Editor's Note: Serve this sauce with Cathal Armstrong's Corned Beef
Recipe information
Yield
Makes 2 cups
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole milk, warmed
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 cup chopped parsley
Preparation
In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the butter until it bubbles. Whisk in the flour and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, whisking constantly, until the mixture is blond in color. Whisking continually, slowly add the milk. Bring the sauce to a boil and cook until it thickens, about 3 minutes, whisking continually to keep lumps from forming. Add the salt, pepper, nutmeg, and parsley, whisking to incorporate. Season with more salt and pepper if you wish. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. (To reheat, heat 1/2 cup milk in a saucepan over medium heat and stir in the sauce in batches, warming each one through before adding the next.)
Reprinted with permission from My Irish Table: Recipes from the Homeland and Restaurant Eve by Cathal Armstrong & David Hagedorn. Copyright © 2014 by Cathal Armstrong and David Hagedorn. Photographs copyright © 2014 by Scott Suchman. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.
Dublin Born CATHAL ARMSTRONG is an internationally recognized chef with seven restaurants in the Washinton, DC, area. Food & Wine magazine called him "a one-man urban-renewal engine" who kicked off a dining revival in Old Town using French techniques and local produce. Armstrong was a James Beard Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic nominee and was named one of Food & Wine's "10 Best New Chefs 2006"and "50 Hall of Fame Best New Chefs." He won the Best Chef Award from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC, in 2007, and the White House honored him as a "Champion of Change" for his work on ending childhood obesity and his involvement in improving the school lunch system. Cathal has been featured in Oprah, Food & Wine, Southern Living, and Martha Stewart.
DAVID HAGEDORN was a chef and restaurateur for 25 years before becoming a food writer, chiefly for the Washington Post. His articles appear in metropolitan dailies throughout the country. He is the author, with Todd and Ellen Gray, of The New Jewish Table and is currently working on other book projects.
