Classic Last Minute Gravy Recipes

CLASSIC LAST-MINUTE GRAVY

Steps:

• Make a roux: melt butter in a large skillet. Add the flour all at once, whisking until incorporated. Cook, whisking occasionally, until the roux begins to look grainy, 3 to 4 minutes. Set aside.
• When the roast turkey is done cooking, pour the pan drippings into a bowl.
• Deglaze the roasting pan by adding the wine, bringing it to a boil and scraping the pan with a wooden spoon, adding a little water as needed to incorporate the browned bits. Add to the drippings in the bowl. Skim off the fat with a spoon, or put in the refrigerator or freezer until the fat has congealed on top, then remove fat.
• Make the gravy: Bring the broth to a simmer in a covered saucepan, then slowly add 3 cups of the broth to the cold or room-temperature roux, whisking constantly. Slowly add the reserved drippings, starting with a few tablespoons; taste, then whisk in more a little at a time until the gravy tastes right. Season with salt, if needed, and pepper. To adjust the consistency, add more broth for a thinner gravy or simmer for a few minutes for a thicker one. Keep warm until ready to serve.

ITALIAN SUNDAY GRAVY-RECIPE HANDED DOWN FROM NONNA.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line 2 large, rimmed baking sheets with aluminum foil. Brush the foil with olive oil.
• Arrange (in a single layer) pork neck bones or country-style ribs on one baking sheet and the Italian sausages on the second baking sheet. Brush the tops of all the meats lightly with olive oil.
• Cook meats in the preheated oven, until deep golden brown on all sides, turning as needed to cook evenly. Allow approximately 1 hour for the pork necks and ribs and 40 minutes for the sausage. Set cooked meats aside.
• Meanwhile, in a very large, heavy-bottomed stock pot, brown ground beef and pork, over medium heat, crumbling into small pieces. Remove ground meats to plate and set aside.
• Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the fat from the pan. Add onions, minced garlic, and carrots and cook over medium heat for 6-8 minutes until they soften and begin to caramelize.
• Add the wine to the pot and cook, scrape up any brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Continue to cook until the wine is reduced by half.
• Add whole tomatoes with their juices, tomato paste, water, bay leaves, oregano, fresh basil, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
• Add the browned grounded meats, pork necks or country style ribs, and sausages back to the pot. Bring the gravy to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer.
• Simmer, uncovered for about 3 1/2--4 1/2 hours. If you have the temperature right, you should see a cheerful little bubbling on the surface of the gravy. Moderate the heat to maintain this gentle simmer throughout out cooking time.
• Stir occasionally so the meats don't stick. If the gravy becomes too thick as it simmers, add water. (If it's simmering gently, you shouldn't need to add any extra water.)
• While the sauce simmers, make the meatball. After the sauce has cooked for 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours and is nice and thick, give it a very good stir, digging down to the bottom of the pot, then add the meatballs. Continue to simmer the gravy without stirring for another 30-40 minutes, or until the meatballs are hot and the flavors marry. Remove bay leaves. You're READY to Serve. Mangia! Mangia!

EASY GRAVY RECIPE

Steps:

• In a medium sauce pot over medium heat, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and stir until well mixed, hot, and bubbly, about 2 minutes.
• Gradually whisk in the liquid, stirring until smooth.
• Simmer until thickened, about 7 minutes, stirring.
• Serve hot.

HOW TO MAKE GRAVY

Steps:

