How can I cook really great gravy?

Answer 1

Brown Gravy Recipe

* 2-½ tablespoons solid vegetable fat
* 4 tablespoons flour
* 1 tablespoon chopped onion
* 1 small tomato
* 2 cups vegetable broth or water
* Salt to taste

Instructions

Put the fat into a frying pan, and when hot, add the flour, and stir constantly until a nice brown.(do this on a realy slow flame) Add the chopped onion, and continue to stir (till the onions are also slightly brown)then the tomato and stir for about 5 minutes, or until the liquid is mostly evaporated, as this will give it a good flavor.. Add one third of the liquid, and stir until smooth and free from lumps. Add the rest of the liquid, and let boil slowly for 10 minutes; then strain and serve.

Answer 2

The only way to cook a reaally great gravy is to cook from scratch - like how mamma used to make it.

Use the same method for any meat I will use Chicken as an example.

I *always* use Olive Oil to cook with and my roasts are no exception, it's much healthier for you. For a roast use some olive oil to roast/baste with.
You need to keep the hot water which your vegetables have boiled in.

1. When your roast is ready and you have removed from the tin to cool before carving, take your tin which your chicken has roasted in and place three tablespoons of floor. Mix the oil and flour until you have a smooth paste.
2. Place onto a hob - simmering and using a ladle [or some-such] take a small amount of the vegetable water and add to your tin - mix vigorously to ensure no lumps.
3. Now is good time to add a couple of oxo cubes!
4. keep adding vegetable water [as in step 3] until you reach the consistancy required!

Remember if you end up with gravy too thin - all is NOT lost. simply in a mug mix flour and veg water to a smooth paste and add gently to your gravy.

THE best gravy - why pay silly money for supermarket made when this is so easy!

Answer 3

The answers you have received so far give the american version for the all-purpose sauce we call gravy. This is basically a sauce made out of meat drippings with flour and water.

An easy way to impress your friends is to make a real sauce. It's not hard and, contrary to the first answer, MUCH BETTER than anything store bought or canned.

First chop some onion (or a shallot) very fine. A slice or two of onion will do. You should have a teaspoon or two of chopped onion. Put this in a small saucepan with about 1/4 - 1/3 cup of (depending on your mood, what you're cooking and what you have in the house) port wine, marsala, madeira, or vermouth. All of them work o.k. Don't use normal red or white wine until you have some experience, as they tend to make the sauce slightly sour. For a nice touch, add a teaspoon of fresh or dried thyme leaves. Boil this until you have only about a tablespoon of liquid left. Remove from heat.

IN THE MEANTIME put 1/2 to 1 beef boulliion cube into about 1 1/2 cups of water and heat in the microwave (or on the stove) until the bouillon dissolves. Start with just 1/2 cube until you've tasted it. Depending on the brand you use, a whole cube may be too salty.

STRAIN the boiled-down port or wine (called the reduction) into the bouillon. This whole process sounds complicated, but it takes about 5 minutes.
Put the bouillon/reduction mix aside and let cool. You can do all of this early in the day or the night before, if you want.

TO MAKE THE SAUCE (gravy): melt 1 TBS butter in a saucepan. Add 1 TBS flour to the melted butter and stir around until everything bubbles a bit. If you cook it a little longer, it will turn light brown, which changes the taste some. You'll have to experiment to see whether you like it more or less brown. White is o.k. too. Add the cooled bouillon/reduction mix stirring vigorously with a whisk. Continue to heat and stir until it thickens up. Add some fresh ground pepper, if you like. Depending on how thick you like your sauces, you may want to use 1 1/2 TBS of butter and flour.

That's it. Throw in some fresh sliced mushrooms at the end if you want and let them heat through. Don't bother with canned mushrooms, as they don't taste like anything at all.

If you prefer, you can used canned beef bouillon instead of cubes. Add the wine reduction to 1 1/2 cups of the canned stuff. To get more of the meat flavor from your roast or steaks, you can dump this whole sauce into your roasting pan after you've removed the meat, and stir in the drippings.

