Wondering how to make gravy? It can be a tricky thing to do well. Leave it a little too long on the stove and it can get lumpy. Cook it a little too hot and it can burn. Season it a little too much and it can get salty. There are so many pitfalls!
Here are three different methods for anyone wondering how to make gravy. Try them all out to see what you like the most, and adjust accordingly. The real trick with gravy is coming up with a system that works well for you and sticking to it.
How to Make Gravy 2 Different Ways
There are lots of ways to make gravy, and all of them can turn out great. If you’re wondering how to make poultry gravy for turkey or chicken or brown gravy for beef or pork, any of these recipes can be easily altered to work just fine.
The Easy Way: Gravy from Powdered Mix
Wondering how to make gravy fast that you won’t mess up? I call this “the cheater’s method,” because it calls for powdered gravy mix. To be honest, it could just as easily be called “the smart-person’s method.” It’s fast, easy, cheap and fool proof — as long as you are sure to use cold water and you don’t stop stirring.
Cheater’s gravy makes about 3 cups of gravy and takes about 15 minutes to prepare.
Ingredients:
2 packages or gravy mix of your choice (Lawry’s, McCormick and French’s are all good and all cost between $.50 and $1.00)
1/4 cup of flour (if called for, or if you like thicker gravy)
2 cups cold water
Any meat drippings you can gather or 1 cup of broth if you don’t have drippings
Directions:
1) Mix gravy mix and flour in cold water. It doesn’t have to be icy, but there’s corn starch in most of dry gravy mix packets, and that dissolves best in cold water. Warm water will inevitably mean lumpy gravy.
2) Add the mixture to your drippings and start cooking on a stove top turned to medium-high. I prefer to use the roasting pan in most cases, because it can be so hard to scrape out and collect drippings. A roasting pan is also big enough to make the pool of gravy very shallow, which means it will heat faster. A sauce pan also works fine, however.
3) Don’t stop stirring while it heats up. You’re looking for your gravy to start boiling and begin to thicken. It will often turn a slightly darker shade of brown or tan at this point, too. Stir right over the burner if you’re using your roasting pan. I like to use a big fork to stir, running the flat bottom of the fork along the surface of the pan in a circular motion. This will scrape up additional drippings.
4) After the gravy comes to an obvious boil, reduce the heat and simmer, while continuing to stir. Once the gravy is all the same color and it begins to thicken, you can pour it off into a gravy boat. It will continue to thicken as it cools.
The Original Way: Gravy from Scratch
Before powdered gravy mixes became popular in the 1930s and ’40s, there was only one answer when people asked how to make gravy: from scratch. This method is still preferred by many cooks and allows for incredible customization if you know what you’re doing. It takes longer, but if you want to get good enough at making gravy to win awards, from scratch is the only way.
This from scratch gravy mix makes about 3 cups and takes about 30 minutes to make.
Ingredients:
1/2 stick unsalted butter
1 cup chopped yellow onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup flour OR 3 tablespoons corn starch
2 cups cold water or broth
1 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
roasting pan with drippings
Directions:
1) Melt the butter in a small sauce pan and cook the onions and garlic on medium. Cook 10-12 minutes until onions are golden brown.
2) Stir in dry flour, if you’re using flour, or dissolve corn starch in 1/4 cup cold water or cold broth and stir that in with a whisk. Add half the salt and all of the pepper, cook for 2 to 3 minutes.
3) Add remaining cold water or broth to the mixture, then pour it directly into the roasting pan with your drippings in it. Cook on medium-high, stirring constantly as described above until gravy begins to thicken, about 5 minutes. Add remaining salt to taste while stirring. If you salted your roast well, the drippings may add enough salt to the gravy.
How do you make gravy? The easy way or the original way? What other tips do you have for those looking to learn how to make gravy that rocks?
The post How to Make Gravy: Mastering the Good Stuff appeared first on DailyPerk.