• It helps to have a fat separator, which looks like a measuring cup with a spout. It lets you easily pour off the gravy and leave behind excess fat.You can use a wooden spoon to make gravy, but you risk lumps. A whisk makes things smoother.For the silkiest gravy, or for added insurance against lumps, strain your gravy before serving. Have a sieve on hand. Drippings from brined and kosher turkeys may be too salty to use in gravy, particularly classic pan gravy. (If you add them to make-ahead gravy, do so slowly, tasting as you go.) Drippings from dry-brined turkeys work in any gravy.
• Whether you're making classic last-minute gravy or our make-ahead recipe, remember that great gravy can only come from great stock. It's absolutely worth the time to make your own turkey or chicken stock from scratch, but there are tricks to fortifying store-bought stock, too. To make your own stock, you first need poultry bones, either cooked or raw or a combination. Some of the bones should have meat on them, but most can be picked clean. I save my roast chicken carcasses in the freezer until stock-making day, and augment them with fresh chicken or turkey wings picked up at the supermarket. Two or three pounds of bones is plenty, but even a pound will give you enough stock to make gravy. If you've got turkey giblets from your bird (heart, gizzard, neck, anything but the liver), throw them into the pot with the bones and a big pinch of salt. Add some vegetables and aromatics: a carrot, a leafy celery stalk, an onion and/or leek, a few cloves of peeled garlic, a bay leaf and/or some parsley stems, and a teaspoon of peppercorns.Pour in enough water to cover all the solids by at least 2 inches. Then bring it up to a very gentle simmer and let it bubble for a couple of hours. I don't bother skimming, but it won't hurt if you do. Strain everything, pressing down on the solids, and chill for up to three days, or freeze for up to six months. If you want to make a more intensely flavored stock, try this recipe by the chef Suzanne Goin, which calls for roasting the bones and the vegetables before they are combined with white wine and a red chile and simmered on the stove. If making your own is out of the question, you can come pretty close with a good-quality poultry stock bought either from a butcher shop or specialty shop (preferably one made in-house). You'll often find stocks in the freezer case. If the supermarket is your only option, the rule for canned stock, or stock sold in Tetra Paks, is to taste before using. If it's terrible, you're better off with a bouillon cube and water, which is a low bar but marginally better than water. As a last-minute fix for weak stock, simmer it with the turkey giblets for an hour or two. That will fortify it.
• Roux, a cooked mixture of equal parts flour and fat, like butter, oil or pan drippings, is what thickens a gravy. Here's what you need to know.A roux is made with equal parts fat and flour. If you're making classic pan gravy, you'll use the fat in the roasting pan. If you're making gravy ahead of time, use butter, melting it in a medium pan over medium heat. Either way, sprinkle in an equal amount of flour. (If you're using butter, the ratio is 1/2 cup flour to one stick of butter.) Gently whisk the fat and flour together for at least 5 minutes, long enough for the raw taste of the flour to disappear. Keep cooking, whisking all the while, until the roux has reached your desired color. A white or light roux, in which the flour is cooked briefly, will give you a mild mixture that lets the flavor of the poultry dominate. It's also the most effective thickener. A dark, mahogany-colored roux adds an intense caramelized flavor to the gravy, but sometimes at the expense of turkey flavor. Or strike a balance and cook the roux until medium brown, which will give you a nuttiness that still allows the poultry character shine.
• The gold standard for holiday cooking, classic gravy uses the pan drippings as the base for the roux, giving you the most intense turkey flavor you can get. Don't try this with drippings from a wet-brined or kosher turkey; they may be too salty. Drippings from a dry-brined bird, however, should work just fine.This recipe calls for whisking flour with the fat in the bottom of the roasting pan to create a light roux, then hitting it with stock and wine, salt and pepper; you could also add cream, or other spices. Decant the gravy into a warmed boat or beaker, rather than into a cold one, and serve immediately.
• Making the gravy ahead gives you some peace of mind on this notoriously crazy cooking day, and the result is every bit as good as classic pan gravy. For enhanced flavor, spike the prepared gravy with pan drippings just before serving. Pour off any extra fat from the roasting pan, add a few tablespoons of water or wine to the pan and then set it over a pair of burners. Let the liquid simmer, scraping up the browned bits from the pan until they loosen, then pour the liquid into the gravy, adding them gradually and tasting as you go - particularly if you're using drippings from a wet-brined or kosher turkey, which may be very salty. But if you're too harried trying to carve the bird and reheat side dishes, skip this step.