White Sauce

I once heard someone defend middle-class casseroles, saying Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup was just pre-made Bechamel sauce. 

I thought of that last night when I made a fancy version of Pork Chops in Cream of Mushroom soup. 

I skimmed the recipe I found online.

I assembled my ingredients: pork chops, spices, portobello mushrooms, lah lah, and on and on, and of course Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup. 

I was about a half hour deep into making this when I read that I should set the soup aside. Why? It was there by the sink, still in its can.

To my horror I discovered that the sauce I'd stirred for ten minutes was a from-scratch version of Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, not an augmentation to the recipe I grew up on. 

Verdict: I am looking forward to another serving, and I don't remember doing that with the Campbell's version. However, it took 45 minutes to make instead of five. 

Comments

[KC]

The stuff in the can is such creamy, mushroomy, junk-food-y goodness. And fast! But yes, from-scratch is different. (and sometimes definitely better, although a lot of canned-soup recipes also take other shortcuts [like not browning the meat] that also affect the final product)

[theQueen]

KC - For this pork chop meal, I would rather have the time. I can brown my own meat before any casserole.