Dee's Homemade Turkey Gravy

It has come to my attention that there are people buying those little packages of gravy mix. Oh, please don’t do that. There is absolutely no comparison between that nasty stuff and real, honest-to-goodness gravy. Gravy has a reputation for being difficult to make but it really isn’t. Follow along and I’ll tell you how to make the real stuff which will have your family falling at your feet in praise. Or at least smacking their lips before they polish off their food and leave you to clean up that monstrous mess in the kitchen. Sorry, but I don’t have any advice about that part.

Dee’s Homemade Turkey Gravy

Ingredients:

4 cups of turkey drippings (with fat removed) If you don’t have quite that much, you can fill in with a good quality chicken broth or stock, preferably organic or all-natural in a carton, not can.
4 tablespoons flour
4 tablespoons butter or fat you removed from the drippings or combination (Please don’t even think about using margarine.)

Directions:

Melt butter in skillet over medium heat. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute or two, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan, until golden brown. This is called a roux and is the only somewhat tricky part. Make sure you stay right with it and don’t get distracted. If you burn the flour you’ll need to start over.

When it is golden, slowly pour in the hot turkey drippings/broth, whisking as you do so. Continue whisking as you bring it back to a boil. Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for a few minutes until it has reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. You can add a splash of white wine along with the drippings/broth or a couple of tablespoons of cream after it is cooked and removed from heat. But it’s perfectly delicious just “as is”.

Now, you may be wondering, “What about lumps?”. Most of the time when I make gravy it turns out lump-free but once in awhile it happens. Don’t fret. Just get out a strainer and pour the gravy through it and -voila!- lump-free gravy. If the finished gravy is a little too thick, add more drippings or broth. If it’s too thin, even after simmering and reducing for several minutes, mix equal amounts of flour and COLD water (start with a couple of teaspoons of each) in a cup, stirring vigorously with a fork until it’s a smooth paste and add to the gravy. Bring it to a boil then simmer for a few minutes. Keep in mind that you must cook it for a few minutes or it will have a bit of a raw flour taste.

You see, there are easy fixes for anything that might go wrong so don’t be afraid to make gravy. If this is your first time, keep one of those icky packaged mixes in the pantry and if something doesn’t work out, you’ve still got that as a back-up. But I can just about guarantee that if you follow these directions you won’t need it. Go on. Give it a try!

Note: Originally posted on former blog, Dee’s Kitchen, November 19, 2011.