White Sauce

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups milk
• Salt
• A pinch of nutmeg (optional)
• A pinch of cayenne (optional)

1. Melt in a heavy-bottomed pot: 3 tablespoons butter.
2. Stir in: 3 tablespoons flour.
3. Cook over medium heat for 3 minutes.
4. Add, bit by bit, whisking constantly: 2 cups milk.
5. To avoid lumps, completely whisk in each addition of milk before adding the next.
6. If, despite this, the sauce is lumpy, strain it through a sieve after all the milk has been added, and return to the burner to cook.
7. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring all the time.
8. Turn down to a bare simmer (use a flame tamer if necessary) and cook for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the sauce from sticking.
9. Season with: Salt, A pinch of nutmeg (optional), A pinch of cayenne (optional).
10. Use right away or keep warm.
11. (The sauce will solidify when cool.)
12. To make a thicker sauce for a souffle, use more flour and less milk: 4 tablespoons butter, 4 tablespoons flour, and 1 1/2 cups milk.
13. When making a vegetable gratin, replace up to 1 cup of the milk with vegetable cooking water (either the water the vegetables were cooked in or the water squeezed from cooked greens).

butter, flour, milk, salt, nutmeg, cayenne

Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/white-sauce-387106 (may not work)