1. How to Make Gravy

2. How to Make Cream Sauce

3. Country-Fried Steak with Cream Gravy

4. Dirty Rice

5. Banana Pudding with Meringue

How to Make Cream Sauce
From: The Southern Cook's Handbook
by Courtney Taylor, Bonnie Carter Travis
(Quail Ridge Press; September 2001; ISBN:1893062295; Spiral)
Cookbook Heaven @ recipelink.com

Technically, a sauce made with butter, flour, and milk is called white sauce. In the South, however, it is more commonly called cream sauce, regardless of whether it actually contains cream. This basic sauce is one of the workhorses of the Southern kitchen. Alone or combined with cheese, it turns up everywhere: in creamed vegetables or poultry; atop baked fish and other seafood; in countless casseroles. The procedure for making cream sauce is essentially the same as that for making gravy. Fat and flour are combined to make a roux; liquid is added; and the mixture is cooked until it thickens.

Equipment:
The easiest route to success is the double boiler, which
allows sauce to cook over hot water rather than on direct heat and discourages sticking, burning, and lumping. Choose a double boiler of stainless steel or glass, as the second essential tool for smooth sauce is the wire whisk. A whisk will damage non-stick cookware, and in combination with aluminum cookware will produce a metallic taste. If you do not have a double boiler, set a single boiler or sauce pan in a skillet of water and keep the water at a simmer.

Fat:
Normally, cream sauce is made with butter, although you may
substitute margarine if your diet prohibits animal fat. In either case, you will get better results with solid sticks than with whipped products that may be watery and thin when liquefied.

Flour:
Any all-purpose flour is suitable. If your sauces tend to
develop lumps, sift the flour before use. Or try cake flour, which has a finer texture and more thickening power than all-purpose.

Liquid:
Most cream sauces are made with whole milk, either alone or
mixed with stock, broth, or cream. Canned evaporated milk yields am smooth sauce and is especially flavorful when diluted with stock or broth instead of water.

Cheese:
Cheese sauce is cream sauce with the addition of a high-fat cheese that melts easily. Hard cheeses should be grated and soft cheeses mashed before they are blended into the sauce. Good choices are cheddar, Parmesan, Swiss, or Asiago. A combination can yield interesting flavors; equal parts of Parmesan and Gruyere, for example, produce Mornay sauce. *Be careful about the quantity of cheese. Too much will add an excess of fat, and the sauce will "break," i.e.
separate.

Seasoning:
The choice of seasoning depends how you plan to use the
sauce and whether you want a subtle flavor or something more pronounced. Here are some suggestions for experimentation:

• salt

• cloves

• onion powder

• white pepper

• tarragon

• lemon juice

• paprika

• horseradish

• red pepper

• Worcestershire sauce

• dry mustard

• Tabasco® sauce

• garlic juice or powder

• curry powder

• chives or parsley

• white wine or sherry

Add seasonings gradually and taste as you go along. Some cheeses (like Parmesan and Asiago) contain a good deal of sodium, so take care when adding salt.

Proportions:
Most sauce recipes specify precise measurements. But if
you want to experiment on your own, try the basic proportions in the chart to the right, adding seasonings such as salt, white pepper, dry mustard, paprika, and the like. You can thin or thicken the result using the methods described in "Correcting Consistency and Lumping in Gravy and Cream Sauce".

BASIC PROPORTIONS FOR CREAM SAUCES
Butter or Margarine	Flour	Liquid
3 tablespoons	3 tablespoons	1/2 cup evaporated milk; 1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons	2 tablespoons	1 cup whole milk; 1/4 cup white wine
4 tablespoons	4 tablespoons	1 cup whole milk; 1 cup heavy cream

Storing: 
Although the flavor and texture of cream sauces are best when
served immediately after preparing, they may be refrigerated for 2 or 3
days and frozen for several weeks. To prevent a "skin" from forming on
top, lay a piece of wax paper or plastic wrap directly on the surface of
the sauce before covering the container.

Thaw or warm sauce on half power in a microwave oven. Or place the
sauce in a pan with a little water and heat it on the stove top at a low
temperature. Use a wire whisk to restore a smooth consistency.

Blunders: 
As with gravy, the most common problems with cream sauce are
achieving the right thickness and avoiding lumps. You can find quick
and easy solutions in "Correcting Consistency and Lumping in Gravy and
Cream Sauce".

Step-By-Step Cream and Cheese Sauce

1. Place enough water in bottom section of double boiler to touch floor
   of top section. Heat water to a simmer and keep it there.

2. Melt butter or margarine in top of double boiler.

3. Add flour, stirring constantly with a wire whisk until blended into a
   smooth paste (or roux). If lumps appear, stir continuously until they
   dissolve.

4. Add liquid (slightly warmed) to roux, stirring constantly with wire
   whisk.

5. Cook sauce for at least 5 minutes, stirring frequently. It will
   thicken as it cooks.

6. For cheese sauce, add grated or mashed cheese gradually, stirring
   constantly until cheese is melted and blended well into sauce.

7. Add seasonings and blend well. To avoid separation, remove sauce
   from heat to add wine or lemon juice, and do not boil when thawing or
   reheating.

Correcting Consistency and Lumping in Gravy and Cream Sauce

Until you have a little practice preparing gravies and sauces, you may
have trouble achieving a smooth product with the right consistency. But
do not despair. All you need are a few tips on thinning, thickening,
and proper blending.

Thinning is quite simple. Just add liquid very gradually while stirring
constantly until you get the consistency you want. For brown gravy, you
can add stock or water. For milk gravy or cream sauce, you can add
milk, water, broth, or any other liquid ingredient used in the initial
preparation.

To thicken, you have a choice of two methods. For a small amount of
gravy or sauce, you can cook it gently and uncovered until it thickens
to your satisfaction, a process called "reducing" or "cooking down." If
you have too much volume or too little time for cooking down to be
practical, you can thicken with flour -a method that is particularly
handy for stews containing meat or vegetables. But you must follow a
fairly strict procedure. Otherwise, you will wind up with a large batch
of lumps.

Step-by-Step Thickening with Flour

1. In a small bowl, place 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 tablespoons of
   cold water. With a wire whisk or fork, blend to make a smooth paste.

2. To the paste, add 3 or 4 tablespoons of warm gravy or cream sauce and blend well.

3. Pour the mixture through a strainer into the original batch of gravy
   or sauce. With the whisk or the fork, stir firmly in the bowl of the
   strainer. Discard any lumps that remain.

4. Stir the cooking gravy or sauce well, blending in the added mixture.

5. Continue to cook for about 10 minutes.

6. Repeat until desired consistency is reached.

The bane of the gravy and sauce cook is lumping, a problem that usually
results from failure to add or blend ingredients properly. With
attention to detail, however, you can turn out a lump-free product every
time.

Preventing and Removing Lumps

1. Make sure the fat is well heated before adding flour.

2. Sprinkle flour evenly around the fat; do not dump it in a pile.

3. Stir constantly while blending fat and flour, mashing with the back
   of a wooden spoon against the bottom of the pan to disperse any clumps of flour.

4. Do not allow roux (or fat/flour mixture) to cool before adding liquid.

5. Add liquid gradually, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom and
   sides of the pan to blend all of the roux with the liquid.

6. If lumps should appear, pour the gravy or sauce through a strainer
   into another container, stirring in the bowl of the strainer to force
   the mixture through.

7. Return strained mixture to the original container and stir continuously while reheating.