Thick , Rich Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free Roux/White Sauce

BigFatMomma's Note:

I'm staying away from wheat, but wanted a nice white sauce. All the others I have seen were thin or too sweet. This one is rich, creamy, and has a great flavor. Replaces white sauce in casseroles and tetrazzinis. Can be used as a base for cream of mushroom soup, too. Add spices you want to create the flavor you need. All spices listed are optional--I use this as the sauce for my chicken and rice bake.

• Total Time: 15 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 1 batch

• 2 tablespoons non-hydrogenated margarine
• 1 -2 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons extra-fine rice flour (see note)
• 2 tablespoons garbanzo flour (chickpea, gram)
• 1 teaspoon potato starch
• 1 1/4 cups gluten-free chicken stock
• 1 1/4 cups rice milk
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried dill (optional)

Directions:

1. Note: The rice flour you usually find is rather gritty (Arrowhead Mills, etc), so it is best to get your rice flour at an Asian market, where you can find powdered rice flour--it has the same feel as cornstarch.
2. In a small bowl, mix flours and potato starch with a fork until mixed together.
3. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt margarine with oil over medium heat.
4. Whisk flour mixture into oil/butter mixture until it forms a paste.
5. Whisk in chicken stock and rice milk.
6. Add spices and Worcestershire.
7. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until thick.
8. If too thick, add more rice milk.
9. If too thin, mix 1 tsp of (the garbanzo flour thickens better, but has a stronger taste) more flour with 1 T of cold water, and then stir into the sauce.
10. Repeat if necessary.

Reviews

[WI Cheesehead]

This turned out well. I used some ground black bean flour I had and buckwheat. Also used beef broth and mixed it all with some ground turkey for a beef stroganoff type meal. Very good. Used all the spices, except dill, and added minced onion. UPDATE: This made it into my Top Fav's of 2009 cookbook. Original Review 10-18-09.

[Chef #1290272]

Excellent and so tasty. I did change the quanity of garbanzo flour and used 1 tbsp of garbanzo and 1 tbsp of tapioca flour as we don't really like the strong taste of garbanzo flour. Thank you so much for this excellent tasty sauce

[Amis]

This was great, thank you! We're recent converts to a gluten free diet because of my son. We found out he had an intolerance a few months ago so I'm still adding to my new recipe book. I was happy that I had all of this on hand and didn't have to worry about finding some of the more scarce and expensive flours. I toasted the flour lightly first before adding the fats and liquids. It's a nutty flavor to it and I always do this when making a roux. One FYI ~ Worecestshire sauce is not always considered gluten free. Read the ingredients carefully. Generally Lee & Perrins and French's are safe but not always. I have had Lee & Perrins that had malt vinegar in it and they always have natural flavors. Standards are different in the UK when it comes to gluten free. My family can still use it since my son can tolerate low levels of gluten in his diet. If you can't find a suitable store bought worcestshire, there are lots of recipes online. Oh, and Lee & Perrins is NOT GF in Canada!