Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Turkey Tip #6 - Great Gravy

Now this recipe is about the gravy, not the turkey but without great gravy, how good can a turkey really be?! This is not terribly complicated and will give you great results.

Okay, you've removed the turkey from the roasting pan. Now you should have a lot of great turkey drippings on the bottom of the pan. You are going to put that pan on the stove top over medium heat. Add 1 cup of riesling wine (or you can use brandy, I like the wine better because it tastes more subtle) and 1 cup of either the homemade broth you made the night before or 1 cup of the store bought broth. Let this all simmer for about 20 minutes. You are looking for the liquid to reduce. You should be able to look at the side of the pan and see where the liquid line has shrunk down the side by about 1/3. While that is simmering, take another cup of broth and add about 1/2 cup of flour, mix it until smooth. A whisk or putting it all in a jar and shaking it works well. Just DO NOT USE HOT BROTH. You'll have an explosion. Happened once when I was a kid.... Not pretty.

Turn down your pan on the stove to med low. Mix in your flour/broth into the pan. This is when a whisk is essential. Otherwise get your kids to all get spoons going in the pan! Pour slowly and mix vigorously as you add the flour/broth mix. Keep stirring until it starts to bubble again. You'll see how it thickens up pretty quickly. If it doesn't thicken up, mix more flour with broth and add it in. Sometimes it takes a little more flour if you have a lot of liquid you are trying to thicken!


Where are those mashed potatoes!?

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