<p>Ummmmm – I’m a Heinz Turkey Gravy kind of gal. I wish I could make gravy, but I’ve never been around anyone who did it, so I’ve never learned. Don’t tell my guests.</p>
<p>I put a coarsely chopped onion and thickly sliced carrots and celery in the turkey roasting pan with a little bit of water to keep them moist until there are enough turkey juices to do the trick. This helps make the gravy even more flavorful.</p>
<p>Then I do as others with the fat and the flour (about equal amounts), cooking to make a roux, then adding liquid (a combination of the turkey drippings and the broth I have made from the neck, water, and some more aromatic vegetables).</p>
<p>I’m not making the turkey this year, but next year I will try the NYT make ahead gravy to have one less thing to do at the last minute.</p>
<p>What, am I the only one who puts her gravy through a sieve to get rid of the lumps? :D</p>
<p>No need for a sieve. Make the roux (Proportions: 2 Tb. fat, 2 Tb. flour, 1 cup liquid), don’t cook the roux too long, then slowly pour the liquid into the roux while whisking constantly. Add more liquid once the last portion is absorbed. No lumps.</p>
<p>Now, if this yields a gravy that is too thin, you can do one of two things: make more roux and whisk that into the thin gravy (bring to boil, stirring constantly) or prepare a little corn starch in cold water (to avoid lumps) and slowly pour that into the gravy, while whisking, until you get the texture you want.</p>
<p>I forgot to add that I have never made the right consistency - one person says it’s too thick, another too thin…</p>
<p>I used to make the gravy with flour and dripping. Two of my kids never liked it. In elementary school my son came home and said his friend Ted’s mom made the best gravy. I asked her for the recipe. She laughed. Her gravy came from a packet and water.
For Thanksgiving my MIL or BIL make the “real” gravy. I bring up two or three packs of Knorr turkey gravy. My youngest D always reminds me when we are shopping to make sure to buy the gravy packet since she hates her Grandma’s gravy.
Youngest D also prefers her mashed potatoes made from a box. We are hoping she outgrows this. She loves potatoes made from potato buds and package gravy. It is one of her favorite foods. Granted she also is a fan of canned chili and won’t eat homemade.</p>
<p>I’ll make the gravy from scratch, from pan drippings and a roux, but there never is enough gravy. I’ve fed from 5-35 for Thanksgiving, and there’s no way you’re going to get enough pan gravy to satisfy everyone and stil have some leftovers. I’ll take 4-6 cans of turkey gravy, throw in a pack each of Knorr’s or McCormacks packaged powder onion & turkey. I just vary the number of cans/packets to fit the crowd. Don’t add water… just throw the packets into the canned gravy. </p>
<p>Heart and liver very finely minced get added, as do some fresh mushrooms.</p>
<p>When I reduce the pan drippings, I reduce it drastically, really concentrating the flavor. I’ll add this to the canned/powder mix. If needed a touch of Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet.</p>
<p>Been doing it this way for years, and always hear “Can I have your gravy recipe”. </p>
<p>Happy Turkey Day.</p>
<p>It is fun to hear the different methods people use to make gravy…I like watching foodnetwork to see how the different show hosts handle it…seen some of the methods mentioned here, there…
I have found roux to be a handy method for making Swedish pancakes too !</p>
<p>I, too, put the neck, giblets etc. in water early in the day; simmer it and use that when making gravy.</p>
<p>DH likes the giblets ground up and put in the gravy… but that is not popular. So he hasn’t been getting that for a few years now.</p>
<p>violadad - is your canned gravy enhanced by the packets a separate gravy you make from your homemade? So you’ll have extra? Or do you add those things to your from scratch version?</p>
<p>I make a LOT of gravy on Thanksgiving Day. But it does not last as long as the other leftovers do, so I am appreciative of hearing others’ recommendations re decent store bought possibilities.</p>
<p>jmmom, I’ll use the canned/packet mix as the bulk of the gravy, and then top it off with the pan drippings/from scratch gravy. I do reduce the pan gravy quite abit, maybe from a normal 1/2 reduction to a third to a quarter. This really concentrates the flavors in the scratch version, and is more effective when added to the canned/packet “base” in getting that home made taste. I ended up with a little less than two extra quarts of gravy today after the meal, which will be plenty for leftovers. If any is left, I’ll probably freeze it for the next turkey.</p>
<p>I think this was on another thread, but if you start the weekend before, roasting legs and wings in a very hot oven until dark, then simmer with a quart or two of water ( to cover), with celery, onions ect ( you can put these in the hot oven to carmelize after the turkey is brown; toss a bit with the fat) , then strain, you will have enough stock to thicken for plenty of gravy, and nothing to worry about in the last few hours. You also don’t have to worry about saly drippings from a brined turkey; add them to the stock!</p>
<p>I did try to make my gravy as suggested in post #2 and it turned out better than last year. Thanks for the recipe.</p>
<p>I’ve used Campbell’s canned turkey gravy the last couple years. Pour in some drippings, a little water and a dash of black pepper. Stir it up. Not too bad–fast, easy and never lumpy.
