Lesson #2 sauces

Chicken stock, chicken velouté and kitchen tantrums

Welcome to the second entry of my Home Culinary School series: the Escoffier way. I’ve always wanted to go to culinary school, so instead of waiting for the perfect time, and in a moment of madness, I decided to let Escoffier guide me through his extensive text, Le Guide Culinaire. I'll be sharing the many highs and lows of my culinary adventures in part-diary, part-recipe format. Before reading today’s newsletter (and it’s a meaty one), I suggest you pour yourself a glass of wine or stir up a dirty martini, get cozy on the sofa and read on! 

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“Indeed, stock is everything in cooking. Without it, nothing can be done. If one’s stock is good, what remains of the work is easy; if, on the other hand, it is bad or merely mediocre, it is quite hopeless to expect anything approaching a satisfactory meal.”  Escoffier, Le Guide Culinaire 

Lesson #2

4.06pm Tuesday afternoon

Coffee units: 2 (cold brew at 6am and a hot latte at 1pm that’s gone cold and now tastes gross) 

Negative thoughts: 10

Positive thoughts. 5

So, if you didn’t know, I’m back in California and I've got jet lag and a bout of serious homesickness; there are suitcases everywhere, reminding me of my rootlessness. I’ve also got a massive headache that is not being helped by the realization that I’ve left Le Guide Culinaire at home, in England. Great! 

Whilst I'm in a perfect flow of moaning and self pity, let me fess up to another home culinary school misdemeanor: I'm slacking on my studying - like really slacking. I haven’t done any reading for weeks! On the bright side, the last lesson was a game-changer and now I know how to make the very best béchamel sauce: the secret is veal. And to be completely fair, my work schedule recently has been somewhat hectic. I published approx.15 recipes back-to-back, and even had a brussels sprouts caesar salad - of all things - go viral! It’s now at nearly 4m views! Oh, the mysteries of the internet! I've also just launched my brand new website! Productive right? No, actually chaotic. Ever since resigning from my job, I’ve fallen into the trap of overcompensating and working longer hours than I ever did in corporate America. But, it’s nearly spring, and this represents a new opportunity for balance. Perhaps I’ll make myself a caffeine-free herbal tea and get studying! 

9.08am Wednesday 

Coffee units: 0 (does a peach detox tea count?!)

Negative thoughts: 1

Positive thoughts. 10 (ordered Le Guide Culinaire from Amazon and it arrived today!)

Okay, let’s focus! Mother sauces. Although, before we get started, I must confess that lately, I've taken the easy route when it comes to making stocks. Instead of preparing them from scratch, I've been opting for store-bought pre-made stock/broth.  However, although life gets hectic and convenience is tempting, I must reluctantly admit that I can discern a difference in taste. Case in point - last night I whipped up a batch of chicken orzo soup using my mother's recipe. This recipe normally results in an incredibly delicious anytime meal, every time, but my version was just okay. Nothing special. I immediately knew what it lacked: a lovely, rich, perfectly fresh homemade stock. As Escoiffer states: ‘“Indeed, stock is everything in cooking. Without it, nothing can be done.’’ 

This advice was echoed by a chef I met last summer, who observed that, “If everyone had a basic foundational knowledge of cooking, namely how to make the basic stocks and sauces really well, no one would ever need a recipe”. 

So, with that in mind, I’ve decided to make a chicken velouté with HOMEMADE CHICKEN STOCK. If you’re not familiar, chicken velouté is a really useful sauce that serves as the foundation for numerous comforting recipes, which is good timing, as I could do with a little comfort right now. And with that in mind, I've decided to include the velouté in a chicken pot pie as my signature dish for this lesson. However, before I get too ahead of myself, I really should knuckle down and study Escoffier’s recipe before deciding how to proceed, at which point I will report back. 

10.12am Friday

Coffee units: 2 cold brews (let’s be honest, the caffeine free peach detox tea wasn’t going to last)

Negative thoughts: 0

Positive thoughts. 10

So, after reviewing Escoffier’s instructions and advice I've started to formulate a plan:

• Thinking ahead, I am going to make 2 liters of chicken velouté which should be enough for 3-4 meals, depending on the amount required for each recipe. FYI, chicken velouté can be kept in the fridge for approx. 3-4 days and the freezer for 2-3 months. This could be particularly useful when you have an intense schedule or unexpected guests. 

• I have also decided that to showcase the flavor profile of chicken velouté my signature dish for this part of the series will be Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie. Hardly classic French cuisine; however, the undeniable truth remains that buffalo chicken is delicious, and when mixed with the traditional elements of a chicken pot pie, the result should be nothing short of perfection. Here’s hoping. 

• And don’t worry, I will include a quick alternative for the homemade velouté for those who don’t have time to prepare all the stages required.

