How do you make gravy?

Question

I know there's no single recipe, but that's all right, I want to try different ways of making it.

Answer 1

when making a gravy for a roast you remove the roast from the pan, drain off a little of the fat from the pan and place on heat.

once the pan is hot, sprinkle plain flour and salt in the juices and allow them to brown. continue stirring the mixture until it is a deep brown colour, then add cold water... (warm or hot water will make the gravy lumpy.) continue stirring until the gravy thickens.

Simple and no gravox needed...

If you want onion gravy you need to fry the onions in the pan before adding the flour... then remove the onions and make the gravy and then return the onions to the gravy.

Answer 2

(m)

Homemade Gravy

by Nikki Willhite
www.allthingsfrugal.com
There are some people who just won't eat meat and potatoes without gravy. Others do not eat it because of health issues. This article is not to debate the issue. For those who want to make gravy, here are some tips to make it better, which may help with your Christmas dinner.

You can buy a gravy mix and just add water, or you can make it from scratch. Homemade gravy will always taste better than gravy made from a package. However, if you do want to start with a mix, try using canned bouillon instead of water.

The rich flavor in gravy comes from the fat, which comes out of meat while it is slowly cooking. The best tasting gravy, therefore, starts with the quality of the meat you are cooking.

Gravy can be made from the drippings of beef, chicken, or turkey.

For every cup of gravy, you are going to need approximately

2 Tablespoons of fat,

2 Tablespoons of flour

1 Cup of liquid

There are several ways to make gravy, but here is the easiest, and most fool proof.

After the meat is cooked, remove the needed amount of fat or drippings from the bottom of the pan the meat was cooked in. Run it through a strainer or sieve to remove any particles in the fat. Place this in a pot, which you can put on the stove.

Before you do that, you add the flour to the gravy. When making gravy, you always use equal amounts of fat and flour. This is very important, so always measure carefully. If you use too much flour, you will drown out the taste of the fat, which is where the flavor comes from.

Mix the flour and fat well. Then put them on the stove to cook on low heat. You must stir constantly. You need to cook this long enough that the flour is cooked. The mixture will turn brown and begin to bubble. If you don’t cook the flour long enough, it will have a raw taste, and ruin the flavor of your gravy. The next step, adding the liquid to the fat/flour mixture, is where most people get into trouble. If you just pour the water into the mixture, you may get lumps.

To be safe, bring the water temperature up before combining the two. To do this, put a little of the very hot fat/flour mixture in the water first to bring up the temperature of the water. Stir well to distribute the heat.

Take the pan off the burner, and then add the water, SLOWLY, stirring continually.

After the two are well blended, return to the burner, and bring to a boil for about a minute. Be sure and keep stirring, so that the fat does not separate from the liquid.

The flour is what is going to thicken the liquid mixture. You want to stir and cook until you get the consistency you like.

When you make gravy, you cannot leave the pan unattended. Have your seasonings nearby so you can put them in at the end while you are stirring. Even after you take the pan off the stove, it will still keep cooking for a while and will become thicker.

Continue to stir your gravy right up to the time you put it on the table. This is why the gravy is always done last. It is not hard, but it takes you constant attention.

A few other things to consider:

The more spices you add to the meat before cooking, the more flavorful the fat and the less spices you will need to add for flavoring.

Here are some of the ingredients to add with the meat to make a rich, tasty gravy:

Onions

Celery

Garlic

Tomatoes

Bay Leaves

Salt

Pepper

If you want to make your gravy thicker, increase the amount of fat and flour that you put into each Cup of liquid. Very thick gravy has as much as 3 Tablespoons of each. Thin gravy only one.

If you don’t have enough fat, you can add some melted butter or margarine.

For a rich, flavorful gravy, avoid using plain water as your liquid. Use bouillon or soup stock.

If you are making gravy for poultry, you can add some milk or cream, but be careful that you don’t burn it.

