The Ultimate Gravy Thread

iWillBeReborn

I did a search here and I didn't get too many results.

Do any of you guys n' gals have any good gravy recipes?

My current OCD is gravy making. I have failed about 8 times so far over the last 5 days. I think it is down to crap recipes on the internets

I just want a good gravy to go with Sausage and Mash but all recipes are welcome.

I Gravy

Thanks in advance.

foodaholic

keeping it seasonal here is christmas one form nigella

Nigella’s turkey gravey

Giblets from turkey
4 peppercorns
1 bouquet garni
1 onion peeled and halved
1 carrot peeled and quatered
1 stick of celery, chopped
1-2 rashers, chopped
1.5lt water
1tsp salt
2tbsp plain flour
15g butter
2 tbsp marsala

Put the giblets (excluding the liver) in a pan with the peppercorns, bouquet garni, onion, carrot, celery and bacon. Cover with water and sprinkle with salt. Bring to the boil and simmer for a couple of hours.

Strain into a jug- set aside till Christmas dinner.

Skim the fat from the roasting tin and discard.
Pour off most of juices leaving about 2 tbsp in tin.
Put the tin on low heat.
In a bolw mix flour gradually with 4 tbsp of juices poured from tin till smooth and put in tin.
Cook for a few mins, gradually pour in 800mls of the stock. Simmer until a nice consistancy
Add marsala and simmer for a few mins

SoundWave

you could just do a simple onion gravy.

finely chop 2 onions and sautee 2tsp olive oil + a decent knob of butter,

add 1tsp balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp of brown sugar, salt + good few turns of black pepper,

cook for about 10mins at a lowish heat then add a pint of beef stock and turn up the heat to reduce down and thicken,

You can add some cornflower mixed with a small bit of water if you need it to thicken a bit more.

normally if i was doing a roast id just chuck a load of celery/onion/carrot/garlic in the bottom of the roasting pan and pour in a some red or white wine depending on what meat was being cooked. and after the meat was done id skim off the fat and add some stock to the roasting pan then strain off the bits... normally turns out perfect.

The Sweeper

I usually do it in this order:

Remove meat from roasting tin. Leave everything else, including the heavily caramelised veggies I put in there specifically to add flavour to a gravy. Take off fat if possible, otherwise buy yourself one of those separator gravy jugs where the pouring spout takes from the bottom of the jug!!

Put the roasting tin over a low heat and add a little stock to help deglaze the pan, stirring up all the bits and pieces that stick. Add some plain flour to one corner of the pan, and start to stir it, gradually adding moisture from the surrounding area. Keep stirring, and don't add liquid too quickly - the aim is to make a sort of roux in the corner to prevent lumps.

When you have a smooth flour paste, increase your stirring circles so you incorporate all the moisture in the roasting tin. You now have a very thick sauce, that you can cook over the heat for a minute or two to ensure the flour cooks and doesn't taste raw in the gravy.

Now thin it out - more stock, some wine, or port, or marsala, or other alcohol of your choice; depending if you want a gravy or a sauce you might add sweeteners (a tablespoon of redcurrent jelly for a lamb joint for instance) or dairy products (a knob of butter to make the sauce shiny and slick, or a pour of cream if you want a rich sauce).

Then strain into a gravy jug through a sieve - I usually do this because I've left the vegetables in the tin to add even more flavour to the gravy, but it's a good cheat for removing lumps if the flour stage went wrong too...

iWillBeReborn

Thanks people. I am learning. But I was more hoping for gravy from scratch with no meat being cooked like just making a gravy by itself on a night .

Saw one of those gravy strainer jugs earlier today in a shop. think I'll pop in over the next few days and pick it up

the beer revolu

The Sweeper wrote: »

I usually do it in this order:

Remove meat from roasting tin. Leave everything else, including the heavily caramelised veggies I put in there specifically to add flavour to a gravy. Take off fat if possible, otherwise buy yourself one of those separator gravy jugs where the pouring spout takes from the bottom of the jug!!

Put the roasting tin over a low heat and add a little stock to help deglaze the pan, stirring up all the bits and pieces that stick. Add some plain flour to one corner of the pan, and start to stir it, gradually adding moisture from the surrounding area. Keep stirring, and don't add liquid too quickly - the aim is to make a sort of roux in the corner to prevent lumps.

