Homemade sauce without lumps? Fat-free white sauce? That’s the kind of question that crossed my mind when I came across Robin Hood’s Best For Blending Flour. The company calls it “a granular flour that mixes more easily with wet or dry ingredients” and “an ideal thickening agent for sauces and juices.” Sounds good, but does it live up to its description? In general, yes.
I tried RHBFBF first (that’s the quickest way to refer to it!) To thicken the sauce. Two tablespoons easily dissolved in a cup of water and turkey drippings combined, and as I heated and stirred the whole thing turned into a sauce not too thick and not too thin. (Next time, though, I’d use broth instead of water, just for more flavor.)
To make white sauce, I whipped two tablespoons of RHBFBF into a cold cup of milk and heated it, whisking all the time. As before, the flour disappeared into the liquid instantly, but the mixture took time and heat to thicken. And I had to keep stirring. Still, it was a smoother and less messy process than melting the fat and mixing the flour before the milk. And once I added the usual seasonings, no one missed the grease in the sauce. The packaging says RHBFBF also makes “a light, crisp coating for meat, poultry, fish, and vegetables,” so I gave it a try too. I mixed a couple scoops with a packet of Bovril (vegetable flavor) and covered two chicken feet. Then I fried them in the oven (skin side down in a pan with a little hot fat, brushing the top with the pan juices, at 350 ° for 45 minutes). Although this is not going to replace Shake ‘n’ Bake, it does form a uniform golden brown crust. It worked on fried zucchini slices too – the flour didn’t come off in the hot oil, it just stuck to the zucchini and browned really well. RHBFBF can substitute an equal amount of all-purpose flour, but at about $ 4 a pound, it’s too expensive to bake regularly. Used sparingly to thicken sauces and to coat foods, however, it is good value for money and a useful product to have on hand.
