what is your turkey gravy recipe?

[vash]

cough it up cooks. i'm in my mid 40's and i think i just about have it figured out.
here is mine.

find all the giblets in the bird..+ neck bones. put it at the bottom of the roasting pan. snap apart the standard onion, carrot, celery mix and dump it in as well. if your really cool, put in some random chicken bones you have in the freezer. pour in some water (or veggie, or chicken stock) ..about 2 cups. put the turkey rack and turkey..(insert your favorite turkey method here )..roast as you usually do. make sure water doenst evaporate away!! i go in at least once to flip the scorching hot, huge, awkward, greasy bird..good times. i'll add fluid here.

once it is all done and bird is resting. strain juices into fat separator..pull out some fat, about 2 teaspoons (for me). dump it into saucier..and whisk in equal amount of flour. get the roux golden..light golden..dump in the turkey juice+ plus chicken stock to equal your target volume of gravy..salt pepper, some fresh herbage.. i like sage and thyme. half shot of brandy..whisk until thickened..

as a chinese person..i always have steamed rice..gravy and steamed rice is my childhood comfort food.

anyone else? love to hear so maybe i could tailor/tweek my science project.

[John Rogers]

Mid 40s huh???? When you get to your late 60s like me, you'll probably buy the ready made stuff at Costco.........Seems all the meds dull your taste buds a little?!

[sck007]

once it is all done and bird is resting. strain juices into fat separator..pull out some fat, about 2 teaspoons (for me). dump it into saucier..and whisk in equal amount of flour. get the roux golden..light golden..dump in the turkey juice+ plus chicken stock to equal your target volume of gravy..salt pepper, some fresh herbage.. i like sage and thyme. half shot of brandy..whisk until thickened..

as a chinese person..i always have steamed rice..gravy and steamed rice is my childhood comfort food.

I thought corn starch was our favorite thickening agent!

Happy Holidays!

[VincentVega]

Same as you minus the brandy but I add a little butter. I usually end up going lite on the liquid and it's too thick. I do it every time.

[OffCamber00]

Originally Posted by vash

cough it up cooks. i'm in my mid 40's and i think i just about have it figured out.
here is mine.

That is pretty much spot on to what I do exept I use 100% thyme as I am not a fan of sage. I fry my turkey so I use either a chicken or some turkey wings in addition to the neck and giblets to get the poultry flavored goodness. Everyhting else is the same, including the brandy.

[tadink]

Sounds good - but I wonder if you might be a bit on the greasy side? Did not see where you pour off the excess fat from the cooked bird -

Instead of doing all the neck / giblets etc under the bird, I do mine on the cooktop and let it simmer most of the day, adding water as needed. Then when the bird is lifted out of the pan, I pour all the liquids into a fat separator, and then use a little Pinot Noir on the bottom to de-glaze the pan and loosen the dried crispy bits....

I use a mason jar with lid and cold water to mix the flour (removes ALL the lumps) after you shake vigorously. Then, the strained giblet water gets added back to the pan with the Pinot, then the flour mix to thicken, and maybe a little Kitchen Magician to darken, and stir constantly while the flour thickens. This is a good job for an eager helper while you carve the bird.

Best wishes for a great Holiday everyone -

td

[scottmandue]

I'm pretty much right on with you...

I am pretty much a mad scientist in the kitchen... been watching cooking on TV since Julia Child and the galloping gourmet... and still watch food network until the wife screams "can you turn that off!!!"

Pan juices, check
Brown flour in pan juices, check
Add liquid to make gravy.

Add dairy for white gravy... wine for brown...

My mom did the shaker thing for a smooth chicken gravy.

[cgibson67]

Recipe I used for Thanksgiving this year:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Orange-and-Mustard-Basted-Turkey-with-Apple-Cider-Mustard-Gravy-107285

Made a great gravy....alittle different flavor with a bit of mustard, but still very classic. I don't like the gravy to be too thick, and this was just right.

