White Onion Sauce?

Wandering Bob said:
In that case do check out that Delia recipe - it looks straightforward and, as usual, her instructions are clear. Hopefully you have access to the two mustards she proposes …?
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We have two mustards available here. English mustard and that French rubbish. :laugh:
 
Herbie said:
I've just looked up sauce flour and it is rather interesting. It was developed by a Delia fan who watched her on TV making white sauce and explaining the need for fat. This flour does not need fat to make the sauce! https://www.deliaonline.com/ingredient/sauce-flour
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I'm not sure that I believe that. I've been using general purpose flour for over a year now and, using Delia's method, I've never seen a lump. Probably hype.
 
Yorky said:
I came across this many years ago and thought it may complement Yorkshire fried chicken. However, I really don't know how to make it. I'm thinking of starting with a base béchamel sauce but do I fry the onions, boil them or just add them raw? Is there anything else that I should add (in addition to seasoning)? Perhaps sliced mushrooms? I will likely serve the chicken with mashed potatoes and garden peas or shredded cabbage.

Any ideas?
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We have onion sauce with roast pork and roast lamb , probably a couple of time a month. My wife cooks it, but I think she softens (but not browns) the chopped onions in butter, then incorporates them in a bechamel sauce. Other than seasoning she adds nothing else.

Wandering Bob said:
I grew up in Lancashire (the other side of the hill) and my mother used to make a 'bread sauce' to go with roast chicken. I'm sure that was a white sauce with softened onion - but how + when she incorporated the bread, I can no longer remember. But it did go very well with the chicken - which is your plan, I think. If you're curious about that bread sauce, I'll try and get more information
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Yes, we have that with roast chicken too, and with turkey or game birds. We make it by simmering an onion studded with cloves in a pan of milk, then adding breadcrumbs. A grate of nutmeg can enhance both sauces.
 
Wandering Bob said:
Do you know what 'sauce flour' is? I've not come across it before.
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Yorky said:
I've asked this question before. It's just flour, plain.
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Its white flour made from specific wheat which is milled superfine. You can add it directly to a liquid gravy to thicken it (which you can't really do with ordinary flour). The flour used according to the blurb on Carr's website is made from:

Selected wheats that by nature do not form glutinous lumps with the addition of liquids, making Carr's Sauce Flour particularly suitable for sauces without added fat
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Maybe it is too late, but having looked up a few recipes (in old recipe books) and had a think, this is what I would do.

Simmer the chopped onions in milk (or a mixture of milk and chicken stock) until cooked soft. You could add peppercorns, bay (which you do not have?) and cloves to the milk.
Strain off the milk/stock and use that to make your Delia Smith white sauce in the normal way.
Add the onions back in and heat through. If you want a smooth sauce then blitz with a hand blender.

I think you need at least two large onions for a pint of sauce. Cooked onions are quite mild...use more if you want.
 
morning glory said:
Maybe it is too late, but having looked up a few recipes (in old recipe books) and had a think, this is what I would do.
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No it's not too late. I don't even have the chicken yet! It'll be next week when I get around to it.

We have bay (assuming you're talking of the leaves). I usually make about 200 ml of sauce (just for myself) so one onion should be sufficient (Although I may use shallots). I don't want a smooth sauce but I don't really want big chunks of onion so I'll chop them very fine.
 
Yorky said:
No it's not too late. I don't even have the chicken yet! It'll be next week when I get around to it.

We have bay (assuming you're talking of the leaves). I usually make about 200 ml of sauce (just for myself) so one onion should be sufficient (Although I may use shallots). I don't want a smooth sauce but I don't really want big chunks of onion so I'll chop them very fine.
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I just saw a recipe in an old book which suggests two large onions for 1/2 pint (250 ml) of white sauce. It might be worth cooking two so you can add one and taste then add more if needed. I assume onions/shallots are cheap. They do become very mild when cooked.
 
morning glory said:
I just saw a recipe in an old book which suggests two large onions for 1/2 pint (250 ml) of white sauce. It might be worth cooking two so you can add one and taste then add more if needed. I assume onions/shallots are cheap. They do become very mild when cooked.
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Onions/shallots cost buttons but I really don't want a heavy onion taste. I'll give it a try with one (80 mm dia or a few shallots) first and see how it goes. I'll probably chuck some garlic in also.
 
I'm going to give it a go today. One onion plus 6 garlic cloves, mustard, salt and pepper. As your suggestion MG, I'll simmer in about 200 ml milk and then use the milk for the basic sauce.

I shall report later, hopefully with pictures.
 
I used one 80 mm diameter white onion and 6 cloves of garlic finely chopped and brought to the boil in 220 ml fresh milk. Simmered for 6 minutes then sieved (I ended up with 200 ml milk). Added a knob of butter and a tablespoon of sieved plain flour to the milk and brought back to the boil over a medium heat whisking continuously.After the sauce thickened I seasoned with salt and black pepper and added a teaspoon of English mustard powder. After thoroughly mixing I returned the onions and garlic to the sauce and simmered very gently for around 10 minutes stirring occasionally.

I've had better!

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The onion caused the sauce to become much thicker than expected, in fact the remainder was almost solid in the sauce boat.
 
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