When you have a smooth flour paste, increase your stirring circles so you incorporate all the moisture in the roasting tin. You now have a very thick sauce, that you can cook over the heat for a minute or two to ensure the flour cooks and doesn't taste raw in the gravy.

Now thin it out - more stock, some wine, or port, or marsala, or other alcohol of your choice; depending if you want a gravy or a sauce you might add sweeteners (a tablespoon of redcurrent jelly for a lamb joint for instance) or dairy products (a knob of butter to make the sauce shiny and slick, or a pour of cream if you want a rich sauce).

Then strain into a gravy jug through a sieve - I usually do this because I've left the vegetables in the tin to add even more flavour to the gravy, but it's a good cheat for removing lumps if the flour stage went wrong too...

That is very well described.;)

spareman

The Sweeper wrote: »

I usually do it in this order:

Remove meat from roasting tin. Leave everything else, including the heavily caramelised veggies I put in there specifically to add flavour to a gravy. Take off fat if possible, otherwise buy yourself one of those separator gravy jugs where the pouring spout takes from the bottom of the jug!!

Put the roasting tin over a low heat and add a little stock to help deglaze the pan, stirring up all the bits and pieces that stick. Add some plain flour to one corner of the pan, and start to stir it, gradually adding moisture from the surrounding area. Keep stirring, and don't add liquid too quickly - the aim is to make a sort of roux in the corner to prevent lumps.

When you have a smooth flour paste, increase your stirring circles so you incorporate all the moisture in the roasting tin. You now have a very thick sauce, that you can cook over the heat for a minute or two to ensure the flour cooks and doesn't taste raw in the gravy.

Now thin it out - more stock, some wine, or port, or marsala, or other alcohol of your choice; depending if you want a gravy or a sauce you might add sweeteners (a tablespoon of redcurrent jelly for a lamb joint for instance) or dairy products (a knob of butter to make the sauce shiny and slick, or a pour of cream if you want a rich sauce).

Then strain into a gravy jug through a sieve - I usually do this because I've left the vegetables in the tin to add even more flavour to the gravy, but it's a good cheat for removing lumps if the flour stage went wrong too...

This is also the way I used to do it, I used to use gravy browning for colour, cant seem to get it anywhere now though.

muckety

Mine is pretty much as The Sweeper describes (very well written!) - I usually keep a bottle of worcester or soy sauce to hand and add if a bit more 'ooomph' is needed.

I make a good bit more than is needed for one dinner and freeze what is left over, this is what I use for sausage and mash (or toad in the hole). If I don't have any in the freezer I'd make an onion gravy as already outlined above.

the beer revolu

+1 on the Worcestershire and soy sauce (I usually use both)

niall_belfast

My preferred method is to make a stock from the giblets, neck, carrots, onion and bayleaf..

Cut two or three onions in half, and peel and cut a few carrots in half - place your turkey on top of these pieces of veg in the pan and roast normally. When the turkey is done lift it out and mash the carmelised veg into a puree - and the stock and stir to remove any crusty bits stuck to the pan - reduce on a medium heat and hey presto - delicious gravy!

Mike Litoris

I hated gravy until I made the gravy in Jamie Olivers Pork Belly recipe.

I cant stand Bisto or anything like that but had to use it the other night with a chicken. I decided to experiment. I used about 2/3 Erin Chicken gravy mix 1/3 Beef and sprinkled in a fair bit of dried thyme. It ended up being gorgeous!!

abbey2000

i love sausage and mash. during the week, i tend to use bisto for a quick gravy, this is how i do it:

1) Get the sausies on the grill and cook them.
2) Chop an onion, saute in a little olive oil.
3) Make the bisto in a jug
4) Add the bisto gravy to the pan with the onion and stir
5) Add a dash of worcester and soya sauce, and tomatoe ketchup. this is to taste, only add a little at first or you can overpower the gravy.
5) Get the sausages off the grill and add them to the pan to, and simmer for a few mins.

Adding the sausages to the pan imparts some of their flavour to the gravy, this is the way I do it and i love it!