Butter & Flour

Today was Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) in the house. Kevin was very excited for the thawing of the leftover Thanksgiving turkey. We bought some turkey broth for gravy, and we had all of the vegetables we needed.

So, in order to stick to traditional male and female roles (oh, yeah, we love those) Kevin went outside to snowblow the driveway while I cooked dinner. And, it seems like it all started with butter and flour.

A steamed head of cauliflower inspired me to make a cheese sauce. And what does a cheese sauce start with? Butter and flour. I used whole wheat flour in order to protect my ever annoying sugar numbers. A little butter in the pan until it was melty and bubbling, then a good sprinkle of the flour to make the roux. I cooked that off until it was nice and thick and smelled good. After that I added some milk until it was the consistency of a thick soup. And then, the star, some sharp Cabot cheddar. After that, salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg. Yummy. The cauliflower and cheese sauce into a cast iron skillet with a sprinkle of panko on top. In the oven at 425 until the rest of dinner was ready. It was good. Really good. I'm thinking about making it again pretty much every night.

Then, I put some Brussels sprouts on to steam. Sorry. False advertising in the everything started with flour and butter department. But, I did finish them with some olive oil and salt. Oh well.

The turkey gravy though did start with that same butter and flour to make a roux. After that, I slowly poured in the turkey gravy until it was a very thin soup. Then, lots of pepper. Lots and lots of pepper. I love a peppery gravy. After that, I put the turkey in the gravy bath and let it simmer until it was warm again.

This is not a healthy meal, you may say. Nope. Sauces and sauces and butter and flour. Nope. Not healthy. But, one of the things I've learned from my doctors is that I need to worry more about my sugars for at least another six weeks and less about me cholesterol. Yeah, we had two vegetables. But a cheese sauce and a gravy. Oh well. Me and Atkins. We're buddies for six more weeks. Then, bring on the french fries for a little while.