Roux
A Roux is just oil and flour cooked until brown. Now doesn’t that sound easy!
Making a Roux is not hard and does not have to take very long after you get the feel of how to “brown” the flour without burning it. Small portions can be frozen for later use.
To Make a Roux (Small batch)
Remember ....... While cooking the Roux, you have to almost continuously stir it to prevent burning the flour. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the skillet to completely mix the Roux.
• Add 1/8 cup Vegetable oil to skillet.........this can be either an iron or non-stick skillet.
• Turn on high heat and sprinkle in about 1/8 cup flour.
• Mix the flour and oil using a wooden spoon or spatula, as the mixture heats up. Add more flour until the mixture is fairly thick.
• When the skillet is fairly hot, turn fire down to medium heat.
Continually stir the mixture while it cooks. The cooking time should be 15 to 30 minutes and depends on how hot the burner is set. If there is no browning after 5 minutes, turn the burner up a little. If the mixture starts to turn brown too fast, remove skillet from burner for a couple of minutes to slow down the cooking but keep stirring it. Lower the burner temperature a little and then continue to cook the Roux.
Learning how to cook the Roux takes some experience. Too hot a fire and it can burn........Too low of a fire and the mixture will take 10+ minutes to just start turning brown.
If the Roux starts turning brown fast (less than 5 minutes) the fire is too hot, remove from fire, keep stirring and allow it to cool.
Once the Roux gets to the desired color (somewhere between light brown and dark brown) turn the burner off and quickly cool it or the Roux will continue to cook. The Roux is very, very hot.
Cooling can be done by slowly spooning the Roux into your cooking pot (Gumbo, Jambalaya, etc.) and mixing with the liquid.
Or.........slowly adding water to the Roux and mixing.
Or.........I often add chopped onions, to sauté them a little first and then add water to cool down.
Smell Test
If you have any doubt that you may have burned the Roux...smell it....... If it smells bunt......better to start over than to use it and ruined your food.
Uses for Roux
A Roux is used to boast the flavor of and expand various recipes. A Roux can be added to any of the following:
Gumbo Soup Bisque Stew
Jambalaya Sauce piquaute Pot roast Gravy
Creole Fricassee
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