URGENT - gravy!!!!!!!!!!

[lisahaschickens]

sorry, all. please forgive me. I guess I'm a little tired today. I don't mean to be rude and non-helpful. I don't know what's gotten into me... too much stress, I guess.

If for some reason you have no access to drippings, I would use beef or chicken or even veggie stock or bullion if you have it and boil it for a while to reduce it down so that it's concentrated flavor and then stir in some butter and flour, salt and pepper. That should work OK.

Again, my apologies.

 

[lisahaschickens]

a little vermouth or white wine would be good, too. Julia Child always put that in her meat pan sauces - drippings, stock, butter, shallot, vermouth or wine, salt and pepper. For gravy, add flour to thicken.

 

[Judy]

I add a little sweet sherry or marsala. A splash of Worcestershire helps, too. Secret is to carmelize the onions.

 

[HennysMom]

Debi

I make chicken and beef gravy all the time by using boxed stock from the store - boullion is way too salty for my taste. I buy Swanson 33% less salt broths.

Just make a roux (butter and flour) - equal parts (2 tbsp butter 2 tbsp flour) cook for about 3 minutes to cook out the flour taste. Add stock (boxed tastes MUCH better than canned - no "tinny" taste) and let it cook down. If its still not thick enough (play with the butter/flour combo to know what you need, ususally I do 4 and 4 per box of stock) you can add cornstarch (mix with cold water first) to the mix to thicken more.

Works for me every single time and never any complaints!

ONE TRICK THOUGH - make sure your broth is at room temp or slightly warmed before adding it to the roux - anything cold will make your gravy lumpy

This also applies to making white gravy (biscuits and gravy) - warm your milk/cream first before adding.

Roux is a great thing!

 

[jvls1942]

for really yummy gravy, add a can of mushroom soup.. My wife does this with the drippings from meatloaf..........

for lump free gravy, try this..

get your pan with the drippings in it and add about 1/2 cup of water.
then add your flour and "fry" it for a few minutes.. that gets the raw taste out of it.. it will get lumpy and gooey.. not to worry.. now add water gadually and keep on stirring..(I use a whisk) You keep on adding water until you get the thickness (viscosity) you want..

then you can add thick cream if you wish, or a litttle wine, etc.

my wife uses some powder out of a can for added flavor.. we do not cook anything alike.. she is better than me.. and she does the cold water and flour mixture and shake method..