Good gravy recipe?

Question

I am slow cooking ham and potatoes....I need a good gravy/sauce recipe to go with it.

Answer 1

madeira cream gravy

Ingredients

For brown giblet stock
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Neck and giblets (excluding liver) from turkey, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 onion, left unpeeled, quartered
1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
1 carrot, coarsely chopped
1 qt low-sodium chicken broth (32 fl oz)
2 cups water
1 Turkish or 1/2 California bay leaf
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
For sauce
Drippings from roast turkey, left in roasting pan
1 1/2 cups Sercial Madeira
1 to 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (if necessary)
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup heavy cream

Preparation

Make stock:
Heat oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté neck, giblets, and onion until well browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add remaining stock ingredients and simmer, uncovered, until liquid is reduced to about 4 cups, about 45 minutes. Pour stock through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, discarding solids. Skim off and discard any fat.
Make sauce:
Skim fat from pan drippings (while turkey stands) and reserve fat. Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners, then add Madeira and deglaze pan by boiling over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, until liquid is reduced by about half, about 4 minutes, then add to giblet stock.

Heat 3 tablespoons reserved turkey fat (if you have less, use butter to make up difference) in a 3- to 4-quart heavy saucepan over moderately low heat, then add flour and cook roux, whisking, 3 minutes. Add hot stock in a fast stream, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Bring to a boil, whisking, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, 5 minutes. Add cream and simmer, stirring frequently, 10 minutes. Pour sauce through a fine-mesh sieve into a sauceboat or serving bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Cooks' note:
Giblet stock can be made 2 days ahead and cooled completely, uncovered, then chilled, covered. Discard solidified fat, then reheat before adding to roux.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/108762
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Answer 2

I usually like a fruit sauce with ham and I improvised this one for thankgiving this year

Finely mince two shallots or one half of a small white onion and saute over low heat in a tablespoon of canola or vegetable oil (any oil with very little flavor of its own) until the shallots are just translucent but not browned. Add in one teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary or half a teaspoon of ground dried rosemary and a cup of chicken broth or stock and bring the heat to medium. (This sauce can be made vegetarian by using vegetable stock.)

Bring the pan to a simmer and add half a cup of dried cherries or cranberries. (I've tried it with both and they both work fine). Let the sauce simmer until the berries plump up and add two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar...not the expensive stuff, it will concentrate in the sauce on it's own.

Let the sauce continue simmering until it reduces by half and becomes thicker. You can being the heat up to med-high if you're in a hurry. When the sauce reaches the consistency you like, turn the heat off, add salt and pepper to taste and stir in two or three pats of butter to bind the sauce. If the sauce gets too thick, add a little more chicken stock or water to get it back to where you want it.

You can leave it chunky as is or blend until smooth in a blender or with an immersion blender.

This sauce also goes very well with turkey and chicken.

Answer 3

we call it red eye gravy and it is so easy and yummy
add drippings to a sauce pan with some coke or dr. pepper, if you don't have soda then brown sugar or let white sugar caramelize then add drippings,coffee, onion and garlic power no salt the ham has enough the amounts depend on your own taste, just keep adding this or that until u are happy and let reduce until thick
it is awesome over rice, mashed potato's, stuffing, roasted veggies if you ask my family they would put it on breakfast

p.s. coffee is the secret if you don't' want to brew it instant can work just don't add to much and add some water

Answer 4

Oh, definitely bacon gravy! It's really easy and excellent.

2 Tbsp. bacon grease
3-5 Tbsp. flour (depending on how thick you like it)
2 cups strong beef broth

Heat the fat or grease, slowly whisk in flour 1 Tbsp at a time. Slowly whisk in the beef broth. (That's to ensure no lumps.) Cook for a while, whisking occasionally.

It's a favorite in this house, and it was a total accident one day when I went to make gravy and was out of packets.

Answer 5

open a can of cream of chicken soup