Last minute check: Do you know how to make gravy? Some people swear that gravy is the most essential part of Thanksgiving dinner, touching everything on your plate with its savory essence of turkey. No pressure, right? Here are a few tips and links for making your own gravy — it's really not that hard.
First of all, what is gravy? It isn't some mysterious liquid essence of turkey (as we used to think it was, since we were never involved with this part of the Thanksgiving meal. Gravy was Grandma-territory.). It's simply stock or broth, mixed with pan drippings if you want, and thickened with some turkey fat (or butter) and flour (or cornstarch, or stuffing). So all it is, really, is a basic roux sauce, which we use all the time for pasta and casseroles.
The simplest sort of gravy starts with butter and flour, and assumes you have no homemade pan drippings or turkey stock. Melt two tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. When the butter foams up, sprinkle in two tablespoons of flour and a pinch of pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until the butter and flour mixture begins to turn brown. Whisk in 1 1/2 cups of chicken, vegetable, or turkey broth, and whisk constantly until the sauce begins to thicken and bubble. Take off the heat, season with salt and pepper, and serve!
This is a very, very basic flour-thickened gravy, and of course you can make far more elaborate and delicious ones, but this is a start.
If you want to dress it up a bit, drain off the turkey drippings from the pan, and heat up in a saucepan then sprinkle enough flour on to make a paste. Cook as above, until the flour browns (this helps reduce that icky raw flour taste) and then whisk in turkey stock. Cook until thickened, season and serve.
For instructions on making turkey gravy, here are a few more good links.
• Recipe: A Proper Chicken Giblet Gravy - Do exactly the same thing, except with turkey giblets. (Or skip the giblet stock altogether and just use turkey stock.)
• Recipe Review: Turkey Gravy from Scratch - A review of an elaborate recipe from the Times, with some helpful notes and comments.
• Technique: Thickening Gravy with Stuffing - A tip from Shirley Corriher.
• Good Gravy! Separating the Grease - Tips on getting non-greasy gravy.
How do you make your gravy?
Stylish boats for all that delicious gravy:
• Do These Float Your Boat? Stylish Gravy Boats
• Get Your Gravy On: More Gravy Boats
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Thank you for this. Gravy seems so daunting to me since I don't cook with meat/poultry very often.
When I cook a turkey, I make a simple gravy from the drippings:
Drippings and flour. Mix done.
Adding the flour is a bit of a trick though. Some people will mix water and flour to help keep the flour from clumping. I usually just do it slowly. Sometimes I add water, apple cider or some white wine to help thin out the gravy.
Before I cook the turkey I usually:
- Brine the Turkey (Water/salt/sugar... I usually add apple cider)
- Stuff a stick or two worth of sliced butter up under the skin of the turkey
- Add a 1/4 - 1/2 bottle of white wine to the roasting pan - normally apple themed, occasionally some apple cider.
- Add a couple sprigs of rosemary to the mix, a sliced onion or such
The mix provides ample drippings for the gravy. I really like the result. I will try cooking it longer though, I did ever so notice the flour taste this past weekend when I cooked for 26.
Something that should be obvious, but just in case...
This will not work in non-stick cookware. It might be tempting to try it to save on the mess. But don't. Good old cast iron or stainless steel only.
My mom always just set the turkey on a platter to rest, tented with foil, and plopped the roasting pan itself on the stovetop. Instead of butter,she just used the turkey drippings, and water instead of turkey stock. She did soemthing with the giblets, too, I just can't remember what.
The trick was in seasoning it afterward; lemon juice, marjoram, a pinch of sugar, garlic powder, white pepper, and salt all went in to taste. It always turned out AMAZINGLY; not greasy, not floury, and perfect for making leftover hot-turkey sandwiches.
I save the water that the potatoes were boiled in, and put a little of that in the roasting pan to moisten things while I scrape all the good bits loose. All the drippings from the deglazed pan go into a pot with the rest of the potato water, a little milk, a lot of black pepper and some salt. Bring it to a boil and while waiting, mix a few tablespoons of cornstarch with some milk to get a thickish liquid - you want the cornstarch dissolved before you put it in the gravy, but not too thick or it will just clump up. Once the pot has come to a good boil, I start whisking in the cornstarch mixture until the gravy is at the consistency I want. This is more or less how my mother taught me to make gravy. Funnily enough, we've both noticed that gravy is best made on a gas stovetop. It's just not the same on an electric one.
I was watching a T'giving show last night on Barefoot Contessa, and she said to save chicken drippings and make the gravy a day in advance...now, that might be good if you are worried about being able to do everything ahead of time and not being rushed on "the Day" but .... it would also be chicken gravy, NOT turkey gravy. Turkey gravy and stuffing is the reason to have Thanksgiving!!
I used to buy extra parts (turkey), roast those and make gravy the day before, then I'd simply reheat it on the day. The drippings in the pan I'd work with to make gravy for the weekend leftovers. The result: less rushing around at the last minute, and fewer dishes getting cold on the table while I futz'd with gravy, but still real turkey gravy.
Now I make a porcini gravy, no meat, and I actually like that one even more.
Lots of great seasoning tips here, thanks!
The one method variation I didn't see was one my brother in law taught me. Instead of transferring the drippings to another pot, remove the turkey from the roasting pan and tent it over a separate plat. Place the roasting pan over stove elements and make the gravy directly in the pan, starting with adding the flour and browning it. Then I usually add some white wine with whatever other liquid- vegetable cooking water, stock, etc.
One less pot to clean and no drippings left behind!
A little late, but I make the giblet cream gravy from this recipe:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Honey-Brined-Turkey-with-Giblet-Cream-Gravy-102478
It's fairly easy, and I also make a smaller version of it with chicken giblets sometimes when I'm roasting a chicken.
Paladin - why should you not make gravy in a non-stick pan?
I only have non-stick, and I make gravy all the time (although it is a vegetarian gravy, no chicken/turkey droppings in there!) and it turns out just fine.
Just wondering...
This recipe from NYTimes has made Thanksgiving much less stressful for me. You make your stock in advance from turkey parts, and then can make the gravy while the turkey is still cooking.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/dining/191grex.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=turkey%20gravy%20from%20scratch&st=cse