Making a Roux for a Beef Stew

An air of mystery hangs around roux, similar information technology's a magical, mystical concoction merely Cajun grandmas know how to brand. But actually? It's piece of cake to learn how to make a roux. All you need to know is this elementary, non-at-all-mysterious equation: roux is heat + fat + flour + fourth dimension.

Roux is the base of three of the classic French mother sauces—béchamel, velouté, and espagnole—and it's considered a edifice block of Cajun and Creole cuisine. Information technology's both a seasoning and a thickener, and the longer a roux is cooked, the darker and more flavorful it becomes. New Orleans-based chef Susan Spicer of Bayona and Mondo reminded me that the "thickening power lessens the darker it gets. Darker roux are as much a flavor component every bit they are a thickener."

In that location are four main kinds of roux, each named for their hues. In Chef Paul Prudhomme'south Louisiana Kitchen, the classic resources on Cajun and Creole cuisine, Prudhomme writes that Cajun cooks traditionally employ light roux with dark meats (like beef, venison, or duck) and dark roux with light meats (pork, rabbit, veal, craven, or seafood), but in that location are always exceptions to this rule.

Justin Devillier, of NOLA's La Petite Grocery and Balise, explains: "If I'chiliad making light roux, particularly for something like a velouté [a sauce like to béchamel made with stock instead of dairy], I use butter. If I'one thousand making craven stew, when I render off all my craven fat, I'll also use that fat to make a calorie-free roux. In a darker roux, similar for a gumbo, I'll go along to employ butter [mixed with] a high-heat oil—that way, the gustation of the fat doesn't scorch. Simply information technology's actually virtually preference—I know cooks who employ butter to make dark roux and the terminate result is e'er adept."

Here'southward how to make a roux exactly like y'all want information technology:

i. Choose your fat

You can use almost any fat when making a roux, from butter to oil to creature fatty. Spicer told me she uses "several dissimilar kinds of fat, from vegetable oil to duck fat or fifty-fifty smoked duck fat," depending on the dish she is making.

In a heavy Dutch oven or cast-iron skillet, rut your fat of choice over medium. Yous tin can get-go with any amount of fat (you'll simply need to add an equal corporeality of flour in the next stride). Many rouxs first with a 1/2 cup.

2. Add your flour

Add as much flour to the skillet as you did fatty (then, if you added a one/2 loving cup of fatty, add a one/2 cup of flour). Whisk the flour into the fat until you have a smooth, thick sauce. If information technology's too thick to whisk, add a little more than fat. If it's too thin, add more flour.

3. Go along whisking!

The fundamental to good roux is to picket it carefully and whisk it well-nigh constantly (if black specs appear, your roux has burned, and y'all should start over). Keep whisking until the desired texture and color is accomplished.

So, what is your desired texture and color? Run into the guidelines below to discover out.

Photograph by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling by Rhoda Boone

White roux

White roux is cooked for ii–5 minutes, just long enough to get rid of the raw flour taste, take on a light tan color, and accomplish the texture of wet sand. Butter is normally the fat of selection. White roux is used to thicken sauces without adding much season, like in béchamel, a classic white sauce. Devillier'southward favorite utilize of white roux is milk-and-sausage gravy for biscuits.

Photo past Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling past Rhoda Boone

Blond Roux

Blond roux is cooked until it starts to odour toasty and is the colour of peanut butter, 5–10 minutes. Spicer uses blond roux for making an oyster or craven velouté, every bit constitute in her Oyster, Eggplant and Tasso Gratin. Devillier uses blond roux in a bisque or creamy soup.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling past Rhoda Boone

Medium-Dark-brown Roux

Medium-brown roux takes 15–30 minutes to develop its coppery dark-brown hue and nutty taste and aroma. Devillier uses it in etouffees, while Spicer uses it in thinner seafood gumbos.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Food Styling past Rhoda Boone

Nighttime-Brown Roux

Dark-brownish roux looks like dark melted chocolate and tastes similar rich campfire coffee with hints of tobacco. Night roux is essential in edifice the flavor of traditional gumbo and usually achieves its colour within 30–45 minutes of cooking, but information technology depends on the corporeality yous make as well as the heat you use to melt information technology.

For Devillier, the cooking time varies "depending on how nighttime I want to have the roux, and also how loftier of rut I melt it over. If I want to go the chore done fast, I can put it on a higher rut and stir the whole time, or I can use a lower heat and stir every few minutes." If using a higher oestrus, choose a fat with a higher smoke signal, like vegetable oil (or a mix of butter and oil), to avoid burning the roux.

Spicer uses night roux most ofttimes when making gumbo with duck, sausage or rabbit. Devillier uses night roux more any other shade, especially in gumbos and fricassees. When asked if he has any roux-making shortcuts, Devillier said, "None that I can really get backside. In that location are a lot of people who make roux in the oven, or toast the flour first. I detect that if yous cook it the old-fashioned way in a pot, start to stop, y'all go the most even results."

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Source: https://www.epicurious.com/expert-advice/how-to-make-and-what-to-do-with-roux-article

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