There are a number of different ways to thicken and add mouthfeel to soups and sauces. One of the most basic ones is roux. Roux is a blending of fat and flour, it doesn't have to be butter and it doesn't have to be wheat flour. Just a combination of some type of fat with some sort of flour, normally at a 1:1 ratio, though I have adjusted my amounts based upon what I am preparing.
There are three basic types of roux, though some include other variations of the dark, as well as a toasted flour variety as well. They are white, blonde, brown. They are all the same in proportions of fat and flour, the only variance is how long you cook them for. The longer you cook them for, the nuttier and stronger flavor you will be creating in the roux.
For most purposes I usually make a roux that falls in between white and blonde. Unless I am making a pristine white sauce, I always cook it a little longer, as I want to cook out the flavor of raw flour in my dish. And on the other end, for the brown or dark roux, you normally use those for Cajun or creole foods as they impart a stronger flavor more associated to that cuisine.
The time cooking the roux alone can vary from about 5 minutes for a white, to almost an hour for the dark brown. Obviously depending on how high your heat is becomes a big factor. I prefer to cook roux on a lower heat and stir continuously. I remember making my first large batch of gumbo in restaurants and being surprised at how long I was stirring just the roux over heat, before I even started adding the trinity to the pot. One of the reasons I go slow and low, is that burnt roux is horrible. And if you are making a dish that requires a dark roux, you spend 30 minutes stirring it on a medium to high heat, then you cross that line between dark and burnt. You have just wasted a huge amount of time, because not only are you throwing out your dish, unless you want a underlying flavor of burnt flour, you have to spend the time to do it all over again.
Ingredients
Flour 1 cup
Butter 1 cup
Method of Procedure
Melt butter on medium heat in a sauce pan.
Add flour and stir (I normally use a whisk to incorporate the flour into the butter, then switch to a wooden spoon to cook the roux).
Keep on medium heat stir continuously so it doesn't burn.
For White roux it's around 5 minutes
For Blonde roux it's around 20 minutes
For Brown roux it's about 45 minutes
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