Most things in life require a firm grasp of the basics before being able to successfully move on to more difficult or advanced levels, and cooking is no different. One of the things that I love about French cooking is that they start with basic techniques and build upon them. Take sauces, for example. There are just five mother sauces from which ALL other sauces are made. How nice to know that you really only have to master five – a nice small number. Compare that with the more than three pages of sauce recipes listed in the index of Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck.If you are familiar with influential cooks extraordinaire, then you might also know of Anne Willan. For those who don’t know her, she founded École de Cuisine La Varenne, a cooking school in Paris, after receiving her master’s degree from Cambridge University. She is included in the James Beard Cookbook Hall of Fame for her 30 publications including a 17-volume, photo-illustrated Look and Cook series that was showcased in a 26-episode PBS program. Impressed yet?

In addition to all of her accolades, Anne Willan is an exceptionally wonderful person. She was absolutely delightful during the Cook the Book event, and I very much enjoyed her tutelage. She loves to share her passion for cooking; the above picture is from another live event in a California wine shop called Vin Goat. Don’t you love that name? (Thank you, Erich!)

Imagine my surprise and delight to hear that Anne would be participating live in the Cook the Book event! (You can imagine squealing and happy dancing around the kitchen, and you wouldn’t be far off.) What’s Cook the Book? I’m so glad you asked. It’s a live-streamed cook-along with hosts Denise Vivaldo in Los Angeles and my friend Jenni Field outside of Raleigh, NC. Each month they feature a different cookbook and author. For more information, check out their Facebook page.

For this event, Anne showed us how to make a Bechamel Sauce from her cookbook Secrets from the La Varenne Kitchen: 50 Essential Recipes Every Cook Needs to Know. I’m including the link to the playback, but you will need a Blab account to watch it. No worries – it’s free and easy, and you’ll need one to participate in future events.

Here are the highlights including my own bechamel sauce which then became sausage gravy.

This is a picture of the live event on my laptop. In the upper left is Chef Dennis Littley acting as the moderator. In the upper right are the Cook the Book hosts; Nancie McDermott with Jenni Field in Raleigh, NC. In the lower left corner is Denise Vivaldo with Anne Willan in Los Angeles. Those participating were welcomed to pop into the “Call In” lower right corner to say hello. Isn’t technology great?

Here is the recipe that we used from the book. Notice that it gives three different butter/flour ratios depending on the desired thickness of the sauce. I used the medium since I was going to make it into a sausage gravy. Several other participants made cheese sauces for macaroni & cheese. If you don’t have this book in your library I highly recommend getting it – now. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Okay, if you’re back then we’re ready to start the Pintesting.

The Pintesting:

Due to a lactose intolerance in the family, I decided to try the sauce as dairy free by using Cashew milk.

Heat the milk and, if desired, add onion, a bay leaf, and whole peppercorns to infuse more flavor.

If desired…. of course we want more flavor!

Start the roux by melting butter then adding the flour.

Whisk it into a paste and let it cook for a minute or two, but don’t let it brown. This brings out the flavor of the wheat and cooks off any raw pasty taste. More flavor? Yes, please!

Strain the hot milk and add to the roux, whisking constantly over heat until the sauce thickens enough to coat a spoon and season with the salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Look at that beautiful coating.

While this was happening, my HH browned the sausage and onions.

Then we added it to the bechamel sauce,

. . .and there you have it! My HH has been making southern sausage gravy since he was a teenager. He said that this was the BEST sausage gravy that he’s ever had. That’s saying a lot. It was incredibly flavorful with the perfect creaminess but without the gluey/pasty taste or texture.

We were very happy to have breakfast for supper that night. The biscuit recipe will follow in a future Pintesting post.

The bechamel is a sauce that can be used in so many different applications beyond the sausage gravy or cheese sauce. I made a beautiful and delicious Soufflé au Fromage, or cheese souffle for our Easter Dinner. Just imagine what you can do with a mother sauce.

The Results:

OVERALL RESULTS: 5 out of 5 Pins

Accuracy: The bechamel sauce turned out perfectly. Even using the cashew milk, the sauce was flavorful and behaved exactly as it would have if I had used its dairy counterpart. 5 Pins

Difficulty:  The bechamel sauce is a basic or mother sauce. It doesn’t require a lot of fuss, but keep a watchful eye toward the end of the roux so that it doesn’t brown – otherwise you’ll get brown sauce. 5 Pins

Time: I’ve made many roux for various dishes, but this is the first time that I heated the milk. I felt like this cut the thickening time down once the milk was added to the roux. Since the milk was heating while the roux was cooking, the whole process for the bechamel was roughly 15 minutes. 5 Pins

Cost:  Butter, flour, and milk are the three absolutely necessary ingredients. The rest definitely elevate the sauce, but you can use whatever you have on hand to give it a richer flavor. Since everything is a kitchen staple, I’m giving this 5 Pins.

Practicality:    This is one of those basic recipes that EVERYONE who cooks needs to know how to make. From a hearty sausage gravy to an airy souffle to creamy macaroni and cheese (that will make you never want to pick up another box with mystery orange powder), gratins, and scalloped potatoes – all are based on the bechaemel mother sauce. 5 Pins (but only because I can’t go any higher).