From: auwen@convex.com (John David Auwen)
Subject: Good Gravy advice from the past
Summary: good gravy advice from 2 different posters
Keywords: good gravy
Organization: CONVEX Computer Corporation, Richardson, Tx., USA
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 15:45:48 GMT
X-Disclaimer: This message was written by a user at CONVEX Computer
              Corp. The opinions expressed are those of the user and
              not necessarily those of CONVEX.

This is the best gravy advice I've read in my 4 years of reading
this newsgroup.  Carol is still a major contributer to this group so
I'd like to thank her for her good advice that I'm reposting here.

------------------------------------------------------------------

From rec.food.cooking Tue Oct  8 16:27:09 1991
From: riacmt@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Carol Miller-Tutzauer)

Some time ago (1 yr), I posted my "gravy-making bible".  Because I 
figured others might be interested, I decided to re-post.

A couple comments to the person originating the request:  I never
use cornstarch for gravy.  I think it only results in making a
gravy taste "gummy."  As for the color of your gravy not being
dark enough, I recommend below making a roux -- that is, sauteeing
flour in oil until it "cooks."  The longer you cook the flour,
the more brown it becomes.  It is relatively easy to cook the
roux until it turns the color of peanut butter.  This will give
you a very nice beige color.  For beef gravy, often your pan
drippings will add the necessary darkness.  If you want something
deep rich brown, then you must cook the roux until it is the
color of a Hershey's milk chocolate bar.  It takes a fair amount
of skill (or, rather, practice) to be able to cook a roux that
long without burning it.  If you cook it over a VERY LOW heat,
stirring constantly, for about 1/2 hour, you can probably get
it pretty dark.  But if it burns, you have to start over.  What
I do, as a quick fix, to darken up gravy, is to add some Kitchen
Bouquet (or Gravy Master; found near the Worcestershire sauce
in the grocery store).  In this way, you can safely make a
medium-color roux (peanut-butter color) and then "fix it up"
with some Kitchen Bouquet.

Flavor MUST come from pan drippings, and if you dilute them too
much, your gravy will be equally flavorless.  Carmelized onions
can help, and so I recommend throwing some onion chunks into
the roasting pan with your meat.  You can also throw in some
chunks of carrots and celery.  This will help stretch your
meat drippings, flavor-wise.  Sometimes, adding some salt
"tricks" your palate into thinking there is more meat flavor
in the gravy.  However, be careful not to add too much salt.
Another option is to add a seasoning mixture -- my mother used
to add about 1/2 tsp of season salt to her pork chop gravy with
good "stretching" effects.  I like to use Paul Prudhomme's
Cajun Magic for Poultry seasoning, but it is salty, so be careful.
Some fresh herbs added just at the end of cooking your roux
and before adding liquid to the roux mixture can also add flavor
and help stretch "thin" drippings.

Anyway... here goes:


=================
Gravy-Making Tips
=================

For roasted meats (like roasted turkey or chicken, beef or pork roast): 

      1.  When meat has finished roasting, remove from oven.  Let meat sit
for at least 20 minutes before doing anything.   

      2.  Remove meat to a serving plate (or a cutting board if you want
to carve it first before putting pieces on serving plate).  Now you are
left with the roasting pan and the "drippings." 

      3.  Pour about 1/2 c of water into the pan with drippings.  With a
spoon, keep stirring the liquid around until nearly all of the "crusties"
from the pan have dissolved in the liquid.  (Note:  In the case of
poultry, don't worry about scraping up all the skin that sticks to the
pan; just the crusted-on browned juices.  Also, since turkeys are so much
larger pieces of meat, you should probably pour off most of the grease and
then use more water -- about 1 c to 1 1/2 c.  Reserve the extra grease if
you would like to use it; otherwise, pitch it.  It's tasty to cook veggies
in, like bacon grease; but don't overdo it -- think of your arteries!) 

      4.  Now...if you want your gravy to be "clean" of meat/skin
particles, strain the meat juice through a sieve into a bowl or other
vessel.  Set this aside.  You will need it soon. 

      5.  Get a heavy saucepan.  Using vegetable oil (or some of the
poured off extra grease) -- about 4 T unless you are doing turkey and then
you should use about 1/2 c --, heat the oil in the saucepan.  Now throw
in slightly less flour than you used oil (i.e, 3 T or a little less than
1/2 c in the case of turkey).  Fry the flour over a medium heat for a bit
to "cook out" the raw taste of the flour.  If the mixture is thick or
gummy, just add small amounts of oil until the mixture runs to coat the
bottom of your pan.  If you want, you can let the flour brown a bit but
be careful not to burn it.  If you do, then you MUST start over.  Now pour
your reserved juice into the flour/oil mixture, stirring steadily.  Cook
until the gravy begins a gentle rolling boil.   

