Basic White Sauce or Béchamel

Every cook needs to be able to make her own basic white sauce.   Use the thick white sauce instead of canned cream soup; it makes a sauce of the same consistency; one recipe will make the same amount as a 10 ½ ounce can.  Add your own seasonings. Thin white sauce is the consistency for soups, and medium white sauce is the all-purpose gravy-like consistency for sauces on vegetables or with sausage, creamed chicken and the like. 
White sauce costs just pennies, takes just a few minutes, and you control the ingredients.

 White Sauce

THIN	MEDIUM	THICK
1 Tablespoons butter	2-3 Tablespoons butter	3-4 Tablespoons butter
1 Tablespoons flour ¼ Teaspoon salt 1 cup milk	2-3 Tablespoons flour ¼ teaspoon salt 1 cup milk	4 Tablespoons flour ¼ Teaspoon salt 1 cup milk

Melt butter in saucepan; blend in flour and salt and let bubble up together.  Take off heat, add milk all at once; cook over low to medium heat, stirring constantly until thickened.

36¢ per cup for medium white sauce

Per Cup: 410 Calories; 31g Fat (68.0% calories from fat); 10g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 95mg Cholesterol; 887mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 1 Grain (Starch); 1 Non-Fat Milk; 6 Fat.

Cheese Sauce:  Add ½ cup grated American cheese to 1 cup medium white sauce.

Egg Sauce:  Add 2 cut-up hard cooked eggs.  Season.

Quick Mustard Sauce:  Add 1 tablespoon prepared mustard.

Sausage Gravy:  Add 1/4 # cooked pork sausage, chopped onion.