Turkey Gravy

There are quite a few different ways to make gravy, and the variations seem to center around whether you want to brown the flour first, and how rich you want to make it (which is a polite way of saying how much grease are you willing to tolerate...).

Remember, the more you brown the flour, the less thickening power it will have.

Method 1:

Prepare the broth well ahead of time, even the night before.
Remove the turkey neck and giblets from the uncooked turkey, and put them in a stockpot. Add about 2 - 2 1/2 quarts of water. Sprinkle in some ground sage or poultry seasoning - about a teaspoonful, and some pepper. Add one or two onions, cut in quarters or eighths if they are large.

When shopping for the onions, try to find ones with really nice brown skins. Leave on the onion skins when you put them in the pot - they help give the broth a beautiful color. Add additional brown skins from other onions if you want.

Boil gently at a low heat for about an hour.

Pull out the liver after 15 minutes or so, it will add a bitter flavor to the broth if cooked too long. If the broth looks greenish from the sage, sprinkle in a little paprika or chili powder to add color and cancel out the green. (Don’t use red food coloring, it will look weird.)

Pour through a colander to separate the broth from the turkey parts and onions. Discard the stuff left in the colander.

Let the broth cool.

In a cast iron or other kind of heavy skillet, heat about 1/2 to 1 cup flour, depending on how much gravy you want to make. Traditionally, the flour was mixed with oil, fat, or melted butter to make a roux*, but I have found that doesn’t seem to be absolutely necessary, and cuts down the amount of grease in the final product. (Some people claim that the grease prevents lumps, but experience tells me that ain’t necessarily true.)

Heat while stirring the flour (a wooden spoon works well) until it starts to brown. Take it off the heat, and keep stirring - it will burn quite easily - until it starts to cool down, and stops getting browner. Let cool completely.

With the heat off, slowly mix in the broth to the skillet, a little at a time, to make a paste. Do not add cool broth to a hot pan - you will get lumps. Slowly add broth until the paste get thinner and thinner. Turn on the heat, and heat slowly while continuing to stir constantly. Heat until the mixture begins to thicken and boil.

Do not add all the broth that you made - some should be saved to make the dressing. Add salt to taste.

Remove from heat, it can be reheated later.

When the turkey is cooked, juice from the turkey roaster can also be added to the gravy to give additional color and flavor.

If you get lumps, try removing them with a slotted spoon, a small sieve, mixing with an electric mixer, or even running through a food processor with the metal blade if you are truly desperate. Gravy will thicken as it sits, so it may need to have more broth or water added to it when it is reheated.

Method 2

I don’t like this method because the flour isn’t browned (and I think it has a raw flour taste), but it is the easiest one.

Put about a cup of water in a large tupperware or similar type container. Add about 1/4 to 1/2 cup flour on top of the water - don’t do it the other way around.

Snap the lid on tight and shake the living bejeezus out of it.

Stir the resulting flour/water mixture into either some turkey broth, or the drippings from the bottom of the turkey roaster. Heat while stirring, until it boils and thickens.

Method 3

Similar to the one above. Remove the turkey from the turkey roaster, sprinkle flour into the juices in the bottom of the pan, stirring to blend and not get lumps. Put the roaster on top of a burner on the stove, and heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat, and transfer to another pan. Thin with broth or water if necessary. I don’t like this one because while the roaster juices have a marvelous flavor, this method can result in very greasy gravy.

*Mac Kendrick was very much in favor of making a dark brown roux. This should probably not be attempted if you are making it for the very first time, and company is coming. Find out about making a roux here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roux. Add very hot liquid only to a roux, and gradually stir in just a little at at time or you will end up with a yukky lumpy mess.