GRAVY

4/15/20

The first set of recipes will have to do with staple skills. Todays offering is how to make gravies.

All of our recipes may be found at https://trolliseries.wixsite.com/cookbooks

There are many meals and dishes that begin with the assumption that you already know how to make certain staple items such as gravy or pie crust. This is not true for many of us so in the interest of getting some basics into your cooking arsenal, this section is going to break down some of the more basic of recipes.

Gravy

Au Jus Flour or Corn starch Sausage - Hamburger -Turkey - Chicken

Gravy can be made fairly simply, however many new to the kitchen, folks are afraid to attempt gravy. The simplest “gravy’ isn’t even a gravy; Au Jus is the most basic of meal toppers and requires little effort.

Depending on what the gravy is for, you may wish to choose a specific type. If you’re trying to moisten a meat dish an Au Jus is best, to pour over potatoes, rice, or dressing maybe a flour or cornstarch would be better. As a main dish the meaty gravies will do nicely.

Au Jus (basic and simple)

Without any other components, you can create an Au Jus with bullion or stock, water and spices.

[For 4-6 servings] -

Place some water in a small saucepan, about 3 cups and bring it to a boil.

Put in 3-4 bouillon cubes (I like to crush them first to speed up the mix).

Stir in (or whisk if you’re a fancy type) the spices.

Beef does well with garlic and soy sauce (and of course salt and pepper to suit), but don’t be afraid to experiment. Some like to add Worchester sauce instead of soy or onion instead of or with the garlic. Bay leaves and oregano can also be nice additions if you simmer them long enough to bring out the flavor (20-30 minutes). Mushrooms, thyme, peppercorns are all additions you can try. Wine is a nice touch for those of you that are so inclined. You can even try molasses or brown sugar (especially with the pork). Some choose to use the store-bought mixtures of spices. You can add some butter to make the flavor richer and if you wish to thicken it up some try:

Thickening methods: method 1) Mix a couple of tablespoons of flour into a cup of cold milk (separately) and mix into a simmering Au Jus. Method 2) mix a heaping tablespoon of cornstarch into a cup of cold water (separately) and mix into the simmering Au Jus.

True Au Jus will start with the “drippings” or the juice left over after cooking the main meat. If there is not enough meat drippings, (you need about a half a cup) add some butter or oil (corn, sunflower, coconut, olive and Canola oils all will lend a different flavor so experiment a little). Use a more diluted mixture of water and cornstarch at first (a teaspoon to 2 cups) adding more cornstarch to taste.

Chicken, Pork (either stock or bouillon), Veal, Lamb and Turkey all can be the base stock for an Au Jus.

Flour or Cornstarch

This is my “goto” gravy; it’s not too difficult and is great for potatoes and rice even over bread crumbs if necessary.

You can start with stock, drippings or bouillon (you need about a half a cup) you can add butter (my favorite) or one of the oils to flesh out the base.

If you are going to use a flour base for the gravy, stir in 2-3 tablespoons of flour into the drippings and stir around until the liquid is soaked up by the flour.

With the heat still on low add 3 to 4 cups of milk (can be powered, 2% or whole) and stir until it simmers. The gravy with thicken after it begins to bubble.

Two cautions, 1) if you don’t stir it evenly and fairly consistent, you will get lumps. 2) If the heat is too high, it will boil over.

You can add seasoning while stirring, all the same ones as above will work, salt, pepper, garlic, Worchester, soy, onion, bay leaves, thyme, …. Experiment.

When the gravy cools it will get thicker so you will need to stop cooking before you reach the desired thickness (about half as thick as you want). You can thin the gravy out by adding more milk.

A cornstarch based gravy works the same way except you use cornstarch and water. You mix the cornstarch and water before you put any of the mixture in the stock (helps to avoid lumps). Start with about 4 tablespoons of cornstarch for 3 cups of water.

Sausage – Hamburger – Turkey and Chicken

A meaty gravy is a lot heartier and can serve as a main course. Sausage and Hamburger gravies work better with a milk and flour style while turkey and chicken work better with the cornstarch and water method. Pork roast or steaks can go either way according to taste.

Comments and recommendations are always welcome at trolliseries@gmail.com