- Nicola
Stress-Free Thanksgiving Series: Basic Turkey Gravy
Updated: Apr 13, 2020
Turkey is almost ready, it’s now time for gravy! Everyone needs delicious gravy to smother over their mashed potatoes and turkey.
Gravy is best with deep brown flavoured roast drippings, but since we decided to Sous Vide a boneless turkey, we were unlikely to have drippings. Though, that is okay! You can still make amazing gravy with a carton of turkey stock and roux.
WHAT IS A ROUX?
A roux (pronounced “roo”) is a mixture of equal parts fat and flour cooked until the starch granules swell and absorb moisture. The roux will thicken a sauce or a soup base without creating any lumps. A roux is used in three of the mother sauces of classical French cooking: béchamel sauce, velouté sauce, and espagnole sauce.
There are four varieties of roux: white, blond, brown, and dark brown. The different roux varieties are a result of how long the roux is cooked. The white roux is cooked for the shortest period, and the dark brown roux is cooked for the longest. For the gravy, I prefer my roux to be in between a blond roux and brown roux, I think it adds a deeper nutty flavour.
Once the liquid is added to the roux, the mixture will begin to thickened, but it will reach its’ true thickening potential and flavour after 10 minutes of simmering.
Basic Turkey Gravy Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients:
1/2 cup (4oz or 115grams) turkey fat or unsalted butter 1/2 all-purpose flour 4 cups meat drippings or turkey stock or chicken broth fresh sprigs of thyme (substitutes – rosemary or sage) kosher salt to taste freshly ground black pepper
Start by making the roux. Add the turkey fat or butter to the saucepan.
Warm it in the saucepan over medium heat.
When the fat/butter is hot, add the flour.
Mix the flour together until it forms a thin paste with a wooden spoon.
Allow the roux to cook for five minutes to cook out the flour taste and to allow the starch granules to swell. Stir occasionally, but allow the roux to reach the blond stage/brown stage (or whatever your preference may be).
Next gradually add the drippings, stock, or broth about a 1/4 cup at a time. Stir and combine after each addition, before adding the next addition. -- switch to a whisk here!
Do this until the liquid is completely incorporated.
Drop in the thyme.
Let the gravy come to a boil, then reduce to a low simmer for 10 minutes. Taste the gravy and add salt or pepper to taste. Right now is a good time to assess if you would like the gravy thinner, if so, add more stock/broth/drippings.
Remove the thyme.
If you do not need the gravy right away, lower the heat to keep warm until needed.
Spoon the gravy into a gravy boat or whatever you plan to use to serve it in.
The gravy is ready to smother over the mashed potatoes and turkey!
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