Béchamel Maigre (A cheap White Sauce)

Ingredients

• 2–3 ounces butter
• 1 carrot
• 2 small onions
• 1 handful mushroom buttons, nicely-cleaned
• 2 tablespoonsful flour
• 1 pint new milk
• to taste salt
• to taste cayenne
• 2 fresh egg yolks

Instructions

1. Put butter into a stewpan or well-tinned thick saucepan.
2. Add the carrot and onions, cut in slices, along with the mushroom buttons if available.
3. Stew slowly for half an hour, or until the butter is nearly dried up.
4. Stir in the flour.
5. Pour in the pint of new milk a little at a time, shaking the stewpan well to ensure the sauce is smooth.
6. Boil the béchamel gently for half an hour.
7. Add salt and cayenne to taste.
8. Strain the sauce.
9. If the sauce is not quite thick enough, reduce it further over the fire, or pour it boiling over the yolks of two fresh eggs to thicken it.