How to make a good rue?

Well, let's start with the proper spelling: Roux is correct and there are essentially three (3) kinds of roux, each based on color. White, brown(er, and dark roux. Let's do blond, white, for now.

Remember, roux is very versatile as a thickener; easy to make, easy to use and, sadly, easy to burn if you over cook it. (You can learn to use brown or black roux over time.)

And your further query concerning what to use is easy: Any oil, meat or fish stock (not recommended until you learn to handle it) butter, margarine or fat. The best result comes from butter and flour.

Simple recipe for enough roux for your family of four or six:

4 oz flour - organic, self-rising or plain will do

*4 oz butter - some chefs like to use only 'clarified' butter - from which all butter fats are removed - but that's a waste of time in our kitchen.

Use cold butter and cut into small chunks.

Place saute pan or sauce pan over medium heat and when pan is warm

Add Butter and allow to come up to temp - it will bubble and become frothy for a moment or two

Stir in flour a bit a time until all is incorporated into butter.

Cook for two - three minutes over medium heat until roux becomes smooth, almost with a sheen to it.

Remove from heat and allow to cool.

You just made 8 oz of white roux and it can be added to almost anything as a thickener.

One warning: do not add hot roux to hot liquids until you've learned to handle it.

Instead add hot roux to cool liquids and vice versa.

Put roux in air tight container and refrigerate. You can keep it for up to 1 month. You might have to warm it up slowly in order to liquify it but that's easy to do.

You can also make what we know as a 'slurry'; a 'quick roux' and 'buerre blanc' if you don't have time to cook and cool a roux. If you want an answer to that let me know.

Good cookin' and Bon Appetit!

Bill

How To Make Rue

Traditional roux (the root is French for "red" after the color of the roux) is made by melting butter in the pan, and then sprinkling flour into the hot, bubbling butter, stirring constantly, until you have a hot, reddish-gold paste that you can use for the basis of a sauce, or cooking meat and vegetables.

Other oils and oil products can make roux. My sis uses olive oil, and I've used light margarine, but it won't get that "roux" color. It's still how you start to make gumbo, etoufee and other creole dishes.

Equal parts of butter and flour. Start with 2 tablespoons of butter, melt that, then add 2 tablespoons of flour -- not all at once, but about 1/2 teaspoon at a time and keep stirring the whole time.

Then add the liquid of your choice, to make a gravy. Add the liquid slowly and keep stirring, preferably with a wire whisk.

RE:

How to make a good rue?

What to use, margerine, butter, olive oil, cannola oil. I want it to be dark, so I'm thinking butter.

roux can be made with either oil, just make sure you 'cook it out' before you add the hot liquid to this for your sauce. the longer you cook this, the darker the roux will become. also, cook over a low heat, or else it'll burn too quickly.