Gravy

Creamy and with an intense meat flavour, gravy sauce can never be missing on Thanksgiving day, together with turkey.

There is no self-respecting Thanksgiving holiday without a generous dose of gravy. Usually prepared starting from the cooking juices of the roast , it has the function of accompanying the stuffed turkey so as to make the meat more tender and tasty.

If you want to describe the gravy sauce recipe in simple words, you can think of it as a sort of béchamel prepared starting from a classic roux but obtained by replacing milk with broth . The result is a creamy sauce with an intense meaty flavour, perfect for accompanying roasts or serving with Yorkshire puddings. In short, if you want to celebrate Thanksgiving Day , this recipe can't be missed!

How to make gravy recipe

The preparation is quite simple and, as we have said, recalls that of bechamel. Let's see the steps together.

1. Start by placing the butter in a saucepan and melting it over a low heat.
2. Then add the flour , mixing with a whisk to avoid the formation of lumps, and leave to cook over medium heat until the bottom has taken on a pleasant hazelnut colour .
3. At this point, slowly pour in the meat broth , stirring constantly with the whisk.
4. Cook the sauce until it has thickened, i.e. approximately 5-10 minutes after it comes to the boil, and transfer it to a suitable gravy boat.

Here is a video with all the steps to make it. As you can see there is nothing simpler.

This sauce has different uses depending on the country. In the United States it is the queen of Thanksgiving together with stuffed turkey and mashed potatoes, a mashed potato rich in butter. In England and Ireland, however, it is usually served together with the Sunday roast and the famous Yorkshire puddings .

Gravy sauce with roast meat

The gravy sauce should be enjoyed hot with the meat and can be prepared either with stock cubes or with a meat broth of your choice, as long as it is well loaded. Usually we tend to prefer broth obtained from the same type of meat that we are going to serve. In reality, the most traditional recipe involves the use of the cooking juices from the roast .

In this case, first you will have to transfer the bottom into a container and let it cool . After a couple of hours (even in the refrigerator), the fat will have surfaced and solidified. Weigh it and transfer it to a pan with the same weight of flour. Cook the roux then add first the liquid part of the bottom and then as much broth as needed to obtain the right consistency.

You must always respect the following proportion : 1 part fat, 1 part flour, 10 parts liquid. For example, for 50 grams of fat you will need 50 g of flour and 500 ml of liquid mixed between cooking juices and broth.

Conservation

The gravy will keep in the refrigerator for a maximum of a couple of days, closed in an airtight container.

Origin and history

It is not clear what the origin of gravy sauce, more simply called gravy , is. There is also a heated debate about the name. The term appears to derive from the Middle English gravè with roots in the Latin term granatus , meaning full of grains, referring to the lumps that are formed by thickening the sauce with starches and flours.

Not to mention the dispute within the Italian American community which claims that the most correct term to indicate roast sauce is sauce and not gravy. What is certain is the fundamental role of this recipe in English-speaking countries to the point of being defined as "liquid comfort" by Felicity Cloake in the well-known Guardian newspaper.

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