what to do with extra bechamel
I accidentally made extra bechamel while making mac and cheese and it was probably my best ever bechamel. Other than lasagne and more mac and cheese, what should I do with it?
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I accidentally made extra bechamel while making mac and cheese and it was probably my best ever bechamel. Other than lasagne and more mac and cheese, what should I do with it?
13 Comments
https://food52.com/recipes/15341-serrano-ham-and-manchego-croquetas-with-smoked-pimenton-aioli
Voted the Best Reply!
1) it freezes well (do in portions usable for one next meal)
2) since it is one of the mother sauces of French cuisine, use this as an occassion/excuse to make one of its daughter sauces, depending on your tastes - Mornay, Nantua, Mustard, Soubise, Cheddar.
And, oh yes, :)
3) try to figure out what you did this time so you can repeat "your best ever" sauce
As for No. 3, I really wish I knew. I was making "pantry mac and cheese" because we didn't have much food. And was throwing things together without paying a lot of attention to my proportions. I might have browned the butter more than usual. It'll take some trial and error to figure it out.
Just to clarify, Cheddar Sauce isn't really a French sauce, but yes one way to use bechamel. And since you basically made it for the mac and cheese, it won't be much new to you.
The others will be different & can be used on various mains (for example, fish) and sides (simply blanched vegetables).
Also, if you thin any of the sauces with broth, milk, cream or tomatoes, it can become a soup.
Since you are using it for mac and cheese or something like lasagna, the defrosted stuff recuperates okay, provided you reheat it slowly and give it a whisk.
The defrosted stuff is less stellar as a "pour on" sauce rather than something that is fully incorporated into a dish like mac and cheese, but since the latter is apparently your primary use case, you should feel pretty good about the freezing option.
Good luck.