Kitchen Stewardship

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I can still picture standing in the kitchen my first summer in an apartment, talking on the phone with my mother.  I called her a lot to ask how to do things!  I just wanted the recipe for cream of potato soup, one of my favorites, and there she was explaining how to make a “roux” that can be used in other recipes…  I rolled my eyes.

“Mo-om!”  (You know, the two-syllable “Mom” that teenagers use in exasperation.  I was still young enough to use that tone of voice.)  “I only want the recipe, plain and simple.  You don’t need to give me a whole cooking lesson.”

Well!  Now that I will tell anyone I know that learning to make a roux (pronounced “roo” like Kanga) is a really easy, important step in cooking things from scratch. It’s the basis for not only my favorite childhood soup, but also wanna-be Pasta-Roni side dishes, “cream of _____” soups for casseroles, and homemade gravy.  You use a roux to make an even fancier sounding word, a bechamel, which basically means a cream sauce.  I’ve used that knowledge to fiddle with pasta and vegetables and more and create really great, simple dishes.  Now it’s your turn –

How to Make a Roux

Use equal parts fat and flour.  Melt the fat and whisk in the flour.  It’s as simple as that!  To make the bechamel (cream sauce), you just whisk in milk or cream and bring to a boil, stirring fairly constantly.

• 1 Tbs butter or olive oil (pan drippings if you’re going for gravy)
• 1 Tbs flour (white or whole wheat both work great)
• 1 cup whole milk (or part cream)

Increase the amounts depending on how much of the final product you need.  If you want it thicker, use more flour.

The healthy fats (butter and whole dairy fats) make this recipe the perfect candidate for the final October Fest Carnival of Super Foods: Healthy Fat Recipes this Thursday.

1.  Gently melt the butter so it doesn’t burn:

2.  Whisk in flour:

3.  Until it looks like pasty gunk:

4.  UPDATE:  (Thanks, Mom!)  Cook for a minute to get rid of the “flour” taste, then slowly add the milk, whisking constantly to mix up the roux.  (This is where you’d add broth or stock to make homemade gravy.)

5.  Cook over medium-low heat, stirring as often as you can to prevent scorched milk, until bubbly and thickened.  (I don’t know why I don’t have a picture of this step…must have gotten too many things going in the kitchen by this point!)

You can use the white sauce over pasta (add salt, pepper, spices and Parmesan cheese and you’ve got alfredo), make a baked chicken dish by adding cheese and jalapenos and pouring over chicken breasts, or use this knowledge to make cream of potato/vegetable soup.

Cream of Potato/Vegetable Soup

One of the things I love about cream of potato soup is its versatility.  It’s a perfect mid-winter, mid-Lent meatless option, and it’s delicious enough that you don’t mind eating it in the summer either, especially with the bounty of fresh produce you find that time of year.

It’s also incredibly frugal and great for using up leftovers, like the bag of random vegetables I have in my freezer.

The other thing I love?  The taste. Simplicity at its best!

I’ve posted this recipe before, but I’ve made some changes in the way I prepare it since then, and I’m excited to share the updates.

Ingredients

~4 potatoes
carrots
any other veggies you have on hand (broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, zucchini, green beans, corn…)
2-3 Tbs butter
4-5 Tbs whole wheat flour
2 cups whole milk (why full fat dairy?)
2 cups chicken stock (or additional milk if you want meatless)
salt, pepper, herbs to taste

Directions

Wash and cut potatoes (with or without skins – for taste’s sake, peel them, for health’s sake, leave the peels on), a few carrots, some broccoli, and other veggies.  Boil the potatoes in salted water about 15 minutes or until soft.

I used to put the veggies right in the water too and use the veggie water to thin the cream sauce (to add nutrients, I had heard!), but now I understand that it’s not recommended to reuse cooking water if (1) you don’t use organic produce and (2) you’re using broccoli, kale, spinach, or cauliflower (and a few other lesser known cruciferous veggies).  The chemicals from non-organically grown produce reside in the cooking water, and the oxalic acid and/or goitrogens (see this post for explanation) from the cruciferous veggies also sit in the water.

My solution to get all the vegetables cooked and do it nutritiously — and without adding extra dishes — is to get the potatoes going:

Then rest my steamer basket on top, either using its own tripod like above, or just sitting on the potatoes if there are too many:

And yes, this is a great opportunity to use some broccoli stems.

Meanwhile, as soon as you get your veggies on the stove, start your roux/bechamel.  (It always takes longer than I think it will.)  For potato soup, I usually use 2-3 Tbs butter, 3-5 Tbs flour (extra thick) and 2 cups milk.  Once it is pleasantly thick, pour in a few cups of chicken broth for added nutritional benefits.

When the vegetables are all soft, add them to the creamy base using a slotted spoon.  Just discard the cooking water.

Season with salt and pepper to taste (1 tsp or less salt and ¼-1/2 tsp pepper is safe).  Other herbs like thyme, marjoram, basil and taragon are good to add flavor, too.  Lately I’ve used about a tsp of marjoram and taragon, in case you’re not adventurous in the kitchen with trying your own measurements.

**This is a good recipe to play with…

• You can fry up some bacon and onions and use a little bacon fat for the roux, then add bacon to the soup and sprinkle with cheese for “loaded baked potato” soup.
• My dad calls it “end of garden vegetable soup” with potatoes, green beans, carrots and corn in August.
• Add a cup or two of shredded cheese, frozen corn and some ham and you have a cheesy ham chowder to die for.

You can make a basic homemade cream of chicken/mushroom base recipe (also see three easy casseroles in the above post).

Don’t miss the healthy fats carnival and a great giveaway!  Sign up for an email subscription or grab my reader feed.

If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.

Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money.  If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.

I’m always pleased to participate in:

• Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace
• Tasty Tuesday at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
• Tightwad Tuesdays at Being Frugal
• The $5 Dinner Challenge
• Works for me Wednesday at We are THAT Family
• Pennywise Platter Thursday at The Nourishing Gourmet
• Frugal Fridays at Life as MOM
• Life as MOM’s Ultimate Recipe Swap – Quick Winter Dinners
• Teaching Kids About Money – Meatless Monday

Hungry for more? Related posts:

1. Once-a-Month Cooking Prep: “Cream of” Casseroles
2. Recipe Connection: Katie’s Simple Cabbage Soup with Secret Super Food
3. Recipe Connection: Sausage, Bean and Kale Soup
4. Recipe Connection: Chicken Barley Leek Soup
5. Recipe Connection: Lazy French Fries or Potato Chips in Beef Tallow or Coconut Oil