Dry Roux

[FryBoy]

I don't do a lot of cooking that calls for a true roux, but now and then I find something I want to make that does.

Tonight I'm making Lemon Chicken with Sour Cream Sauce from Lee Bailey's The Way I Cook, a fabulous kbook my wife recently bought.

Bailey's recipe calls for "dry roux," which is simply browned flour, or roux without the fat. He points out that it's very handy and can keep for months in a sealed jar. Adding it to recipes with sufficient fat results in that nice nutty flavor associated with roux, and thickens the sauce well.

To make it, sprinkle about 1/2 cup of all purpose flour in a skillet (Bailey calls for the traditional cast iron skillet but I cheated and used a Caphalon nonstick skillet, which worked very well) that's been heated over a hot fire, and stir it now and then until it's nicely browned. I Googled "dry roux" and found one suggestion that was helpful -- it's done when it's the color of a brown paper bag. The nonstick skillet worked well because I could flip the flour as it cooked, minimizing the need for stirring. The result was nice, and it worked well with the recipe (which I'll post, including my mods, if it's as good as it smells.).

 

[Loprraine]

My Mother does this. She puts the flour in her cast iron frying pan. We use it for pork, duck and rabbit recipes. The taste is great.

 

[Andy M.]

So it's really toasted flour, not roux as there is no fat.

 

[DaCook]

I should have known Lorraine would reply to this , as it is traditionally used to thicken "porc ragoux(sp)", a french canadian dish that both of us grew up with. I simply put the flour in a 9x13 pan to brown under the broiler, stirring frequently.

 

[FryBoy]

So it's really toasted flour, not roux as there is no fat.

True, but when you add the fat, voila! N'est pas?

 

[Andy M.]

True, but when you add the fat, voila! N'est pas?

Of course, but then it's no longer dry, it's a roux, capice?

 

[DaCook]

I had never heard it referred to as a "dry roux". As a professional all roux's that I have heard of contain a thickening agent and a fat. Then we have slurries, but we won't go there. My family just referred to it as toasted flour.

 

[Michael in FtW]

Bailey has taken some "liberties" in his definition of roux. Roux is, in fact, a mixture of starch and fat. Browned flour without fat is not a roux - it is browned flour. When the browned flour is mixed with fat ... THEN it becomes a roux.

Now, on the other side or the coin ... browned flour can give a "quick" roux the flavor of a long cooked roux. That has been known for a long time!

 

[FryBoy]

Perhaps that's why Bailey calls it "dry roux" -- it ain't really roux until the four is mixed with the fat, but it's handy to have on the shelf for quick thickening of soups and stews, which was my point.

It's apparently a fairly common staple of Southern cooking -- try Googling the term "dry roux" or look it up in John Folse's incredible cookbook, "The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine," at page 133 (2004 edition). Folse lists five different rouxes, including a dry roux he calls "Oil-Less Roux."

 

[FryBoy]

BTW, the Lemon Chicken with Sour Cream Sauce was good, but nothing really special. Lemon flavor was weak, despite 2 tablespoons of zest. Maybe some of the juice would have helped....

 

[FryBoy]

Here's another comment on dry or "oil-less roux" from Chuck Taggart's "The Gumbo Pages":

Now, one not-so-bad idea is the oil-less roux, pioneered by Cajun Chef Enola Prudhomme. Basically, you just dump the flour into a cast-iron skillet and toast it dry, making sure to stir it around as you would a normal roux. I've never tried this, but apparently it works rather well, and is perfect for folks who are on low-fat diets.

​

Taggart also has a great discussion of regular rouxes, too, and I love his comment about making roux in the microwave: "Bah, humbug!"

 

[Andy M.]

I use a combination of All Purpose and high protein unbrowned dry roux when I make bagels.

So is vegetable oil called wet roux?

 

[Constance]

My cleaning woman gets all kinds of bargains at the Salvation Army Store, and the other day, she brought me a cookbook that she had found there...A Trim and Terrific Louisianna Kitchen, by Holly Berkowitz Clegg.
Holly uses browned flour instead of the traditional roux to lighten up a lot of the traditional recipes. She browns hers on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. There is no additional fat added to the recipes.
I think the skillet would work better for me, as I wouldn't have to keep bending over to check the oven. And since I have Calphalon skillets, I'll use one of those.
I haven't tried one of the recipes yet...it's too hot right now, but I'll definately give it a shot next winter. I'm curious to know how the taste will compare to that of the traditional roux.

 

[Andy M.]

How does the flavor compare between a roux made with roasted flour and oil vs a roux made with raw flour and oil cooked to the same color as the roasted flour roux?

 

[FryBoy]

As I said, I don't make a lot of dishes with roux, so I can't really answer. It was good, but I think you'd have to make a side-by-side comparison to see just how much difference it makes. The dry roux I made was quite brown and added a nice flavor to the dish. I suspect the traditional way of making it would be better, but as I said, the dry roux is very convenient.

 

[black chef]

How does the flavor compare between a roux made with roasted flour and oil vs a roux made with raw flour and oil cooked to the same color as the roasted flour roux?

i'm from louisiana where almost everything we cook is started with a roux and the holy trinity (celery, bell pepper, and onion).

in the last few years, as my parents have gotten older, they've been trying to eat healthier, and my mom has resorted to using "dry roux" instead of her usual vegetable oil & flour roux. as a matter of fact, my dad is great at accomplishing what i call a "black roux," because he is VERY consistent at getting an oil-based roux as dark as possible without burning; this dark roux can add tremendous flavor to your dishes!

however, what we have all discovered is that a dry roux, when prepared correctly actually adds MORE flavor to your dishes... and i don't know why.

remember the post i made about my parents fighting... the reason why her crab stew tasted so much better and "different," was because of the dry roux (store bought) she added after sauteeing her vegetables.

in short... the BEST gumbo i've ever tasted was made with a dry roux. the BEST crab stew my mom has ever put together was made with a dry roux, so... there's my answer.

tonight, i'm making chicken fricasee using guess what? a dry roux.

 

[Andy M.]

Thanks for the explanation BC. Does the dry roux provide a DIFFERENT flavor or a more intense flasvor, or what?

 

[black chef]

Thanks for the explanation BC. Does the dry roux provide a DIFFERENT flavor or a more intense flasvor, or what?

it adds a different flavor; the ONLY way i can describe it is as follows... using the dry roux added a "nuttier & smoother" taste and it seemed to allow the other flavors to be accentuated.

the crab taste really, really came out, but you could also tell she did a good job sauteeing the onions, etc. because you could taste them as well. at the same time, the "gravy" was smoother.

 

[FryBoy]

Could it be that the oil -- and especially butter -- might pick up a somewhat burned taste in the process of browning the flour? The heat is pretty high.

 

[FryBoy]

i'm from louisiana where almost everything we cook is started with a roux and the holy trinity (celery, bell pepper, and onion).... the BEST gumbo i've ever tasted was made with a dry roux. the BEST crab stew my mom has ever put together was made with a dry roux, so... there's my answer.

BC, I would love to have your recipe for these two dishes -- which I assume is similar to your mom's.

Pretty please?