[gtc]

I guess i do it pretty much the same as everyone else, but I don't brown the flour.
I deglaze the roasting pan and pour all the juices and tasty bits into a pyrex measuring cup. After the fat separates, i take note of it's volume and measure out an equal volume of flour. I shake the flour with another equal portion of cold water, then add everything to a saucepan.
(note: sometimes I wind up with a LOT of fat, in which case some should be skimmed off, otherwise I wind up with waay too much gravy)
Bring to a boil over high heat while whisking constantly, until you can taste that the flour is cooked... (shouldn't taste pasty any more). Add liquid (water, chicken broth, whatever) until gravy is a little thinner than how it should be served... season... and you're done.

[trekkor]

Try a brined turkey roasted in an oven bag. You'll get mucho juices.

We like to put mushrooms and whole peeled garlic cloves in the vegie mix.
Be careful with the gravy seasoning if you brine.

Roux? Not many know this one.
You are the man.


KT

[vash]

Originally Posted by sck007

I thought corn starch was our favorite thickening agent!

Happy Holidays!

goodness..that is my MIL's superpower. corn starch. it is my least favorite..

i wish i took a pic of my MIL's gravy one year..it was waterproof!! it had so much cornstarch in it..you dipped in a hunk of meat, and it would dent like a trampoline and the meat would come out clean. we all laughed..you had to cut a chunk of gravy off and place it on the target meat.

[vash]

Originally Posted by tadink

Sounds good - but I wonder if you might be a bit on the greasy side? Did not see where you pour off the excess fat from the cooked bird -

Instead of doing all the neck / giblets etc under the bird, I do mine on the cooktop and let it simmer most of the day, adding water as needed. Then when the bird is lifted out of the pan, I pour all the liquids into a fat separator, and then use a little Pinot Noir on the bottom to de-glaze the pan and loosen the dried crispy bits....

I use a mason jar with lid and cold water to mix the flour (removes ALL the lumps) after you shake vigorously. Then, the strained giblet water gets added back to the pan with the Pinot, then the flour mix to thicken, and maybe a little Kitchen Magician to darken, and stir constantly while the flour thickens. This is a good job for an eager helper while you carve the bird.

Best wishes for a great Holiday everyone -

td

i use a fat separator also. i like the Pinot idea.

[PorscheGAL]

My dad and his mother always put Gravy Master in the gravy at the end of thickening. I have made gravy without it but I still prefer it to be in the gravy.

[dan88911]

S.F Chronicle. sfg.com 11/18/2012
Food&Wine section
special thanksgiving issue "Riding the gravy train"
great article and recipes on gravy.

[sck007]

Originally Posted by vash

goodness..that is my MIL's superpower. corn starch. it is my least favorite..

i wish i took a pic of my MIL's gravy one year..it was waterproof!! it had so much cornstarch in it..you dipped in a hunk of meat, and it would dent like a trampoline and the meat would come out clean. we all laughed..you had to cut a chunk of gravy off and place it on the target meat.

Too funny and true! That stuff is so powerful. It has to be used sparingly. I have to tell some of the Chinese restaurants to layoff/backoff on that stuff.

[kwyjibo]

I have a few differences from your original post, but commented by others (like the deglazing of the pan, etc).
In case someone is inspired from this and tries your recipe, I thought I would just point out that I think you meant tablespoon - not teaspoon - for the fat/butter and flour. I don't think roux measured in teaspoons will thicken much. I generally go with about 1 tablespoon each for every cup or so of gravy.
Something I've done for the past few years is to process the burnt celery/carrots/onions from the bottom of the pan and dump that mix into the gravy - helps to thicken and add flavor.
Now, back to cars.

[on2wheels52]

Your gravy isn't thick enough? Mom would say, "Keep stirring"
Jim

[scottmandue]

Open a can of Campbell's gravy and plop into small sauce pan and put on low heat.

Pour three or four fingers of bourbon in a tumbler, hide in kitchen and when the family calls from the living room asking is they can help make stirring sounds and holler "it is coming along nicely".