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Lesson #2 - Chicken Velouté

What is chicken velouté? 

• Chicken Velouté is a classic French sauce that serves as one of the five mother sauces in traditional French cuisine. This smooth, white sauce is created by combining a roux (clarified butter and flour) with chicken stock. 

• By adding various other ingredients such as herbs, wine or cream the resulting velouté then serves as the base for other sauces such as Allemande, Normande or Supreme.

• Velouté is commonly used to add richness and flavor to poultry dishes. 

Recipe suggestions using chicken velouté

Chicken Pot Pie

This dish is one of my ultimate comfort meals. I’m going to develop a recipe soon, very soon.

Creamy Chicken Pasta

Simply combine chicken velouté with cooked pasta, a little parmesan, sautéed chicken and some winter veggies, herbs, a little lemon juice and then toss everything together for an easy midweek supper. I also love to add a spoonful or three of mascarpone or heavy cream.

Chicken and Mushroom Casserole

A cold weather dish indeed: simply, mix chicken velouté with sautéed mushrooms, cooked chicken and herbs. Transfer the mixture to a baking dish, top with garlic breadcrumbs and bake until cooked through and golden brown.

Chicken Fricassée

What ever happened to chicken fricassée? I hardly ever see this dish on menus anymore, which is surprising, because it’s delicious. Chicken Fricassée is a classic French chicken stew featuring a luscious white mushroom sauce. 

Creamy & Spicy Chicken and Vegetable Soup

It’s still soup season! So, using chicken velouté as a base for a creamy and spicy  chicken and vegetable soup is a fabulous idea. Add diced vegetables, shredded chicken and spices such as chili, cayenne and paprika and you have yourself a lovely winter warmer. 

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Recipe research

A traditional chicken velouté consists of a stock mixed with a roux (flour and butter).

As with all Escoffier recipes it is important to remember that he was producing large quantities for a professional kitchen, so keep a calculator handy when considering the quantities you require for a domestic size version. In fact, I’ll document my calculations as I work towards making 2 liters of velouté (FYI, I’m dyslexic and maths terrifies me.) Surely time to top up that glass of wine by now?

Escoffier’s Chicken Velouté

Escoffier’s recipe for velouté requires an ‘Basic White Stock’ and a roux. Let’s start with the stock.

Escoffier provides the recipe for a brown stock with amendments for making a white stock.

Escoffier’s recipe makes 10 liters of stock. This was not intended for just one recipe, but rather as a base stock for some of the many dishes produced throughout a busy day in a professional kitchen. Obviously, this volume of stock is far too much for the home cook, unless you are catering for a huge party or are fortunate enough to have two or three freezers (a dream). You might, however, want to freeze the stock in liter containers for the weeks ahead, in which case why not half the recipe quantities and make 5 liters. I aim to make 2 liters so for ease of calculation I am going to divide the quantities for 10 liters by 5.

Other sauces were also made in large batches, so it is no surprise that Escoffier’s recipe for 5 liters of velouté required just over 5 liters of this white stock. This was combined with 625g of roux consisting of: 285g clarified butter and 340g of sifted flour. 

Now, as I am only making 2 liters of velouté I will start by dividing the roux quantity by 5 for 1 liter, then double this for 2 liters:

625g roux ÷ 5 = 125g for 1liter 

                 X 2 = 250g of roux for 2 liters

I then need to carry out the same process for each of the ingredients that make up the roux.                         

285g clarified butter ÷ 5 = 57g for 1 liter

                                X 2 = 114g for 2 liters

340g flour ÷ 5 = 68g for 1 liter

                 X 2 =136g for 2 liters

So, now we’re ready to make 2 liters of velouté…. and breathe.

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The final recipe

Chicken Velouté

The white chicken stock 

Let’s get started with the stock, which as I am going to use the velouté in a chicken pot pie needs to be a chicken stock. 

Escoffier recommends that a chicken stock is made in the same way as an ordinary white stock, but with the addition of ‘extra chicken giblets and carcasses and three boiling fowls’. Three boiling fowls?!! Your local butcher will be happy to provide giblets as well as carcasses and perhaps even feet. You can also use wings and necks. Note - giblets and wings can be found in the freezer section at your local supermarket.

I have decided not to use veal in my stock to reduce the cost of the dish, so will ensure there are plenty of chicken parts to intensify the flavor.

