How to make a white sauce

To make a white sauce

Heat 3 cups milk until just scalded. Melt 50g butter in a saucepan, add 1/4 cup of flour and stir continuously for 3 minutes to cook. Whisk in the hot milk in stages, whisking until smooth each time, then use a wooden spoon to stir and simmer the sauce 5-7 minutes until it resembles thick cream. Season to taste with salt and pepper or mustard powder and remove from heat to cool.

Added flavour and storage

• Add more flavour to white sauce by adding a small onion studded with a few cloves, 1 tsp peppercorns and 2 bay leaves to the milk as it heats up.
• White sauce can keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Once made, add a knob of butter to the cooling sauce, enough to melt across the top of the sauce. This will prevent a hard skin forming once it is cooled. (If you put a lid on as it's cooling, the condensation formed should do the same.)

A batch of white sauce in the fridge means you can:

1. Make smoked fish or mushrooms on toast, topped with parsley, lemon zest and juice.
2. Mix it with grated cheese and chopped onion (or pineapple) and make ham or tuna and cheese toasted sandwiches.
3. Add a tasty cheese and smother on top of cooked cauliflower, broccoli or brussels sprouts and grill until golden as a side dish.
4. Mix it through leftover cooked chicken and vegetables, or add plenty of sauteed mushrooms, onion, garlic and fresh herbs to make creamy pies.
5. Add it to mashed potatoes and mix with cooked salmon, chilli, spring onions and dill to make fishcakes, rolled in some of your homemade breadcrumbs before frying.
6. Thin it out with a little cream, white wine or vermouth, then simmer smoked chicken breasts in it for a sauce to serve on tagliatelle tossed with parsley, capers or green olives.