Cooking At Home With Jason: Bechamel

by Jason Brechin

When I was learning to cook while living on my own during college, I spent a lot of time (and money) buying ingredients for so many new recipes.  While it was educational and fun, it was expensive and we ended up throwing away far too much.  I’ve grown to love learning about all the different ways I can use the stuff I already have taking up space in the pantry.

Mmmmm, creamy! Photo by Jason Brechin

Over the years since then, I’ve learned a lot, and it’s one of the requests I’ve heard many times from the Chambanamoms audience.  My sister calls me up every once in a while asking me to come up with something to make because there’s some bunch of things in her fridge, freezer, or pantry that need to be used up.  I have a few standard answers for things like that, like a frittata or an omelette, which you can fill with pretty much anything.  Some kids won’t touch a frittata, or maybe you just need a heartier lunch or dinner meal.  Luckily, I have yet to meet a kid that doesn’t love pasta.

I’m blessed to have two girls that love to eat vegetables, especially the ones that “kids don’t eat” like asparagus and broccoli.  The great thing about this recipe is that it’s great with almost any vegetable mixed in, or even none at all!  Bechamel, one of the French “mother sauces”, is a great foundation recipe that you can adapt to a variety of meal situations.  Last summer I wrote up a delicious creamy chanterelle recipe that you could make with any mushrooms.  Use it in your lasagna, make moussaka, or whip up some sawmill gravy for your weekend biscuits.

Bechamel with Veggies
serves 4

You can serve this over your favorite pasta.  The best part is that it can be made in less time than it takes for you to make the pasta.  Make it with different vegetables, like spinach or chard, add in some cooked meat, or toss in some cheese to make it more rich.

•    2T butter
•    3 cloves garlic, minced
•    2T flour
•    2 cups milk, heated if possible (I always skip that and pour straight from the fridge)
•    2 cups cooked or quick-cooking veggies (I used frozen peas and broccoli, straight from the freezer)
•    salt and pepper, to taste
•    2T parsley, chopped (optional)

1.    Heat the butter over medium heat in a wide skillet.
2.    Add the garlic and stir for a minute, just until it softens, but does not brown.
3.    Sprinkle in the flour and stir to mix it in with all the butter.
4.    Cook for a minute or so to develop a little flavor, but don’t let it brown too much.
5.    Pour in the milk, while stirring or whisking.  If your milk is cold, you may have a few lumps, but they usually come out with a bit of stirring later.
6.    The sauce will thicken as it comes up to a boil.  As it comes to a boil, add in your veggies and stir to combine.
7.    Once the veggies are cooked and/or warmed through, taste and add salt and pepper to your liking.
8.    If you’re using parsley, add half the parsley to the sauce and reserve the rest for garnish.

Jason Brechin lives in Savoy with his wife, two daughters, and a lazy cat. Whether you’re looking for recipe recommendations to use up that aging produce or just want to know more about some obscure ingredient, he’ll have something to offer.

When he isn’t contributing to Chambanamoms, he’s maintaining his own food blog, Clever Food Blog. Originally from the suburbs, he and his wife met here their first year of college and have loved living here ever since.

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