Good Gravy!

Gravy issues. People have them. Visions of silky gravy draped over creamy mashed potatoes, oops, the gravy is lumpy. Dreams of caramel-colored gravy drizzled over turkey and dressing, oops, the gravy is wayyyy too salty. Save bundles on therapy and resolve those gravy issues, now.

Here's how you make good gravy. Homemade. From scratch. (Or almost from scratch, depending.) First, think about the liquid base.

GIBLETS Not required but good.
First, are you cooking the turkey? Then reach into the bird and grab the neck and the giblets. (Chances are, you'll have to reach in from both ends to find both. The giblets will be in a small paper bag.) Giblets are the turkey’s heart, liver and gizzard. To cook the neck and the giblets, cover all but the liver with water and simmer gently for 30 minutes. The liquid that's left over? That will be the flavorful stock you use to make the gravy. For four cups of gravy, aim for four cups of stock.

NO GIBLETS? USE STOCK
If you're used to making stock, it's not too late to make turkey stock using inexpensive turkey legs. Follow my recipe for Homemade Chicken Stock, substituting turkey legs for chicken. Turkey stock is particularly rich and flavorful but if the idea of stock is too much? No problem. If you've got homemade chicken stock, it will work fine.

NO STOCK? NO PROBLEM
A good commercial stock will work. Cooks Illustrated recommends the Swanson's 100% Natural Goodness broth. Kalyn's Kitchen recommends Turkey Soup Base from Penzeys and the Turkey Base concentrate from Better Than Bouillon found on supermarket shelves in small jars.

NOW. LET'S MAKE GRAVY!
For four cups of gravy, put 4 cups of stock (or whatever liquid you're using) into a large pot or a deep skillet. (If the turkey is roasted, add some of the liquid from the bottom of the roasting pan too.) Bring it to a boil on medium heat.

While the liquid is heating up, stir together 4 tablespoons of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt and a few good grinds of pepper in a medium bowl, just use a fork. Once the liquid is hot, you're going to mix hot liquid into the flour mixture -- but slowly!! A tablespoon at a time at first, add about two cups of the liquid to the flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon to incorporate each addition before adding another. When you're done, this should be quite liquid-y and there should be no lumps! If you see any lumps, break them up with the spoon.

Now you're going to mix the broth-flour mixture into the remaining hot liquid -- but not all at once, slowly, in small dribbles!! Slowly whisk the broth-flour mixture into the pot -- I hold the bowl in one hand, pouring in a bit at a time, and whisk with other hand. With each addition, stir well to combine, it should be smooth-smooth-smooth, if it's not, stop adding more flour mixture until the liquid smooths out. Once all the flour mixture is in, bring it all back to a boil -- stirring constantly!! Pay attention here, keep stirring, use the spoon to grab the more-cooked parts from the bottom and the side of the pan and stir them into the overall mixture.

Now. The first taste test. Grab a spoon and see how it tastes. Does it need more salt? Add a little more, just a sprinkle at a time. More pepper? Yum, pepper is really important to gravy. Now, reduce the heat and let the mixture simmer gently to cook the gravy down a bit, until the desired thickness is reached. Keep warm until ready to serve, just before serving, bring it back to a full boil so it's hot-hot-hot when it gets to the table.

GRAVY Q&A
Can gravy be made ahead of time? Yes! I often make it the day before, refrigerate and then rewarm just before serving.

MORE GRAVY IDEAS
Michael Ruhlman reminds us that for good Thanksgiving gravy, make stock now.

From Scratch abhors the last-minute sprint to get the Thanksgiving feast on the table and relies on Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy.

Noble Pig is also a fan of Make-Ahead Turkey (Thanksgiving) Gravy.

And you?
And you, is homemade gravy on your list for this week? What's your favorite trick? Leave a recipe or a link to a recipe in the comments!

This week, BlogHer food editor Alanna Kellogg is roasting two turkeys (and smoking another) and looooonnging for the simplicity of a turkey breast cooked in a slow cooker.