[Leica] OT: Roux recipe

[douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp)]

For those who don't know what it is.....
Simple recipe for Roux (From a former colleague - Patrique Laroche)
I'm sure Sonny has a better one :-)

225g pork dripping
100g flour (I use wheat flour from India)
Stir with a wooden spoon.

Heat the pork dripping in a heavy (cast iron) pan at a moderate 
temperature (don't let it spit at you)
Add about 1/3 of the flour and stir it in until it's smooth
Keep stirring until it reaches the colour brown that you want, the 
browner it gets , the nuttier it smells.
DO NOT stop stirring until it's the way you like it - nothing is worse 
than a burnt Roux, it'll ruin your meal.

When your Roux has the right colour, take the pan off the heat and stir 
in a few vegetables to stop the browning process.
If you're not going to be using veggies, scrape your Roux into a 
stainless steel bowl and keep stirring it until the colour remains 
constant (about 5 - 10 minute).
You can use it straight away and add it to your stock, or it'll keep in 
the fridge until you need it.

It's pretty good for some Creole or Jamaican stews or sauces if you  
lightly fry Hot Jerk spices in the dripping before adding the flour.

Here are a couple of reasonably hot recipes I picked up in the Caribbean 
Community in Leeds, UK, many years ago

Three Kinds of Fire: This can be fried in before adding the flour. 
WARNING - this is pretty hot
2 tsp Chili powder 1.5 tsp Ground Cumin (Jeera) (take Cumin seeds roast 
them lightly in a dry pan (skillet) and grind them fresh in a mortar)
1/2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (or more, or less depending on the fire resisting 
properties of your innards) 2 tsp salt.

Or Melange:
Add this to the dish after  the Roux and a little of the stock/vegetable 
juice has been added - Ground Paprika doesn't take too well to being 
fried, neither do the herbs
1 1/4 Tbsp Sweet ground Paprika
1 TBSP Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 Tbsp Chilli powder
1/2 Tbsp dried Thyme
1/2 Tbsp dried Oregano (you could use Marjory here)
1/2 Tbsp Onion powder
Although I don't like using onion and garlic powders, it doesn't really 
work with fresh garlic and onions - which you can saute and add later 
anyway.
I find it tastes even better if you leave out the thyme and Oregano and 
use Fenugreek leaves instead - although that gives it a more Indian 
flavour.

Cheers and Guten Apetit
Douglas

Roux is also an excellent thickener for a lot of Indian dishes
Main thing is - once you've got it worked out - start experimenting


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