Archive for September 28th, 2009

Chicken Gravy

Whisking together flour and water, and adding it to hot pan juices tends to produce lumps. Instead, make a roux, and add your hot water (or stock) to this, whisking consistency over a low flame. This should produce a lump-free gravy. If not, you may strain the gravy, and reheat It gently. If all else fails, and your gravy makes up in taste what it lacks in looks, keep the lights dim during dinner.

What is a roux?
A roux is a thick paste made of flour cooked in butter (to rid the flour of any chalky taste) or other fat, such as oil, lard, or beef drippings. Roux is used as a base for gravies and sauces, and as a thickening agent in dishes such as étoufée and gumbo.

While Northerners simply stir a little flour into butter to thicken their gravies, roux is taken very seriously down South, particularly in Cajun and Creole cookery, with some lard-based roux’s being cooked for an hour or more, until the mixture turns mahogany and the flavor becomes deeply roasted. This is called  brown roux; mixed with beef stock, it becomes the base for brown sauce, which occasionally goes under the name Espagnole.

There is also white roux, barely cooked and suitable for light white sauces, and the longer-cooked blond roux, pale gold and slightly nutty, the choice for gumbo and other dishes that require a stronger flavor.

Bread Loaves

While many bread recipes simply for yeast to be mixed with flour and other ingredients and left to rise, what if the yeast is already dead? Proofing shows whether yeast cells are active. To do this, you prove the yeast is effective. The simplest way is to dissolve a packet of yeast granules (about two teaspoons) in one quarter cup of warm water (anything over 120 degrees instantaneously kills yeast cultures), to which you’ve added a teaspoon of sugar.

Sugar is yeast’s favorite food, and if yeast is living, it will begin to gobble up the sugar and bubble madly. If the mixture shows no sign of foaming within five minutes, the yeast is dead and has lost its leavening power.