      6.  If at this point the gravy is too thick, add some water to thin
it.  If the gravy is too thin, either lower the heat a bit and simmer away
some of the liquid OR cook up a small amount of flour/oil mixture to add
OR mix a bit of flour into either some solid shortening or butter and add. 


      7.  Adjust seasonings (salt, pepper, & the like) to taste. 


-------------------------------------- 
For a quick stovetop gravy from stock: 
-------------------------------------- 

      1.  Follow the same basic procedure as above, except use stock/broth
(either fresh or canned) as the "juice". 

      2.  If you want a "brown" gravy and your stock isn't very dark, then
just be sure to slowly brown the flour/oil mixture first.  Also feel free
to quickly fry some seasonings in the roux mixture just before adding the
stock/broth (e.g., herbs or combinations w/ salt, pepper, cayenne, dry
mustard, whatever). 


------------------------------------------------------------ 
For a stovetop gravy from pan-fried meats (like pork chops):   
------------------------------------------------------------ 

      1.  Make up your roux in a saucepan. 

      2.  Remove your meat from the pan to a serving dish.  Be sure to
cover the meat with a lid or aluminum foil to keep it warm, or place in
a warm oven on an ovenproof platter.   

      3.  If the pan drippings are not already "dried onto" the pan, keep
the pan over a medium-low heat until there is no meat liquid in the pan
and the juices stick and brown on the pan bottom.  Now "de-glaze" the pan
by using a some water (or broth, if available). 

      4.  Add the meat juice to the roux in the saucepan, heat to the
point where gravy just starts to boil.  Adjust consistency of gravy as
explained above (cook down or add a bit more liquid).  Adjust seasonings
(salt, pepper, whatever you want to add). 


------------------- 
Fried Chicken Gravy 
------------------- 

      1.  Remove cooked fried chicken to plate lined with paper towels or
to a brown paper bag. 

      2.  Pour off all but about 1/4 c of the oil in your pan, leaving as
many of the "crusties" as possible. 

      3.  Add somewhat less than 1/4 c flour to the pan and fry over
medium heat for a few minutes (don't burn!).   

      4.  If desired, at this point, add about 1 t of a mixed seasoning
mix (like cajun seasoning or Mrs. Dash or other concoction of your own). 
Saute for about 30 seconds. 

      5.  Add 1 large can of chicken broth (or about 1 quart of homemade
stock -- good way to use your leftover parts & giblets).  Cook until
desired consistency is reached. 

      6.  Adjust seasonings (salt, pepper, whatever).  


*Variation:  Some people like their gravy made with milk or cream.  In
this case, use less flour and you won't need it to thicken the gravy as
much.  Also, leave less oil in the pan too, BUT KEEP THOSE CRUSTIES.  You
can also add chopped cooked giblets to the gravy.  I have also (during
oyster season), added whole fresh oysters to the gravy and served on top
of a good cornbread dressing or on rice & lima beans for a North
Carolina/New Orleans favorite (at least in our family). 

-------------------------- 

Final note:  I've tried to be explicit and detailed with this, but it
really is quite easy.  Combining oil and flour into a "roux" prevents the
flour from caking or making lumps.  Cooking the flour a bit first takes
away the pasty raw flavor.  Light rouxs are French; darker rouxs are
Cajun. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------


From rec.food.cooking Sat Aug 22 10:08:52 1992
From: njs@scifi.uucp (Nicholas J. Simicich)

I was amazed to see, on the shelf in the store a while back, a can of
gravy.  I was surprised that something so simple to make would be
canned as if it was hard to make.  At the end of this lesson, you will
be able to make your own gravy, from scratch, amazing your friends and
confounding your S/O.

You might want to be able to make gravy at any time.  The ingredients
are basically staples, that you'll be able to keep on a shelf for over
a year.  You can buy gravy fixins once, and you'll have them for a
year, except for the milk.  I'm going to give both a method and a
philosophy of gravy below.  But if you could make gravy at a moments
notice, think about how the addition of gravy would change the six
things you can make (no, macaroni and cheese with gravy is not an
option).

Things you should buy and keep: 

  Wondra flour.  Get the tube with the shaker top.  Yep, this flour is
  really a wonder.  Why?  Because it dissolves without tending to form
  lumps, instead of lumping up.  This phenomenon, 'lumpy gravy' was
  the bane of many moms, and the name of at least one record album.
  You still have to stir, some, but not as much.

  Boullion.  I'm not a fan of boullion cubes, but they are better than
  nothing.  However, these little jars of Bouvril are really good.
  Get beef and chicken.  Or whatever you think you will like.

  Salt.  Yep.  But if you use boullion, you probably won't need it.

  Pepper.  "Makes no difference if its black or white."

  Do you like dark brown gravy?  Chances are that it arrives at this
  color with a concoction called "Kitchen Bouquet".  This only has
  limited use in the kitchen, or so I feel.  It is carmelized
  vegetables, and is the home cook's version of caramel color.  But
  for making dark brown gravy without sweat, it works real well.

