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Woodie- Can you direct me to the Turkey Gravy recipe please?

18 years ago

For some reason I can't find the do ahead gravy recipe that you posted recently. I opened my big mouth and promised it to a co-worker and now I can't find it! I think I saved it at home, but I'm at work!

Anyone else have it?

Thanks!

Ellen

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Comments (9)

woodie
18 years ago
Hi Ellen, here it is! I hope your friend likes it, I'm making mine right this minute (I don't use the giblets, I think they're ick).

Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy
Makes about 2 quarts
For more flavor, after roasting the turkey you can skim the drippings from the pan and add them to the gravy just before serving. It's best to discard the strong-tasting liver before using the giblets. This recipe makes enough to accompany a large turkey and still have plenty for leftovers.

6 turkey drumsticks, thighs, or wings
reserved turkey giblets
reserved turkey neck
2 carrots , chopped coarse
1 head garlic , halved
2 ribs celery , chopped coarse
2 onions , chopped coarse
Vegetable oil spray
10cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 cups dry white wine
12 sprigs fresh thyme
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
Table salt and ground black pepper

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Place giblets, neck, drumsticks, carrots, celery, onions, and garlic in roasting pan, spray with vegetable oil, and toss well. Roast, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
2. Transfer contents of roasting pan to Dutch oven. Add broth, wine, and thyme and bring to boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by half, about 1 1/2 hours. Pour through fine-mesh strainer into large container (discard solids), cover stock with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until fat congeals, at least 2 hours.
3. Using soup spoon, skim fat and reserve. Heat 1/2 cup fat in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until bubbling. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until honey colored, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in stock, bring to boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (Gravy can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 2 months.) Reheat gravy in saucepan over medium heat until bubbling.
User
18 years ago
I'm doing Christmas this year and am going to make this do ahead gravy. I'm OK with a turkey dinner for a large gang but making the gravy at the last minute always ticks me off.

Wish I was OK was some of the make ahead mashed potato recipes because that is the other major PITA but I'm not convinced they will hold well for a large group.

However getting the gravy out of the way will make the mashed potatoes less of an issue.

Thanks Woodie
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Ditto on what other folks said...except...if you use flour, be sure and simmer the gravy for at least 10 minutes after you add it to avoid a raw flour flavor. A mixture of cornstarch & just enough broth or water to liquefy it takes less time than flour and water, because it thickens almost instantly. A novice gravy maker should probably stick to one or other of these methods, especially the day of! For myself, I would probably make a roux (blond is fine) and thicken it to my taste ahead of time so as not to worry about it later. Instructions for making roux are easy to google up, but the basic idea is to cook flour in some form of fat (for gravy, I like to use chicken fat or bacon fat, but oil, lard or butter are fine-slightly more fat than flour) over a medium heat until the raw flavor of the flour is cooked off. This mixture is then whisked in, thickening the gravy or sauce or whatever. Cooking a roux for longer periods of time, so that they grow very gradually darker, produces a thickener that adds certain desired flavors to a dish. For example, a dark roux, called a "chocolate roux" by many, is both a thickener and a flavor enhancement for dishes such as etoufee or gumbo. Remember that the longer flour cooks, the less it retains of it's thickening property. A dark roux thickens far less readily than a blonde roux. I hope I didn't just make this sound way too complicated. :)
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"...The definition of gravy refers specifically to a sauce made from pan drippings of a roasted protein. If you are not roasting the protein first, where are the drippings? Roasting necks and wings is not gonna do it! IMO," I picked up our turkey Monday night and did all the misc shopping. They had big necks and wings. (usually gone by the week or two before thanksgiving). Decided to make another fresh stock. One wing, one neck. DH roasted with veg when he got home. Then into the mauslin. I got home close to midnight last night and did the finishing. Straining and chilling. 2 quarts of gorgeous stock for gravy and the stuffing/dressing. Roasted proteins make drippings. Necks and wings are proteins and they are huge.
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compumom
Original Author
18 years ago
THANK YOU!!!
I've copied him and sent another copy to myself. I can't imagine finding the time to make a decent gravy at the last minute, at least in my hectic world!
I might contribute this to our group's dinner at our friend's home. Otherwise it's canned or bagged gravy for sure!
What brand of chicken broth do you use?
lindac
18 years ago
I would suggest you skip the chicken broth, and use water and add about 3 to 4 pounds of chicken wings. They make the best broth....flavorfull and...just plain good!...But if you omit the broth you will need a little more salt.
And I would cook the whole mess a lot longer before straining. The longer you simmer, the better it gets.
Linda C
woodie
18 years ago
No doubt homemade broth would be the best, but I use either Imagine or Swanson Organic Free Range.
lindac
18 years ago
Just use chicken in with the turkey and cook it longer....really very very little more work....just more flavor...you could even add the chicken broth too...I just find that wings add such a lot of depth...
kayskats
18 years ago
I missed Woodie's recipe, but am in the middle of making a very similar recipe from this months GoodHousekeeping. They said to use cornstarch, but I plan to use a bit of the skimmed fat and make a roux with flour.
My guest list grew from 6 to 11 and I didn't think my already purchased six-pound bone-in breast would be enough ... so I bought a larger whole turkey, cut out the backbone and spatchcocked it. I'm using the backbone plus the bones from the breast (froze the boneless breast) for the gravy base.

Just added the wine and it's smelling great!!!! Now I'm going to test the leftover wine
Kay
scott55405
18 years ago
I'm glad to see this and all the accompanying tips. I know my mom did something like this when she would make turkey, she'd have a big dutch oven of it on the stove the day before, but I didn't how or what she put in it.
juniebug-2006
18 years ago
As I never have enough gravy, I made Woodie's gravy yesterday, and it's great! I combined it with the pan juices today and everyone really liked it. Not only was it tasty, the color of the gravy is a very rich carmel. Excellent!
Chris

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