Make your own or buy pre done

ciderwithrosie_2

Slightly off topic - but does everyone who makes their own bechamel sauce use the flour and butter roux method?

I was taught by my mum to use cornflour in sauces and gravies so that's what I always do, no need for additional fat either. It comes out perfectly everytime and seems a lot less faff - just wondered if there was a difference in taste or something?

Don't ask me how much to use though as I just do it by eye after all these years!

krlyr

Honey_Bear wrote: »

So grateful for the sugar tip in bolognaise sauce krlyr. OH loved one huge batch I made from scratch a couple of years ago (and froze) from whoopsied mince and hasn't enjoyed it since. That's probably why - he even commented on how sweet it was, so I was obviously not really listening to him.

I made a batch once that was so bland, I ended up driving to the supermarket while it was cooking to buy a jar of sauce to salvage it! That's why I started a thread next time I decided to brave it, and it was mentioned then. I think I prefer homemade to jars now, but it definately needed the sugar. I've gradually reduced the amount used now - it's probably less than a teaspoon, compared to a tablespoon (I make large batches, that's not just for one serving!) and experiment with getting extra flavour in other ways (different herbs, stock, etc.) but if your taste buds are used to the ready-made jars then you certainly need time to adjust from the amount of sugar and flavourings they use.

fawd1

ciderwithrosie wrote: »

Slightly off topic - but does everyone who makes their own bechamel sauce use the flour and butter roux method?

I was taught by my mum to use cornflour in sauces and gravies so that's what I always do, no need for additional fat either. It comes out perfectly everytime and seems a lot less faff - just wondered if there was a difference in taste or something?

Don't ask me how much to use though as I just do it by eye after all these years!

There is a slight difference in taste, it tastes slightly richer, although if making for lasagne it doesn't really matter as you'll get so many other flavours in there. I prefer it if I'm making macaroni cheese though, or even better, cheese and ham croquettes. Sooo yummy.

gayleygoo

Jars of lasagne sauce can be prohibitively expensive for me, unless I can get them on special offer for good value. Last few times I have made the cheese and tomato sauces for lasagne and it does take quite a while to do, certainly cheaper so it can be worth it, but only if I've planned it - HM lasagne from scratch is not a quick meal!

I've started doubling up on pasta sauce making so I've always got some in the freezer, if the same works for the cheese sauce then I'll do that too. I use the cornflour method so I wonder if it would split or do anything odd in the freezer?

I make most other things from scratch though, packet mixes and curry sauce jars can easily be replaced with a few herbs and spices. When I started reading the ingredients on the packets I was shocked by how little there really is in them!

It can take a while to get used to the taste of HM sauces if you normally use packets and jars - they often contain a lot of salt and sugar, modified-this and glutamate-that. Your own sauces will taste nicer with experimentation!

Yeasted bread, I must admit, I fail at. I just can't get a properly risen and well cooked loaf and don't have the space for a breadmaker. I make my own soda bread and soda farls, potato bread and wheaten bread though as these don't need yeast, proving or kneading, and are miles better and cheaper than shop-bought, and difficult to mess up!

mollymoggs

I do a bit of both, although I am trying to (and have been) increasing the amount of homemade stuff I make.

I never do jarred red sauce though, because the jarred pasta sauce in this country is so bland. I grew up eating HM sauce made from fresh tomatoes that my parents stewed, ran through this sieving contraption (they used it to make apple sauce too), and then froze to use throughout the year. They'd do it over the course of two weekends, but it really meant that everything else doesn't do. I do make mine with tinned/boxed/jarred tomato products though because we do not have an allotment.

I keep some things like pesto, a couple of jars of curry sauce, and usually buy at least one convenience meal (usually something like frozen pizza or Quorn chicken and either potato waffles or chips). I am dropping the pizza thing as I have a new breadmaker to make the dough in, and my husband loves my homemade pizza (before the breadmachine I've made them on baguettes).

One thing I buy and have no plans to stop is frozen veg. I think that people look down on it for no reason. It's likely fresher than the "fresh" veg they buy in the shop, especially out of season stuff flown in from abroad. I have also picked up some tinned/jarred veg at my last big monthly shop, which is something I haven't used in years. I decided to overcome my snobbery about it to have something that was easy to store long term on hand. Plus, the "posh" jarred ones were on offer at the big T's, so I stocked up.

When it comes to bread, if you actually read the ingredients list on store bought bread, they can have soy, hydrogenated oils, corn, glucose-fructose syrup (the British name for high fructose corn syrup), preservatives, as well as higher levels of salt and sugar. I like being able to tell people what is in my bread. It does work out cheaper for us to make it in the bread machine, because I often opted for the more expensive loaves to avoid the junk. I tried making it by hand, but I lack the discipline of some of you. I would go a while making my own, then revert to picking up a few loaves. The bread maker is so much easier.

I have resolved to make a lot more from scratch, but I think you have to balance things like cost, how much free time you have, and practicality.

-taff

One tip to make making lasagne more quickly is to make your sauces quite runny, and don't par boil the lasagne sheets.
Assemble it and the pasta will absorb the extra liquid.

Proper lasgane is quite dry, only the top has bechamel sauce, it's an amercianised version that we eat here, with the rich sauces etc, so if you want to cut back even more, just tell everyone you're making an 'authentic' version.....:)

I use the flour and butter roux for the sauce...

Caterina

I have never considered any sauce other than homemade. Being Italian, I did not even know, before arriving in the UK, that you can buy ready made sauce!

I try to make a lot of stuff from scratch. Jam, bread (mostly soda for speed but sometimes proper yeast end and occasionally sourdough, using the "Herman" starter), baked beans, vege burgers, pakoras, etc...

I can't be bothered making pasta from scratch though.

mollymoggs

-taff wrote: »

Proper lasgane is quite dry, only the top has bechamel sauce, it's an amercianised version that we eat here, with the rich sauces etc, so if you want to cut back even more, just tell everyone you're making an 'authentic' version.....:)

There are different "proper" versions of lasagne. The British version is closer to the original version which uses bechamel. Other areas of Italy use ricotta, particularly in Sicily (where much of the "American-Italian food culture hails from). You will find that most American recipes call for ricotta and mozzarella (and probably half of the recipes you will find call for uncooked noodles), and is a totally different affair. As authentic? Maybe not as it is not the original dish, but you will find the same dish in Italy that you do in the US.

It's definitely not served with chips in either country.

I think British lasagne is probably very British, and it got that way on its own. It's closer to the original Italian recipe though, and I am guessing that it's because the original Italian restaurants here were probably using the bechamel version and the mass market tried to copy it.

bossymoo

A white sauce only takes minutes to prepare, really. And you can do it whilst the meat is browning. I don't tend to make lasagne as it uses an awful lot of pans for a one-pot meal IYSWIM although I don't make my own tom sauce but use passata or tin of toms.

I prefer my own curry sauces, but again, I don't often - I have young children and still trying to persuade them to try a nice curry, but neither like saucy foods really. Having said that, I've got a big bag of mushrooms and had planned to make them into a curry that I can batch up for me.

It'll be slow-cooker time again soon! Haven't had it out all summer as we've been eating salads and other cold stuff mostly.

bossymoo

Oh and I don't make bread, but we don't eat a lot of it either - usually keep a loaf in freezer and just have a slice as and when we need.