Béchamel
🧈 Ingredients
Dry
3 tbsp oats pulsed into a flour
1 dried bay leaf
¹⁄₁₆ tsp ground cloves (or allspice)
¹⁄₁₆ tsp of onion powder
¹⁄₃₂ tsp ground (white) pepper
¹⁄₃₂ tsp nutmeg
¼ cup oats pulsed into oat flour
Wet
¹⁄₂ cup heavy oat milk
made from 1 tbsp oat flour & ¹⁄₂ cup water mixed well
1 tbsp tahini
½ tbsp apple cider vinegar (add more to taste if not salty enough)
First, blend oat flour then your bay leaf and spices except for with only 2 tbsp of your oat flour (saving 1 tbsp for your oat milk)
On low heat mix 2 tbsp of your ground oat flour (with bay leaf and spices) with tahini until it clumps and forms, and cook it until it becomes a “sandy blonde,” or slightly yellowish color.
Make your heavy oat milk. I use a mason jar and add 1 tbsp oat flour and ¹⁄₂ cup of water, put on a tight lid, and shake it for 15 seconds, but you could also stir/whisk/whip it.
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb746856b-2a8a-4c0e-824b-9681ee81a3b3_2240x746.png)
Slowly add in and whisk or use the back of a fork or spoon to break down any clumps as they form. The sauce will thicken until it coats the back of a spoon with a thick rich sauce.
Add small amounts of apple cider vinegar, and wait 30-60 seconds before tasting to get the right flavor profile.
Sister Sauces
Cardinal (Creamy Lobster) Sauce
For a Cardinal sauce, we will add the following to our Béchamel sauce:
¹⁄₂ tsp ground nori or other dried seaweed
2 tbsp tomato paste
cayenne pepper to taste
Mornay (White Cheese) Sauce
For a Mornay sauce, we will add the following to our Béchamel sauce:
2 tbsp unfortified nutritional yeast
(1 tbsp fortified nutritional yeast)
¹⁄₂ tbsp lemon juice
¹⁄₂ tbsp tahini
(slurry of 4 tbsp water and 1.5 tbsp casava, tapioca starch, or similar)
Soubise (Onion) Sauce
For a Soubise sauce, we will add the following to our Béchamel sauce:
¹⁄₂ cup very finely diced and sauteed (white) onions