If your gravy still comes out with lumps try beating it harder with a wire whisk, blender or Cuisinart. If lumps remain, run the gravy through a colander or strainer. Reheat over low heat, stirring constantly. Sauces are what differentiate a good cook from a great cook.

Answer 3

Whatever meat or poultry I am cooking--when it's done I remove the meat and save all the drippings and grease in the pan. I add about a tablespoon of flour and mix with the above. If you have potato water, add that by the cupful. If not, add tap water. Let simmer. If it's too thin, add more flour which has been added to some cold water so it doesn't make the gravy lumpy. If it's too thick, add more water. If it's too light in color, I use Kitchen Bouquet which you can buy at any grocery store. Otherwise, you can use a little plain instant coffee grounds. If it gets lumpy, put it through a strainer. Good luck.

Answer 4

Maple Syrup Gravy

Yield: 2 Quarts

Ingredients:

10 tbsp grease rendered from the turkey
6 tbsp flour
8 tbsp maple syrup
2 quarts chicken stock which has simmered with the turkey neck and innards. When making the roux the chicken stock should be at room temperature.
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Place the grease in a heavy skillet over medium high heat. It will sizzle and spatter as the water cooks off leaving only the grease, this will take about 3-4 minutes. ( The 10 TBSP measurement refers to all the liquid taken from the roasting pan, this should yield about 6 TBSP grease after all the water has cooked out.)

2. Stirring constantly add the flour to the hot grease to form a roux. Cook the roux over the heat about 5-7 minutes stirring constantly being careful not to burn the flour.

3. Slowly stir in the maple syrup and then the chicken stock stirring constantly, being certain not to add any more chicken stock until the previous addition of stock is fully incorporated. At the beginning the gravy will be very thick and pasty, but as all the chicken stock is added the consistency will become smooth and slightly thickened.

4. Simmer over low heat for about five minutes after all the chicken stock has been added. Correct seasoning with salt and pepper.



Southern Gravy

Ingredients

(1 servings)

1/2 c Beef instant bouillon
1 1/2 c Unsifted flour
1/2 ts Black pepper
3 tb Drippings or margarine
1 3/4 c Milk or water


Instructions

Make ready mix by combining first 3 ingredients in medium bowl.Store at room temperature in pint jar with tight fitting lid.Shake before using.
For Gravy: Stir 1/4 cup ready mix into drippings.Cook and stir until brown.(This is to cook the flour;do not burn it.) Add water or milk; stir until thick and bouillon is dissolved.



Brandied Tomato Gravy

Ingredients

(12 servings)

1 cn Tomatoes(8oz)
4 tb Butter or margarine
2 tb Flour,all-purpose
1 cn Beef broth(14oz)
1 tb Brandy
1/2 ts Meat-extract paste
1/4 ts Salt


Instructions

1. Drain tomatoes; reserve liquid. Finely chop tomatoes; set aside. 2. In 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, melt butter or margarine. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. 3. Gradually stir in beef broth, tomato liquid and tomatoes, brandy, meat-extract paste and salt; cook, stirring until gravy thickens and boils. NOTE: Meat-extract paste is an extract of meat, concentrated to a paste, with seasoning added and packed in a jar. It is available in most supermarkets.

Answer 5

If you are refering to White Gravy, or sausage gravy for biscuits, this is the way that I learned. If you are cooking meat, fried chicken, chicken fried steak, bacon, or sausage....or any of those other fried health foods we southerns love, save about 5 T of the cooking oils, with the left over bits in the pan.If you do not have quite enough grease you can add a little cooking oil, or butter. (if they are burned , toss them out they will make the gravy all nasty tasting!) Stir in 3 heaping T of flour into the grease. Keep the skillet on med heat, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir until all lumps are gone, and the mixture looks like a thin paste. Cook for a couple of minutes to cook the flour, but not to brown it. Add in about 3 cups of milk, and stir with a whisk until smooth, turn the heat up to med high, and stir constantly until the mixture boils. It will thicken gradually. Cook for approximately 5-8 min. until thick. If it does not reach the consistancy you want, add more milk to thin it out, or make a slurry of flour and water and gradually add it in to the boiling liquid until it gets thick.

