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Drawn-Butter Sauce
1/3 cup butter 4 tablespoons flour 1 pint boiling water 1/4 teaspoon salt Make a roux of four tablespoons of the butter and all of the flour. Gradually add the boiling water, stirring constantly over hot water, until the sauce comes to the boiling-point. Simmer until it is thick and smooth. When ready to serve, add salt and the remaining butter in small bits, beating constantly.
A flour-thickened melted butter sauce of the plain English school, meant to be ladled over boiled fish or steamed vegetables. It is simple, but the butter is split between two stages and the split is easy to miss.
- Divide the butter firstOne-third cup is 5 1/3 tablespoons. Four tablespoons go into the roux; the remaining 1 1/3 tablespoons are the finishing butter beaten in at the end. Measuring both amounts before you start avoids guesswork later.
- The hinge is the final butterThe butter beaten in at the end is what makes this a butter sauce rather than a plain white sauce. Add it in small bits, beating constantly; keep the sauce below a boil at this stage or the butter can separate into an oily film.
- "Stirring over hot water"This means a double boiler or a bowl set over a pan of simmering water. It is insurance against scorching the roux. A heavy saucepan over low direct heat works if you whisk steadily.
- A pint is two cupsFour tablespoons of flour to two cups of liquid gives a medium pouring sauce. If you want it thick enough to coat, hold back a half cup of the water.
- Use boiling water, not coldThe instruction is deliberate. Boiling water added gradually to a hot roux keeps the sauce lump-free and brings it to temperature quickly, so the flour cooks out rather than tasting raw.
- Cook the flour long enoughSimmer at least three or four minutes after the sauce thickens. A flour sauce made with water has nothing to hide behind, and undercooked flour is immediately noticeable.
- Yield and seasoningAbout two cups. A quarter teaspoon of salt is modest for two cups of water-based sauce; taste and add more. Lemon juice, chopped parsley, capers or chopped hard-cooked egg are common additions to a sauce of this type.