Stock Ingredients 

Again, whilst Escoffier’s quantities were for 10 liters of stock, mine are for 2 liters, so I divided the ingredients by 5 resulting in the following:

2-2.5kg of chicken parts, necks, wings, backs, feet

Flavoring ingredients 

160g carrots

80g onions

60g leeks

20g celery

1 clove

1 bouquet garni comprising:

 A small bunch of parsley, a sprig of thyme and 1 bay leaf

Liquid and seasonings

2 liters (actually I used 3 liters as 2 did not seem enough to cover the chicken parts etc)

12g salt 

Method

Place all the chicken parts into a stockpot, cover with water and add the salt. Bring to a boil. Skim carefully* then add the vegetables and aromatics. Allow the mixture to simmer very gently for 2-3 hours. Pass through a strainer/chinois lined with cheesecloth several times and reserve for use.

*Note on skimming

Escoffier loves a good labor-intensive skim! However, if you are short on time, skip this step. I’ve found it makes very little difference to the overall flavor if you strain the stock two or three times at the end of the cooking process.

Notes

What actually happened

I didn’t have a deep stock pot but reasoned that as many chefs argue that a wider pan allows the development of flavor intensity, I used a large, wide Le Creuset heavy bottomed pot. And for the same reason, I did not cover the pan with a lid. After 3 hours of simmering, instead of 2 liters of stock I only had 1.1 liters - HALF the intended volume. This meant that I had to half the amount of roux. Fortunately the calculations above provide the quantities required for 1 liter of stock. We now proceed based on creating 1 liter of velouté. This is plenty given that my chicken pot pie recipe I’m currently developing only requires 415-500ml of velouté, but instead of having enough left over for another 2-3 dishes, this will probably be restricted to another recipe and perhaps a soup.

The blond roux 

Ingredients (adjusted quantities provided)

As you are going to the trouble of clarifying butter (method below), you may as well clarify 500g (or more) as it is so useful for cooking and frying and lasts in the fridge for up to 6 months! I am including measurements specifically for the sauce velouté below.

57g clarified butter (unsalted) 

68g all-purpose/plain flour

Method 

To clarify the butter

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat. Don’t be tempted to turn the heat up, this will only brown the butter and we don’t want that.

2. Let the butter simmer slowly until it separates into three layers: foam on top, clarified butter in the middle, and milk solids at the bottom.

3. Skim off the foam with a spoon.

4. Slowly pour the melted butter into a heat-proof container. To ensure that the milk solids are removed you can pour the butter through a cheesecloth-lined sieve/chinois.

To make the roux

Mix the butter and flour in a heavy bottomed pan and place over a low heat, stirring frequently until it takes on a straw color. The roux should be cooked for just a few minutes ‘sufficient to eliminate the rawness of the flour’. Set aside to cool.

Storage

A roux can be kept for a reasonable amount of time. Typically, you can store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. If you want to extend its lifespan, consider freezing it. In the freezer, a roux can last for several months.

Assembling the Chicken Velouté

Makes 1 liter 

Gradually mix in 1 liter of the stock into the roux, making sure that a smooth consistency is maintained. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat slightly to maintain a simmer and cook until slightly thickened - enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pass through a sieve into a heatproof jug or bowl. Did you gather by now that I love a good strain?

Tip

If you find that your chicken velouté isn’t thickening up the way you would like, simply make a beurre manié, which is made by combining softened butter and flour into a paste. Add a little of this to the mix and stir until desired thickness is reached. No need for cornflour! By the way, google taught me this, not chef!

Substitutions and shortcuts

The stock 

If you don’t feel like making the chicken stock yourself, you can buy chicken stock or chicken broth from the store. It won’t taste as good, but It will do just fine! 

The clarified butter 

If you can’t be bothered with this (and I don’t blame you) you can buy pre-clarified butter at your local supermarket, and if you can’t get a hold of it there just use regular unsalted butter. 

Well done, if you've made it this far! Now you are ready to use your chicken velouté in any dish you choose. As you know, I intend to use mine in a Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie recipe which I’m developing right now.

Class notes

I couldn’t help wondering why I had needed 3 liters of water (instead of the expected 2 liters) to make the chicken stock, so I decided to check Escoffier’s instructions. Lo and behold - I had been so focussed on the headline: ‘To make 10 liters’, that I had failed to notice that the ‘Liquids and Seasonings’ section detailed the need for 12 liters of water! So, although my instincts regarding adding ‘extra’ water were correct, nevertheless, my attention to detail was sorely lacking! Of course, Escoffier had allowed for evaporation. Thanks chef!

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Well done for making it through the most convoluted exploration of chicken stock and velouté on the internet. Can you tell this process stressed me out? Any chefs or cooks that have advice, please feel free to comment below - just be kind, I’m still learning.

Oh and before I go, I must tell you I recently purchased Salt, fat, acid, heat by Samin Nosrat and it’s really life changing. I will most likely be using this text to supplement my learnings from Chef Escoffier. Will report back soon. And, don’t worry, I promise I won’t abandon my culinary school diaries again.

Love, Sarah x

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