Answer 6

If your talking brown gravy, mix the drippings from the meat in a pan with flour and some water. If you call spaghetti sauce gravy, start with 2 cans of ground tomatoes and a can of tomato paste. Make meatballs or get sausages and fry them up in small amount of oil. Dont' drain the oil but put garlic and seasonings in the oil and put the heat on low, then put the tomato paste in and fry that up, also add onions or mushrooms whatever you want. when the paste is fried up good almost burned put it in a large pan, add the cans of ground tomatoes, one can of water, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper and simmer. I let mine simmer all day long. OOPS...throw the cooked meatballs and sausage in while it's simmering. Make sure to cover the pot.

Answer 7

The most important part of gravy making is:
hot roux - cold stock
cold roux - hot stock

Start with equal parts fat and flour in 2 tablespoons increments and stock in approximately 1 cup increments. I usually use 6 tablespoons butter, 6 tablespoons flour and 2 to 3 cups of stock (depending on how thick you want your gravy).

Melt butter in heavy pan, add flour and cook/brown flour for 2 -3 minutes, stirring constantly (this is the roux). Slowly add stock to roux, whisking constantly. Simmer gravy, constantly whisking, until desired thickness is achieved, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Answer 8

Okay I come from a country that pioneered gravy while our colonialists cud only concot a word for the dish holding gravy: gravy boat so I'd be livid and shamed if u don't give me 10 pts:

Scrape the inside of 2 coconuts. How u do this:
-Select the best coconuts by shaking them close 2 ur ear 2 get a splashing slopping sound from inside as evidence of mature coconut
-Remove as much of the husk as possible so it's less rough to handle. Split the head into 2 using a sickle or a hard strong knife close to one. Let the syrup inside leave.
-Grate the inside of a coconut using the scraping device that has barbed edges.
-Collect fleshy residue u get after scraping the inside of each half until all the whiteness has disppeared and only the brown shell remains.
-Spin and squeeze the residue of coconut milk in a blender for as long as you can: 15 minutes taking little breaks 2 prevent the machine from over-heating.
-Now using ur hands wring out the milk filtrate(after emptying the powderish residue and milk from blender into a bowl) discarding the pulp remaining in ur fists.
-Meanwhile temper, with 3 tablespoons of coconut oil in a clay pot(for better taste), Bombay onions,green chillies, red peppers, garlic and ginger crushed in a pestle and mortar.
-The clear milk should be put into the same pot when the oil starts 2 crackle and ur meat/vegetables added 4 essence.
-The following spices should be added in dashes by trial and error by pinching a bit of the gravy on2 ur palm and tasting :
cinnamon, cardamom, turmeric/ saffron, varieties of roasted red chillies, black curry powder, tamarind, green leaves like mint and sage
- Leave to simmer and once ready u cud decant the layer of oil that surfaces so it's more healthy.
- Serve in 'boat' with dressing sprinkled on top.

Answer 9

Manny people do it in different ways .
but the best and easy method to prepare a gravy is :
take a bowl of cold water and add little corn flour and mix it and add it to what ever u want .
believe me it will me yummy .
i can give u the guarantee.if not u can always ask me.


priya.

Answer 10

Basic Brown Sauce or Gravy

3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons flour
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can Campbell's condensed beef broth (Reg size can.)
garlic powder (optional) or onion powder (optional) or pepper (optional) or worcestershire sauce (optional)
4 servings

1. Melt 3 T butter in small saucepan.
2. Stir in 3T flour til blended.
3. Pour in one can Campbell's condensed beef broth, stirring well.
4. Heat over med heat until thickened.
5. Season with pepper,onion powder, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce or as desired.