hashbrowns, eggs, and bacon – with sausage gravy. And I used most of the bacon drippings in the gravy too.
Béchamel sauce is one of Mrs. L.A.'s favourites. I add freshly-chopped dill and fresh lemon juice, and it’s wonderful over baked dill salmon.
When I hear roux, I always think French, since it is used in three of the five “mother sauces” of classical French cooking. (I love reading about French cuisine, but have only done a little experimentation with it myself.)
I use roux to make pan gravy all the time. Also Béchamel and velouté sauce.
Especially since that’s exactly what macaroni sauce is.
I use roux much like the OP, mostly for gravies and sauces. But just a note: my father put leftover chicken gravy on his pancakes, much to my mother’s disgust and my dumbstruck awe. But if you think about it, pancakes are pretty much just flat biscuits: flour, water, sugar, leavening, salt. Only thinner, and fried, not baked.
Add milk to roux and you’ve got 3/5 of sausage gravy (minus equal parts sausage and black pepper), 1/3 of macaroni and cheese (minus macaroni and grated sharp white cheddar), or the way certain heathens make creamed spinach (me, I just add parmesan and cream).
Add stock to roux and you’ve got the base for chicken & noodles or a creditable start at moist enchiladas–I like to add a dollop of green salsa, too.
I use milk (because that’s what we always have on-hand) and feta cheese. I’ll have to try it with a roux.
EDIT: I don’t do creamy enchiladas, though Mrs. L.A. does. I use leftover roasted chicken, add seasonings, dip corn tortillas in enchilada sauce, and roll the chicken in them. Cover with sauce, add cheese, bake.
We were mostly corn starch slurry thickeners in my kitchen growing up, so I rarely use a roux. Definitely for sausage gravy, though! And for gumbo…much of the flavor of gumbo comes from a nice brick roux.
Am I the only one who does creamed tuna as comfort food?
Just a quick bechamel (I use a tablespoon of oil rather than butter) with a can of tuna stirred in, and salt and black pepper to taste. Serve over toast points.
My mom used to make a great beef stew… I now make an amazing beef stew. The only difference is she used to shake together flour and water and add it to the stew to thicken and let it cook. I now make a roux and add it… it is stunning the difference it makes.
Sautee some 500g quartered portabellini in half-butter-half-EVOO, plenty of black pepper and some fresh herbs (marjoram is good, thyme too). Remove the mushrooms, toss in a pack or two of rindless bacon, diced. When the bacon crisps, add another large knob of butter and similar amount of flour, stir that up into a roux, then add 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of milk, also a tot of whiskey or brandy. When that thickens, return the mushrooms to heat through. Some parmesan could go in as well.
Serve over anything - pasta, zoodles, hell, it’s great on toast…
Canned chicken a la king is the only thing I’ve found that makes MRE crackers palatable. I can’t find it anymore. But back to the fish…
O! For Tuna… pot pies! If I had time, I’d teach myself how to make pie crusts, and make creamed tuna for filling. (I’ll also have to get some pot-pie sized cooking vessels. Perhaps the traditional aluminum ones.)
My parents were young in the '50s and '60s, so I make stroganoff the old-fashioned way – with Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup! Sure I could make a ‘real’ stroganoff, but for me it’s fast, easy comfort food. When I want to actually cook, I’d rather make jambalaya or something. So my stroganoff is cube steak cut into chunks and browned with garlic, coarsely-chopped onions, salt, and pepper, the condensed soup, sour cream, and worcestershire. And there’s nothing like picking out the meat and eating it cold from the fridge the next morning!
“Make a roux” was my mom’s initial instruction for so many things she taught me to cook. Ditto my stepmother, who uses the aforementioned “roux + milk + shredded REAL cheese” for cheese sauce to make the BEST mac and cheese known to mankind.
I do a couple of times a year, mostly in the winter.
Add a little cheese (your choice) and some tiny baby peas.
Johnny L.A. – creamy seafood enchiladas can be delish. A dose of warmth from chili verdi on the side can be a nice counterpoint to the smooth sweetness of the seafood.
Another enchilada hijack! Anyway, it reminds me of a dish I liked at The Chili Pepper when I worked in Orange County. It was salmon baked in a sauce of sour cream with chipotle chiles, onion, and mushroom (served with Spanish rice and refried beans and a squash medley). It’s supposed to be hot, but I overdid the chipotles the first time I made it at home.
Today we had fresh hashbrowns, eggs, and bacon – with sausage gravy. And I used most of the bacon drippings in the gravy too.
Sure I could make a ‘real’ stroganoff, but for me it’s fast, easy comfort food. When I want to actually cook, I’d rather make jambalaya or something. So my stroganoff is cube steak cut into chunks and browned with garlic, coarsely-chopped onions, salt, and pepper, the condensed soup, sour cream, and worcestershire. And there’s nothing like picking out the meat and eating it cold from the fridge the next morning!