Great for your repertoire.
Ingredients
- 1.2-1.5kg of loin or oyster of bacon, rind on
- For the Sauce:
- 300ml full fat milk
- 1 small carrot, peeled and thickly sliced
- 1 quarter of an onion peeled
- 1 bay leaf
- 4 parsley stalks
- 1 thyme branch
- 25g butter
- 25g plain flour
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Use loin or the oyster piece of bacon for this recipe. Try to ensure there is a decent coating of fat (around ½ -1 cm) on the raw bacon before cooking as this will lead to a sweeter and juicy result.
- Cover the bacon in a saucepan with cold water and bring to a simmer. If a white salty froth arises to the surface, it is best to discard this water and start again with fresh cold water.
- It is unusual to need to change the water more than once but if when the bacon returns to a simmer for the second time it is again very frothy, it is no harm to repeat the process.
- Cook the bacon covered at a simmer, allowing 20 minutes for every 450g of raw meat. If you insert a thin skewer into the meat and it travels through with very little resistance, then you know that the meat is cooked.
- Turn off the heat and let the bacon sit in the water until you are ready to serve.
- While the bacon is cooking prepare the sauce. Every cook needs to know how to make a béchamel or white sauce. Properly made, this sauce is well-flavoured, smooth and shiny and has a silky consistency.
- Place the cold milk, carrot, onion and herbs in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Do not allow the milk to boil over as you will lose some of the milk and the proportions of the sauce will be wrong, yielding a sauce that is too thick – exactly what we are trying to avoid.
- Turn off the heat and allow to sit for 10 minutes. The vegetables and herbs will add a subtle flavour to the milk.
- While the milk is infusing, melt the butter in a small saucepan and add the flour. Stir with a wooden spoon to combine, and cook on a low heat for 3 minutes, all the time stirring regularly and making sure the mixture does not overheat and burn.
- NB: It is crucial that you allow it to cook for the 3 minutes as suggested to remove any raw trace of flour from the sauce. This slightly odd looking mixture of cooked flour and butter is called a roux, and it will both thicken and enrich the sauce. (You could make exactly the same mixture to whisk into a gravy to thicken it.)
- Strain the milk and whisk on to the roux. Place on a low heat and all the time whisking, bring the sauce to a simmer.
- The sauce will not start to thicken until the liquid reaches a simmer. At this point, maintain the sauce at a simmer for 2 minutes, still whisking to ensure there are no lumps of roux left floating in the sauce.
- You will notice the sauce becoming smooth and shiny. Remove from the heat and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- The sauce is now ready to serve.
- For Parsley Sauce: Just before serving, add 3 tablespoons of chopped parsley to the finished sauce and bring back to a simmer. Serve immediately for the freshest taste.
- For Cheese Sauce: Add 2 tablespoons each of grated Parmesan and Gruyère and 1 teaspoon of French mustard to the finished sauce. Whisk in well and simmer for 1 minute before serving.
- For Cheddar Cheese and Mustard Sauce: Add 100g and 1-2 tablespoons of French or English mustard to the finished Béchamel Sauce, whisk well and bring back to a simmer before serving.
