plain jane cooking - recipes for the novice:

thickening stews and soups, etc

There are many, many ways to thicken your stews, your soups, your sauces. Here I will be concentrating on 'back to basics' easy methods.

First lets talk terminology:

• when plain flour is added to water or other liquid this is known as either a slurry or a slake
• when cornflour is added to water or other liquid this is known as either a slurry or a slake
• when arrowroot is added to water or other liquid this is known as either a slurry or a slake
• when flour is added to melted butter and cooked on a stove it is called a "roux"
• when flour is kneaded into softened butter it is known as a "beurre manié"

All are common and easy ways of thickening liquids.

Other methods for thickening can include:

• a potato flour called "fecule"
• adding potatoes, depending on dish I usually pre-boil these so they can just break up in the stew and thicken it
• bread
• crackers

So what product and method best suits what dish? All are suitable for most dishes with the exception of:

• boiled potatoes are not recommended for sauces, and best for stews and soups
• bread and crackers are not recommended for sauces are best for soups (this is how the soup known as bisque got its name, after the french word 'biscuit', which was originally the way these seafood soups were thickened

  how to use slurries

  1. Place 1 heaped tablespoon (per litre to be thickened) of plain flour, cornflour or arrowroot into a cup and add sufficient water to make a liquid
  2. Slowly add to simmering liquid while stirring or whisking to evenly distribute
  3. Flour will take a few minutes to thicken so care must be taken not to add too much, add half let it thicken and then add more as required
  4. Cornflour and arrowroot will thicken almost immediately, again add half let it thicken and then add more as required
  5. If too much of a flour and cornflour slurry is added, the dish can be thinned back down by adding some more stock, water or wine
  6. If too much of a arrowroot slurry is added, the dish will start to gel and look slimy, unfortunately this can not be corrected so be careful not to add too much at once
  7. Taste the dish before thickening, if more flavour is required make the slurry with a stock concentrate, wine or other flavouring ingredient in place of water

how to use beurre manié

1. Soften butter
2. Add plain flour, three-quarters of the amount of the butter (100gm of butter to 75gm flour)
3. Mix by hand, with a fork or similar
4. Add to simmering liquid in small amounts while stirring, as the butter melts it will slowly release the flour and allow it to thicken without forming lumps
5. Allow approximately 100gm of beurre manié per lt of liquid

how to use a roux

This is produced at the start of a dish, the butter may also be used to pre-cook the likes of onions, etc first before adding the flour (it is essentially a cooked form of beurre manié).

1. Melt butter over a low to medium heat
2. Add plain flour, three-quarters of the amount of the butter (100gm of butter to 75gm flour)
3. Cook gently for 3 to 5 minutes before adding liquid
4. Add liquid in small amounts while stirring, as the butter melts it will slowly release the flour and allow it to thicken without forming lumps
5. Allow approximately 100gm of roux per lt of liquid

how to use a potatoes to thicken

This is a wonderful way of thickening soups and sauces, especially if you are gluten intolerant (cornflour and arrowroot are also gluten free).

Either add peeled potatoes cut in small pieces so that they will cook quickly and break up as the soup or stew cooks and thicken it, or use pre-boiled potatoes.

For an emergency non-gluten thickener (if it requires extra thickening after cooking the stew, etc) sprinkle in a little instant mashed potato flakes/powder.

how to use bread or crackers to thicken

This method is a great way to quickly thicken soups and stews, and use up stale bread or crackers, (fresh can also be used, as can breadcrumbs) the bread can be added with or without the crusts depending on if it's a white stew/soup or not.

Simply crumble the bread or cracker into the simmering dish and stir through. Thickening will take a few minutes so add in batches, allow approximately six slices of bread per litre of liquid.

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