Classic Béchamel Sauce

Make the blond roux: In a heavy-bottomed 6-cup saucepan set over medium-low heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the flour and whisk together until the butter and flour mixture forms small bubbles with a faint tint of color, about 2 minutes. Sally Vargas Sally Vargas Sally Vargas Whisk in the milk: Add 1 cup of the milk (all at once) and whisk until the sauce is smooth and lump-free. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup of milk (all at once), with the salt, and white or black pepper. Raise the heat to medium and bring the sauce to a low boil with small bubbles breaking the surface and wisps of steam. Keep whisking the simmering sauce for an additional 2 minutes, or until it is thickened and no longer tastes of raw flour. The finished sauce should have a thick, gravy-like consistency. Sally Vargas Sally Vargas Sally Vargas Sally Vargas Use or store the sauce: Use immediately or pour into a storage container. Spread the remaining 1 teaspoon of butter over the surface of the hot sauce to keep a skin from forming. Cool the sauce for 10 to 15 minutes before refrigerating or freezing, covered with a lid.