This basic principle - reducing wine with some flavoring like onion and herbs and adding it to a meat stock sauce - is the basis of all the fine sauces we have in europe. The butter/flour mixture used to thicken things gives a finer flavor that meat drippings. If you use whiskey or bourbon instead of wine, you get a whiskey sauce, which you sometimes see on menus. If you add some cream at the end (a tablespoon or so will do) the sauce will taste better on mashed potatoes.

Experiment! It's really easy to make a great sauce.

Answer 4

Hi! very easy....

After roasting meat or chicken, add liquid (broth, wine, etc.) to the pan and stir to scrape the brown bits from the bottom.
Pour the juices into a gravy separator. ( or, pour the juices into a deep, narrow bowl and place in the freezer for 15 minutes; then spoon off the congealed fat. )
The gravy separator lets you pour off the juices while leaving the fat behind. To make gravy, pour the pan juice into a saucepan.
Add a mixture of flour and water to the pan juices, then cook, stirring, over medium heat until the gravy is thickened. Done! These really a great gravy....._;-)

Good luck!

Answer 5

There are two secrets... First you have to have really good browned bits in the bottom of your pan, next you must have your thickening agent really mixed into your water, both or milk.
You can use flour or even better a product named "Wondra" it is ultra smooth flour especially for making gravy, or you can use corn starch. It doesn't take much corn starch to thicken your gravy but the disadvantage is that when it cools it gets super thick, not good for leftovers.
After you remove the meat from the pan, put the pan on the stove over med. high heat. Add some pepper. When the pan gets good and hot add a can of chicken or beef broth (which ever kind of meat you are making, for pork add chicken broth). Stir and scrap all of the goodies off the bottom of the pan. Next add your water or milk plus thickening agent to the pan. Cook until the mixture gets thick. Remove from heat and taste for salt/pepper.
You will need to experiment on the amount of flour or corn starch you use, it depends on how thick you want your gravy. You can always add a little more water, milk or broth to thin it out.

Answer 6

Well, almost all of these methods sound great...I'm a little hungry suddenly. Do not buy mixes. If you buy a mix, you may as well get some gravy at the KFC or buy Campbell's gravy, then there are no directions at least!!!
Simply put, use drippings from meat, a thickening agent (cornstarch or flour) and a liquid (milk or cream, even wine for some.) Then you just sort of heat and stir, heat and stir, sampling to insure the proper texture and seasoning.

Answer 7

Use Drippings, a little of Chicken Broth (can or box Swanson), Butter, Flour, Salt and Pepper and whisk constanly if making Turkey or Chicken Gravy. I've mastered it and this past Thanksgiving it was a hit. Do the same for Beef only use Beef Broth and a splash of red wine. Enjoy!

Answer 8

Really great gravy is made from drippings, flour, water, and seasonings.
My favorite is white sausage gravy (for biscuits and gravy).
While biscuits are baking, fry sausages. Remove and keep warm.
Stir into a tablespoon of hot drippings a tablespoon of flour, cooking the flour until saturated. Pour in one cup cold whole milk.
Stir constantly over medium low heat until it comes to a boil. Lower heat and stir until gravy thickens to desired consistency.
Season with Italian seasoning (thyme, marjoram, oregano, and parsley)
Pour over split biscuits and serve sausage alongside.

Answer 9

cook a roast in the oven in about 1 cup of water. Remove the roast to a platter, and leave the drippings in the pan. Put the pan on the burner at medium. add about 2 cups of boiling water, and scrape all the carmelized drippings from the pan then mix 1/4 cup of corn starch with 1 cup cold water and mix into the boiling dripping/water mix and stir til thick and clear. remove from the heat, add salt and pepper to taste, and serve. I like adding a few onions and carrots to the roast while its cooking, so there is more dark carmelized liquid left.

Answer 10

Mom's Brown Gravy

INGREDIENTS
1 teaspoon yeast extract spread, e.g. Marmite/Vegemite
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups hot water
4 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup cold water
2 tablespoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir in yeast extract spread, onion powder, and salt until smooth. Gradually whisk in 1 1/2 cups water so no lumps form. Bring to a boil. In a small cup, stir together 1/2 cup cold water and cornstarch. Stir the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan, and continue boiling until thickened. Cool slightly before serving.