B Camel Sauce. By Mark.

Now I know you are totally fascinated at this stage about B Camel sauce. Well, let me un-fascinate you. This post has 660 words and takes 3 minutes to read. It’s actually Bechamel sauce but our family joke was to refer to it as B Camel sauce. I found this in a Greek cookbook eons ago and have followed it ever since.

This is an incredibly simple way to make a white or cheese sauce that can be used in a myriad of recipes, tuna bake, potato bake, lasagne, etc.

The sauce can be flavoured but let’s do that at the end. The simple rule is the number two.

Ingredients.

Oil

Flour

Milk

Cheese

Method.

In a saucepan(can you see where this is heading) add two tablespoons of oil. Now I use olive as that was my mum’s name, but you use whatever you like. Olive oil adds to the flavour as I rarely add seasoning. Salt is bad for your heart whereas cracked pepper will give you lots of small black dots in the finished product.

Now add two tablespoons of flour. Any kind, plain, self-raising, just flour.

Get a wooden spoon and blend together the oil and flour. On low heat watch the reaction in the saucepan till you see the mix, which is referred to as a roux, bubble. Cook for two minutes constantly stirring. Don’t let it brown. If you do, throw it out and start again.

After two minutes add two cups of milk, of any kind. The first will sizzle a bit so give it a good stir and then add the second cup. Keep the heat low. This is crucial to the final sauce.

Keep stirring the sauce. Don’t let it get too hot. When it starts to thicken, add two handfuls of grated cheese.

After you add the cheese, turn the heat off. However, you still will need to keep stirring the sauce as you need to reduce the heat in the sauce. Can take ten minutes or more. If you let it overheat, the sauce will “crust” on the bottom of the pan and will affect the final outcome.

Cool. Cool man. No, not really, just let the sauce cool before you transfer it to the next stage. Reason: You need to know what level of the thickness(hydration) of your sauce became. Too thin, needs a longer cooking time in the end product, i.e., evaporation. Too thick, add more milk or cream to get to your desired goal. Now when adding liquid to anything, do it in small steps, slowly. Reducing liquid in a sauce is at best painful and takes a long time. Food technology states that 80% of the fluid in a meal evaporates after 20% of the cooking time. The last 20% takes 80% of the cooking time. Tomatoes are the best example.

I use little seasoning but use the natural flavours of the oil and cheese to get it a good taste. That for me means, good olive oil and extra tasty cheese.

Okay, so this is how I use it.

Tuna casserole: Pasta al dente, with sauteed garlic, shallot, and corn, then tinned tuna. Mix with B Camel sauce, and bake with topped cheese, breadcrumbs and butter.

Potato bake: Sliced spuds, B camel sauce, bake or microwave.

Lasange: Follow any recipe on the planet. A white/cheese sauce is needed.

Eggplant Parmigiana: Sautee eggplant. Top with a tomato sauce, B Camel sauce and extra grated cheese. Bake. I make my tomato sauce like this, saute shallots, and garlic in a little butter, on low heat. Add tomatoes and then tomato paste. Let it reduce then add a dash of red wine and some chopped anchovies. Mix in the pan. You want it spreadable. Season with cracked black pepper.

These are just my ideas. Use how you like but remember the formula, 2 tbs oil, 2 tbs flour, fry for 2 minutes, 2 cups of milk, 2 handfuls of cheese. The start to finish time is around 15 to 20 minutes. Keep stirring pretty well all the time and never let the sauce get too hot. Keep the heat on low. Enjoy.