I can make regular gravy too, but I’m lazy. . .</p>
<p>I’m with chintzy and shrinkrap. My make-ahead gravy recipe is foolproof, delicious, homemade, plentiful and stress-free.</p>
<p>thank you, Columbia Student !</p>
<p>Julia Child must be turning over in her grave. All these cooks who haven’t mastered making a roux. If you can’t make turkey gravy, how in the world do you make the bechamel cream sauce for the creamed onions?</p>
<p>Go to the library and get a copy of Paul Prudhomme’s Lousiana Kitchen. He has an entire chapter on making roux, from white to tan, to brown, to brick red, to black (for gumbo) with pictures along the journey.</p>
<p>Turkey gravy is so simple.</p>
<p>6 tablespoons of fat (drippings, butter, oil)
6 tablespoons of flour</p>
<p>Mix that together over medium heat with wooden spoon until it’s all liquid and bubbling. For a gravy, you can go anywhere from a light tan to a brown roux. So, once it starts bubbling, keep stirring it with a wooden spoon for two to five minutes. This cooks the flour taste out of it.</p>
<p>Take four cups of liquid (I use stock made by simmering the turkey neck and all the old celery, onions, and carrots I can find in the fridge for a couple hours. Strain the stuff out, make sure the liquid in near a boil. Dump it all in the roux (stand back) and whisk it with a wire whisk. Brink the mixture to a boil for one minute and – voila – gravy. If it’s too thick, add some more water or stock. If it’s too thin, let it simmer.</p>
<p>Same exact recipe for cream sauce. Butter as the fat, white roux with flour just cooked for a minute or two because you don’t want it to darken, then scalded milk as the liquid. Heavy cream to thin it out if too thick. Julia Child’s creamed onion recipe from Mastering the Art of French Cooking Vol One is a lesson in making roux and cream sauces and gravies. </p>
<p>This is fundamental cooking technique and a lot of fun, although I make the creamed onions the night before because doing them back to back with the gravy is a bit too much stirring roux on Thanksgiving Day.</p>
<p>Chef Paul Prudhomme on making a roux:</p>
<p>[Making</a> a roux](<a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np3uGcdQNUw&feature=related]Making”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Np3uGcdQNUw&feature=related)</p>
<p>You haven’t lived until you’ve taken a roux all the way to black, walking the fine line between hot enough to darken it and too hot to burn it. Gravy is a piece of cake after that because you aren’t really darkening the roux.</p>
<p>Be careful. Roux is like napalm. It will burn you very badly if you splash it on yourself!</p>
<p>I don’t expose myself to such high risk when making turkey gravy!</p>
<p>While the turkey is roasting, I make turkey broth, same as Idad.<br>
After the turkey broth is done, I put about 3tbsp. flour in a jar with a tight-fitting lid, spoon about one cup of the turkey broth into the jar, stir, then close lid tightly and shake vigorously until there are no lumps left.<br>
After taking the turkey off the roasting pan, I pour out the pan juice into a cup; I deglaze it with some madeira, and pour the mixture of flour and turkey broth in, cooking until the flour has lost its chalky taste. I then pour the pan juices into the pan and cook some more.
Voila. Bon appetit.</p>
<p>This year I made the fat-and-flour balls a la Alton Brown… dropped a piece or two into my stock until it was juuust riiiiight!</p>