  Herbs.  Sage helps the flavor of gravy.  But you will probably be
  perfectly happy with something that you can buy called 'Poultry
  Seasoning' that contains sage and some other stuff.  You can use
  this in lots of stuff, and it does well in gravy, and keeps you from
  using an herb mix that is too unbalanced.

You've spent about 10 bucks.  You can now make gravy about 20 times.

What should prompt you to make gravy?  Well, pan drippings from frying
for one, or the liquid from cooking the fowl that you are too inept to
cook.  In fact, whenever you look at the liquid in a pan, you should
be thinking, "Is it time for gravy?  How about these burgers.  What if
I made gravy and served them open faced with hot gravy?  How about
this liver and onions?  Would it taste good with gravy?  Should I make
gravy with this chicken that I wasn't supposed to cook because I was
so inept?  Instead of eggs for breakfast, how about gravy made with
the bacon drippings over Pillsbury poppin fresh biscuits, (which can
be made by anyone who has an oven and a timer)."  One of my favorites,
that I eat very rarely these days, is fried kidneys made in Kidney
gravy.

For that matter, some folks like gravy so much that they will fry
onions until they get real brown to make onion gravy, or they will fry
a little beef fat to make beef gravy (but that doesn't work as well).

Step 1:  Pour off most of the grease.  You want only a couple of
tablespoons of drippings to start with, unless you plan on making a
whole couple quarts of gravy, you don't want it too greasy.  If you
don't have a couple of tablespoons of grease, supplement with
vegetable oil.  If you must, you can start with plain vegetable oil.
Add extra boullion to the water in step two.  Consider browning a
little onion or garlic in plain oil, or a slice of bacon.

Step 2: Prepare the stock that will go into the gravy, eventually.  If
you have non-greasy pan drippings, (or skim the grease) well, just
warm them over low heat or zap them.  If not, boil a couple of cups of
water, and drop in your favorite boullion liquid or cube.  One secret
is to put nearly boiling liquid into the mix at the appropriate point.
If you know you are going to make gravy, start heating your boullion
about the same time you start your burgers, or a few minutes after you
turn your chicken.

Step 3: Heat the pan to slow-medium frying temperature.  Put in about
a half again as much flour as you have grease.  In other words, if you
started with two tablespoons of grease, put in three tablespoons of
flour.  Fry.  Stir.  The mixture should be pretty stiff.  If it isn't
stiff enough to where it seems a little dry, use the shaker top to
shake some flour on.  If you get it too dry, don't worry.  Keep
stirring.  When it browns just a little, or is sticking to the pan,
you are ready for step 3.

Step 4: It is time to make the gravy.  Real simply: Add the hot water
a little at a time. Stir lots between additions.  A whisk helps here,
but a fork will do.  You know what consistency you want your gravy to
be.  Add more liquid a little at a time, stirring between additions,
until it approaches that consistency.  At one point, you may have a
single lump, sort of attached to your fork.  Add more hot liquid, and
stir, stir, stir.  Allow it to boil.  Taste it.  It probably tastes
flat.  Add some pepper.  Add some salt.  Taste it again.  If it gets
too thick, add some more liquid.  If it is too thin, add some flour.
Too thin is better than too thick.  Add some herbs, not too much.
Maybe 1/4 tsp, then boil for a minute, then taste, then maybe add a
little more.  Let it boil, not too hard, for 3-4 minutes after you add
flour the last time.

Step 5:  Brown gravy only --- add a couple of drops of Kitchen Bouquet
(the jar will stick closed, hot tap water will loosen it).  White
chicken gravy should probably be finished with a dollop of milk.

[My grandmother used to add her water a tablespoon at a time, and use
a little soy sauce for color.  Your job is much easier, because you
have Wondra and Kitchen Bouquet on your side.]

Now, if you were cooking stuff in the pan, probably some crud got on
on the pan, like if you were cooking burgers, bits of browned meat
stuck to the pan.  This will boil off of the pan, and become part of
the gravy.  If you browned onions, the onions will partially dissolve
in the gravy and add flavor.  This is a feature, a desirable goal, and
is one of the marks of an excellent gravy, unless the stuff on the pan
was really burned black.

Again if you are making chicken gravy, I find that adding a dollop of
milk (not more than 1/4 cup) after I turn off the gas off and stirring
it in helps the flavor.

Advanced topics:  If I have prepared a seasoned/herbed flour to dredge
chicken in, I will always make the gravy with that seasoned flour.
Cayenne pepper dresses up a gravy in moderate quantities.  There are
many other styles of gravy, but this is the one I think you are likely
to use the most often.  It is also the simplest.

Gravy is one of the simplest things I make.  Sometimes, if I'm feeling
charitible to the dogs, I'll make gravy anyway, even though I don't
want it, and pour it over their food.  They tell me that they like it
a little blander than I usually make it.  It is so easy that it really
doesn't take up any extra time.