GGNK, the soup u are talking about has bechamel sauce as the gravy base. Soup and gravy are two different things in cookery I think, because soup is light and runny, while gravy is thicker and heavier in consistency.
Bechamel sauce is made with flour milk and oil or butter
3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2cups milk
salt to taste
some ground nutmeg
In a saucepan, heat the butter over low heat till it melts. Then add the flour and keep stirring until the mixture becomes smooth. Cook the mixture for a further 6 to seven minutes over low heat until the the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color.
Heat the milk in a separate pan until it is about to boil, then add the hot milk to the butter mixture slowly whisking continuously until the mixture becomes very smooth. Then cook it for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the fire; add salt to taste and the nutmeg.
This becomes the base for the sea food that was contained in the dish you ate GGNK. Basically, you will prepare ur albasa by chopping or slicing it; you should mince some garlic cloves to go in the dish and one or two other seasonings like thyme or basil or rosemary. Lightly fry the garlic, and onions together for a few mins, add yr shrimps and and seasoning and cook for a further five mins or so. Place the shrimps inside a a dish, pour yr bechamel sauce over, cover the dish with a lid and place in the oven for 10 mins to 15 mins over low heat.
PS u can make macaroni cheese using bechamel sauce as base. When making the sauce, add quarter cup of grated cheese to the mixture, befor or after u add the milk ( I really cant remember which I did first, I havent cooked properly in the last four yrs. Anyway, I think it makes little difference whether it is before or after, the main thing is to ensure that the mixture is smooth and not lumpy). Keep yr sauce in one place.
Boil 1 bag of macaroni, I cant remember the proportions. dont forget the salt in the water to boil the macaroni. Make sure that u have a generous amount of everything in the bechamel sauce so that the taste is not obscured by the quantity of macaroni. At any rate, half a bag of macaroni to the above mixture so a bag of macaroni should mean twice the above mixture. Drain the macaroni. Place in a shallow dish, pour bechamel sauce over it and then add grated cheese on top. Place on the top shelf of yr oven for fifteen to twenty mins until the cheese has melted and becomes golden brown on top of the macaroni. For a really wonderful flavor, make ur bechamel sauce with ghee, that is the canned butter that comes from India or the middle east.. cant remember which.. but the taste is heavenly when u use ghee. I have eaten macaroni cheese many times but I have never eaten one as delicious as when it was made with ghee.
You can also make vol au vents with bechamel sauce but its really a laborious process, but the end result is to live for... (wont say to die for.. but it makes that saying 'live to eat' rather than 'eat to live truly' have meaning...)
yr oven should be about 350 degrees
I used to make brown gravy.. a long time ago. I havent made it in ages. But its very simple really. To get the best out of gravy, its best if u make it from the juices coming out of a roasting chicken, beef or lamb. I will start with this as the base then tell you another way if I can remember it.
When u are roasting chicken or lamb or a chunk of beef as they do in the classic sunday roast in a baking dish/ tray, the juices will ooze out of the meat as u cook it. Once u have roasted yr lamb, chicken etc to perfection, u take some flour and place in a dry pan. gently heat the flour till it darkens to a brown color. Then mix the flour with the remains of the juices of the meat that u have been roasting (this is part is called a roux).
I think if the juices are already dark and sticking to the pan, there is no need to brown the flour but its a good idea to so that u dont get a floury taste in yr mouth. After u have mixed the browned flour with the meat juices, u can add some cold water or cold stock bit by bit onto the mixture and keep stirring. The water or stock must be cold or cool otherwise the gravy will become lumpy. Once u have added the water or stock.. put the pan back onto the fire and heat gently all the time stirring until the gravy thickens to the desired consistency. U can check for taste.. salt, black or white pepper and some maggi or knorr cubes, depending on yr taste buds. The gravy goes well with the roast chicken or beef. I also eat it with cooked rice. It goes well with that.
Alternatively, if u are not roasting and u still would like some brown gravy, brown the flour gently over a low fire in a deep frying pan. Add some butter or cooked oil and mix until u get a paste. Take off the fire, slowly add cold water (maybe a cup of water to a spoonsful of flour). If you have some stock, add the stock instead of water. Season with maggi knorr, salt white pepper or black pepper some nutmeg comes in very handy also (its got a great flavor). Put back on the fire and gently cook until the whole thickens slightly. Check to see if u need any more seasoning.
