the mother suaces and when to use them

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LT72884

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Ello all. I know i know, its been a month or so since i have posted. I feel bad actually. i miss this place. BUT its all for a good reason. My wife and i finally got our own appartment. no more living in a 900 sqr foot home with parents. haha. We have had a blast in our new place. i have the mini uds with me for cold smoking and for good ol bbq. cant use it on the deck but i can use it in my parking stall. haha or even in the back as long as i am 15 feet away from structures. haha.

Anyway, i have been working on my other cooking skills besides bbq. I have a new SS pan set and some killer cast iron skillets. I have been working on the 5 basic mother sauces of classic cuisine. I am pretty good at making them, buti have run into a lack luster problem, i have no idea what to use the sauces for... haha. IE, which mother sauce or derivative goes on a steak? or which sauce do i use for what. haha.

thanks guys
 
The thing with the mother sauces is their versatility. Each mother sauce can be turned into many other sauces that can go with whatever you are making. One of the best things to do to learn what goes with what is browse different cook books and cooking shows to learn the different flavor profiles and different applications for each type of sauce.

here is a website that gives kind of a loose guide on different applications for the mother sauces.

http://culinaryarts.about.com/od/sauces/tp/Mother-Sauces.htm
 
The mother sauces are starting points, or foundations for other sauces and dishes.

For example, a béchamel is a good foundation for a killer mac-n-cheese. You can also make a mushroom-peppercorn sauce for that steak starting with a béchamel. If you can do a béchamel, then you can do a roux, which opens up more options, my favorite being cajun gumbo and etouffee.

You can take a basic tomato sauce in many directions. You can go Italian, Spanish, Creole, or any number of nationalities. You can add meat to it, or your favorite vegetables to serve with pasta. You can mix it with cream and herbs for a great soup.

Those are the two mother sauces I know and use.
 
awesome guys. thanks. im thinking that mushroom pepercorn sauce would be great for my roast this week. I have some real truffles that my mother in law bought me. expensive but probably would add great flavor to a sauce.

So with the Be`chamel sauce which is just milk, roux, some onion and white peper with bay leaf and nutmeg, i add cheddar to it for the mac and cheese or any cheese i want correct?

Im trying to figure this all out and im pretty close. i think next im gonna make the basic tomat mother sauce and see if i can make a soup from it. haha.

thanks guys.
 
A bernaise would go really well with a roast as well. It is basically a tarragon hollandaise that goes well grilled/roasted beef.

The beauty of the mother sauces is that you can make so many different things with a little bit of knowledge of flavor profiles and creativity.
 
aawa said:
A bernaise would go really well with a roast as well. It is basically a tarragon hollandaise that goes well grilled/roasted beef.

The beauty of the mother sauces is that you can make so many different things with a little bit of knowledge of flavor profiles and creativity.
Click to expand...

oh this brings up a interesting question. Ok, so now that i have moved and im on a very very strict budget, i cant buy wines for cooking with. Alot of auces require dry white wine or dry red wine. i dont have 10$ to drop on a bottle of wine for a saue. Nor do i have neighbors that will share. haha. so what should i do? i know there are some substitutes, but are they as good? i mean for dry white wine, one of them was the juice from canned mushrooms. lol.

thanks
 
Unfortunately wines add quite a unique flavor to the sauces as each wine is different depending on the winery. You could try using different grape juices but you will lack the depth of flavor that wine develops as it ferments and ages. You could also try different types of vinegar to help develop flavor depth, but you will have to do something about the acidity that the vinegar brings to the sauce. Maybe some beers as well, but once again each beer is different as per the brewer but the flavors flavor depths might work well with them.
 
LT72884 said:
oh this brings up a interesting question. Ok, so now that i have moved and im on a very very strict budget, i cant buy wines for cooking with. Alot of auces require dry white wine or dry red wine. i dont have 10$ to drop on a bottle of wine for a saue. Nor do i have neighbors that will share. haha. so what should i do? i know there are some substitutes, but are they as good? i mean for dry white wine, one of them was the juice from canned mushrooms. lol.

thanks
Click to expand...

Aldi's $3.99 "Winking Owl" Cabernet and Chardonnay...it's drinkable but a lot like 2 Buck Chuck from Trader Joe's (Which Aldi's owns by the way). Canned or bottled juices won't get the same result - but you can make a nice sauce without the wine -- takes some imagination.

You can use vinegar (I make my own) - but good vinegar costs as much as inexpensive wine.
 
LT72884 said:
awesome guys. thanks. im thinking that mushroom pepercorn sauce would be great for my roast this week. I have some real truffles that my mother in law bought me. expensive but probably would add great flavor to a sauce.

So with the Be`chamel sauce which is just milk, roux, some onion and white peper with bay leaf and nutmeg, i add cheddar to it for the mac and cheese or any cheese i want correct?

Im trying to figure this all out and im pretty close. i think next im gonna make the basic tomat mother sauce and see if i can make a soup from it. haha.

thanks guys.
Click to expand...

I've never used a peppercorn sauce on roasted meat, but go for it. That's how you learn. It is great to use with a steak like tenderloin/filet mignon, that tends not to have much flavor on it's own.

Some of the best mac-n-cheese recipes I have seen use a blend of cheeses, some mild and some strong/sharp, to create a great flavor. Your béchamel foundation will be pretty bland, so it will "level out" the cheeses.

I love the Tomato Basil soup at La Madeleine restaurants. http://www.food.com/recipe/la-madeleines-tomato-basil-soup-5368

CD
 
thanks Casey for the soups and tips. im also looking into some other stuff such as this etouffee you speak of. never heard of it. haha

@ others. thanks for the suggestions fro wines and stuff. I will try and look for them here and see if i can find the cheaper ones. I know i can get a bottle for about 8$ but if i could find cheaper that would be nice. Also, i do have cooking wines but they are super salty. Are cooking wines anything to shout about?

thanks
 
neuyawk said:
Whip up a batch of holladaise and grill some seafood to dip. Heaven.
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i will have to try that. i hope i like holladaise sauce. Im not a fan of custard desserts or flan. haha but im hoping this will taste different than that. Im not an egg person so to speak. haha

thanks for all the advice guys.
 
LT72884 said:
thanks Casey for the soups and tips. im also looking into some other stuff such as this etouffee you speak of. never heard of it. haha

@ others. thanks for the suggestions fro wines and stuff. I will try and look for them here and see if i can find the cheaper ones. I know i can get a bottle for about 8$ but if i could find cheaper that would be nice. Also, i do have cooking wines but they are super salty. Are cooking wines anything to shout about?

thanks
Click to expand...

Most chefs and cooking shows do not recommend using cooking wines because of food quality and saltiness. You can find some of the "cheaper" wines for under $8/bottle to cook with.

Total wine has a bunch of bottles under $10 and others between $5-$8. not sure where you would buy wine locally to you (here we can buy it at the grocery store) But they have cheaper bottles of wine that are fine to cook with.
 
LT72884 said:
i will have to try that. i hope i like holladaise sauce. Im not a fan of custard desserts or flan. haha but im hoping this will taste different than that. Im not an egg person so to speak. haha

thanks for all the advice guys.
Click to expand...

Hollandaise taste nothing like a custard or flan it should not be that thick. I will say it has a very light cheesy taste. It is a little tricky to make and can take some practice to keep it from braking down but there are some good pre packaged sauces that will work.
Dave
 
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