Special Recipes
15 minutes8 Servings
The Holiday season just wouldn’t be the same without gravy. This is our favorite basic pan gravy technique, and it doesn’t matter what the meat is. You can do this for a leg of lamb, a roast beef, a roast pork loin, pan-roasted chicken, or even a big fat turkey.
Ingredients
¼ cup turkey fat (or other fat: butter, lard etc.)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup pan drippings
1-2 cups water or broth salt and pepper
Holiday Extras
Splash of sherry
Splash of wine
Teaspoon of minced rosemary, thyme or sage
Method
Gravy Prep
1. After you’ve removed the turkey from the oven and set it aside to rest, set the pan over medium-high heat on the stove-top. You may need to span two burners.
2. When the pan drippings are hot and sputtering, pour in a cup of broth and begin scraping all the bits from the bottom of the pan.
Separate the Fat and Drippings
3. Pour the deglazed pan drippings into a measuring cup and place this in the refrigerator or freezer, wherever there is space.
4. In the 30 minutes it takes to rest the turkey, the fat and drippings will separate and the fat will begin to harden. This makes it easier to skim off just the fat for making the gravy. You should ideally end up with about a cup of pan drippings and 1/4 cup of fat. If you have less, you can make up the difference with broth or oil, respectively.
Make a Roux
5. Skim the fat from the top of the pan drippings (or use a fat separator) and warm it in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
6. When the fat is hot, whisk in the flour to form a thin paste.
7. Let this cook for a few minutes until bubbly.
Add the Pan Drippings
8. Pour in the pan drippings and whisk to combine with the roux. This will form a thick, gloppy paste.
9. Add the Broth – Finish the gravy by whisking in a half cup of broth. You can add more broth for thinner gravy or let the gravy cook a few minutes for thicker gravy.
10. Taste the gravy and add salt, pepper, and any extras to taste