Instructions

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Use about 2 tablespoons of butter per cup of stock.

2. Whisk an equal amount of flour – relative to the butter – into the melted butter to make a roux. The butter coats the flour granules with fat, which helps prevent them from clumping together when you add the stock.

3. Cook the roux for a couple minutes, whisking constantly, until it develops a golden color. This step removes the raw taste of the flour, improving the overall flavor of the finished sauce.

4. Turn the heat up to medium and whisk in the veal, chicken or fish stock, a little at a time. Adding the stock gradually prevents lumps from forming. This is a good occasion to utilize homemade or other good-quality stock. With so few ingredients in the sauce, the flavor of the stock dominates.

5. Bring the sauce to a simmer, stirring frequently to prevent the roux from scorching on the bottom of the pan. The sauce should thicken as it starts to bubble.

6. Reduce the heat to low and continue to stir frequently as the sauce cooks for another 30 minutes. The extended cooking time concentrates the flavor and allows the starch granules to dissolve completely, producing a silkier sauce.

7. Season the velouté to taste with salt and pepper. Depending on how salty the stock was to begin with, the sauce may not need additional seasoning.

8. Strain the sauce through a fine-mesh sieve for an extra-smooth texture. At this point, you can refrigerate the sauce until you are ready to serve it. Stir the sauce frequently as it cools to prevent a skin from forming.