How to Make Gravy (2 ways)

If you want some good old-sytle gravy instead of the powdered/ready-to-serve variety, here are 2 recipes that can teach you just that.

Two basic ways of making gravy from roast drippings, one using corn starch, the other using flour. In each case, you start with the roast drippings. You may have much more drippings than you need for the amount of gravy you want to make. You can follow this guideline - for each cup of gravy you would like to make, start with a tablespoon of drippings. So, if you want to make 2 cups of gravy, drain all but 2 tablespoons of fat and drippings from the roasting pan (set aside for future use). These instructions will be for the end result of 2 cups of gravy, but you can easily divide or multiply to adjust for how much gravy you want to make.

Making Gravy with Corn Starch

Remove the roast from the pan. Place pan on stove on medium high heat. Pour off all but 2 Tbsp of the drippings in the pan.

Dissolve 2 Tbsp of corn starch in the minimum amount of water needed to make a thin paste - about 1/4 cup. Pour into pan with drippings and use a wire whisk or spatulato blend into the drippings

Stir with a wire whisk until the gravy begins to thicken. As it thickens, slowly add water, stock, milk, or cream, or some combination to the pan. Alternate stirring and adding liquid, maintaining the consistency you want, for several minutes (about 5). You will probably add about 2 cups of liquid all together. Taking into consideration the evaporation that is occurring while you are cooking, you will end up with about 2 cups of gravy. Season with salt


Making Gravy with Flour

Remove the roast from the pan. Place pan on stove on medium high heat. Pour off all but 2 Tbsp of the drippings in the pan.

Into the 2 tablespoons of drippings in the pan stir in 1 to 2 tablespoons of flour. Stir with a wire whisk until the flour has thickened and the gravy is smooth. Continue to cook slowly to brown the flour, and stir constantly.

Slowly add back some of the previously removed drippings (remove some of the fat beforehand if there is a lot of fat). In addition, add either water, milk, stock, or cream to the gravy, enough to make 2 cups. Season the gravy with salt and pepper and herbs.

I'm horrible at making gravy, I don't believe I've ever really pulled off a perfect gravy. I'll have to keep these in mind the next time I attempt to make the family a gravy dish.

I'm really bad at gravy too. Not sure what my problem is. I usually resort to the mix just because it looks nice and white. My gravy tastes all right but it looks like mud. Bleh.

The key to making good homemade gravy from drippings is to make sure that you have equal amounts of drippings and flour and that you mix the two together well and let them cook for 3-4 minutes. This cooking time is really necessary to keep your gravy from tasting like flour. Once you are done cooking it you can add more drippings & liquid to make a gravy the consistency you like. Make sure that you regularly stir the gravy as it is cooking to avoid lumps and keep it smooth.

My question is how on earth do you make gravy from drippings that looks appetizing? Mine never tastes floury but like I said it looks like mud. How can you make gravy that is white?

Mrs. C.:

You say you want to make a "white" gravy. Do you mean white like white sauce or just a light colored meat gravy? Do you want a chicken gravy (which is light in color) or a milk-based gravy such as a sausage/gravy served over biscuits??

You can make an easy gravy by diluting your chicken bouillon granules (or cubes) in boiling water (as directed for use on package) and combining your flour or cornstarch with cold water; stir in; bring to boil and cook to desired consistency. It's not "white" but it is a light, cream colored gravy and you don't need to use any pan drippings. It's a simple, easy recipe for a quick gravy to add to any meal in a hurry; for instance, spooned over baked breaded chicken patties, or you can use it to warm deli sliced turkey for a quick hot sandwich.

UNTHICKENED GRAVY


Remove meat from pan; skim off fat. Add 1/4 c. boiling water to pan; scrape pan well to loosen cooked glaze. Cook over low heat until blended. Dilute as desired and season.

for roasts, steaks, chops, chicken, etc.

EASY MUSHROOM GRAVY

2 med. onions
2 sweet bell peppers
1 can sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3 beef bouillon cubes dissolved in 1/2 c. of water
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1/8 tsp. season salt
1 can Campbell's Golden Mushroom Soup

Chop onions and pepper. n a small saucepan saute' onions and peppers with olive oil until tender. Drain off excess oil. Cook over low heat for 15 minutes. Add soup and simmer for 15 minutes then it should be ready to serve. Makes 4 servings. Ideal for steak, baked potato or over toasted bread.

I mean white like cream gravy. Like you find on your chicken fried steak at Black eyed Pea.

Ok Mrs. C. - Now it's easier for me - you can make a cream sauce with buttermilk, cream, milk or evaporated milk. I have several recipes for this. I will make a post under the BEEF section here and I will post the recipes for you.

Mrs. C. - I looked through some of my recipes for the recipe from Black Eyed Peas restaurant - but I just have theier squash and broccoli soup recipes - but I will keep an eye out for that one for you.