Velouté Sauce
Velouté is the pale, silky member of the French mother sauce family, named for velvet. It starts with a butter and flour roux cooked only until the raw flour smell disappears, so the color stays light. Boiling stock goes in all at once while you whisk, which keeps the texture smooth. Make it with chicken, veal or fish stock and it becomes the base for many other sauces.
Instructions
Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat and wait until the foam dies down. Whisk in the flour and cook slowly, stirring, for about 2 minutes until the mixture froths. The flour should lose its raw smell but stay pale, since this is a white roux.
Take the pan off the heat and let the roux stop bubbling. Pour in all of the boiling stock at once and whisk quickly but smoothly until no lumps remain.
Add the salt and white pepper and return the pan to medium-low heat. Simmer, stirring often, until the sauce lightly coats the back of a spoon.
Taste and adjust the seasoning. If the sauce is lumpy, push it through a fine sieve or blend it. If it is too thick, thin it with a little more stock.
If the sauce is too thin, bring it to a boil, then remove it from the heat and whisk in ½ tablespoon of beurre manié. Boil for 1 minute, stirring, before serving.
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