Over the years, plenty of wallpaper, I've made
I refuse to strain lumps anymore -- you know, like: I don't do windows.
I'm through with that!
:-)
Dee Dee



"Lefty" > wrote in message
...
> The recipe for Cream Sauce in Le Guide combines cream with Béchamel
> Sauce --
> so you basically made a cream sauce. As for lumps, all of these types of
> sauce call for straining through fine mesh.
>
> So how many rolls of wallpaper did you hang, Dee?
> Lefty
> --
> Life is for learning
>
> "Dee Randall" > wrote in message
> ...
>> I've never made a bechamel that I would consider exceptional or even
>> acceptable (for me). Today I tried a different tactic.
>>
>> I was going to have a different meal altogether but when I looked in the
>> frig there was 3 cups of cream and some brown crimini mushrooms. The
> cream
>> was 8 days out of date, but still acceptable, and the mushrooms might
>> have
>> been if-y when I bought them (in a cellophane pack).
>>
>> I cleaned up the mushrooms to where they didn't smell too amoniac and
> fried
>> them. While they were frying I got out and compared Giada's and Mario's
>> bechamel sauce and found that Mario's recipe fit my 3 cups of cream
> (without
>> calculating the difference of Giada's 4 cups' recipe). Both called for
>> milk - not cream. I didn't care because I've never made a fit bechamel
>> so
>> far -- always lumpy and spending more time with lumps than the cooking!
>>
>> I heated the cream in the microwave slowly to about 160º while I heated
> the
>> 5 T butter (both recipes called for the same amount of butter) and then
>> sprinkled 1/3 cup flour into it. Giada' recipe said to cook 2 minutes,
>> Mario's said to cook 6-7 minutes. I cooked until starting to turn a
> little
>> brownish, as Mario said, maybe about 4 minutes. DH poured the hot cream
>> into the butter/flour mixture 1 cup at a time while I whisked. It was
> very
>> thick; I would assume mainly due to cream instead of milk. I added 1/2
> the
>> amount of salt and nutmeg called for, and it still was pretty pungent
>> with
>> salt & nutmeg. NO LUMPS!
>>
>> Then I added the finished mushrooms and the spaghetti to the big pan of
>> bechamel and used tongs to separate them as they cooked. This really
> tasted
>> like carbonara.
>>
>> I saved the rest of the bechamel (in the freezer) for another day.
>> Necessity was the mother of invention as I rescued the mushrooms and the
>> rest of the cream that I had bought to make chocolate truffles.
>>
>> Served with 'organic' fresh carrots, salt & pepper; butter lettuce with
> oil
>> and vinegar and a glass of wine, French for DH; Italian for me.
>>
>> It's now snack time and a movie -- thanks TJ's for salza and chips - as
> they
>> say, "Good to go."
>> Dee Dee
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>