Don't burn these two no-fail roux recipes

I heard it from my grandmother and from my husband's mother, and so did the readers who responded to fellow reader Angie's call for a no-fail roux and good seafood gumbo.

Every good Southern cook wants to know the secret to making a roux.

"Here is my mother's no-fail roux. She used it all her life, and she knew how to cook," said Dr. Edgar Dapremont of Gulfport. "She was a good old New Orleans cook. She passed away last August of Alzheimer's at age 85, but her cooking legacy lives on in what she taught my sisters and me."

Roux is basically brown flour and oil used to thicken the consistency of gravies in just about everything in New Orleans, said Dapremont, who has a Web site cooks need to check out at eyedoctor newsletter.com/funnies quoterecipe.

"Most recipes for dishes utilizing a roux tell you to saute your vegetables in oil and then add the flour, stir and cook until it is brown enough," he said. "One problem with this approach is it takes a lot of time, and many people who don't cook a lot end up burning the roux and all the seasonings. Then they have to start over."

While packaged roux mixes are available at most supermarkets, the mixes can get expensive if a person cooks a lot with gravies or sauces that need a basic roux.

"My mother learned how to prepare her flour and make it into a roux so that it was ready anytime she needed some. When I was young, those products that are packaged were not available, and she cooked a lot," Dapremont said.

This roux allows him to thicken his gumbo or any other dish at anytime during the cooking process rather than at the beginning when he is cooking the seasoning and vegetables.

"I don't have to worry about burning my roux and having to throw everything including my seasonings away and start over," he said.

NO-FAIL ROUX

Preheat oven to 250 degrees. In a large baking pan, spread 5 pounds of all-purpose flour. This does have to be watched and stirred constantly to prevent burning. The process will take about 1 hour. Let the flour brown to peanut butter color. Place this in a large jar or airtight container. The mixture can be refrigerated or simply left in your pantry and will last indefinitely. After you have prepared your seasonings just add the flour to get the desired consistency, and "voila" your roux is ready. I sometimes thicken my gumbo at the end if I don't like the consistency.

"I don't need as much as my mother did, so I have adapted the recipe. I take 1 or 2 cups of all-purpose flour and put it in a large nonstick coating pan and turn the fire on and continually turn the flour as it browns with a wooden spatula," said Dapremont. "I can let it get as brown as I like, and then I let it cool. The final step is to sift my browned flour. I then use it in my food as needed or store it in a jar on the shelf for when I need more.

- Submitted by Edgar Dapremontand taught by his late mother, Yvette Dapremont Sr.

Elizabeth Hooton has a baked recipe, too, but hers uses oil.

"You requested recipes or methods of making roux in the April 30 issue of the Sun Herald. I love this baked roux that never, ever fails," said Hooton. "It's from an old Southern Living cookbook published in 1975. I have made roux this way ever since that time."

BAKE-A-ROUX

8 cups all-purpose flour

4 cups canola oil

Mix flour and oil together in a heavy oven-proof container (I use a Dutch oven). Place on center shelf in oven. Bake at a preheated 400 degrees for 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Set a timer, and stir the mixture every 15 minutes. I like for this roux to be a dark caramel color so mine has to go almost the entire time. This roux also may be frozen or put in containers with tight-fitting lids. The ingredients are easily halved or even quartered if you prefer.

- Submitted by Elizabeth Hooton

If readers think these are the only two methods to making roux, they need to think again. In next week's column, Dee Turner of Lucedale shares a low-fat roux and a seafood gumbo, and Mary Ann Adams of Perkinston does a roux in the microwave.

Please send contributions or requests for this column to Cook's Exchange, P.O. Box 4567, Biloxi, MS 39535-4567. If requesting a recipe, please include the name or briefly describe it and the ingredients. If you are submitting a recipe, please include the