Everything Is Better With Gravy

Silky turkey gravy made with homemade stock and a brown butter roux 

Dressed up for a holiday table with Oloroso sherry 

Actual conversation overheard at Town & Country:

Yoga tights:  We’re going to John and Sue’s for Thanksgiving. 
Ibex jacket:  That should be fun. 
Yoga tights:  Uh, no.  They asked me to make gravy.  No one makes gravy any more. 
Ibex jacket: Wow.  Gravy.  Who would know how to make gravy? 

In my mind this is where I duck behind the avocado display, rip off my fleece, and reveal my super power as Gravy Girl!  Decked out in a tasteful toasted-roux colored silky base layer emblazoned with vintage gravy boats I leap across aisles in a single bound to Yoga and Ibex.  I KNOW HOW TO MAKE GRAVY, I cry!  I will rescue your Thanksgiving and the Thanksgivings of generations to come!   

Thanksgiving IS gravy.  Second only to boozy eggnog in its importance on your holiday table.  Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, flaky yeast rolls, even Brussels sprouts and cranberries are vehicles by which gravy is transported from plate to palate.

My thoughts on the Thanksgiving meal would fill more volumes than the complete works of Max Brand.  But volume 1, chapter 1 is gravy. 

I make gravy based on a recipe from my own culinary superhero, Chef Michael Ruhlman.  You'll find his original recipe on his blog Translating the Chef's Craft for Every Kitchen.  My take on his recipe is at the bottom of this post, but first a pictorial tutorial.

The foundation of stellar gravy is rich homemade stock and the foundation of rich stock is nicely roasted turkey parts and aromatic vegetables that render an intense fond. 

TURKEY STOCK

Buy two turkey legs and four meaty wings.  They are available fresh from a butcher or in the meat department of grocery stores now.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Rinse turkey parts, pat dry, put in a roasting pan and sprinkle with 2 teaspoons of salt and several grinds of black pepper.

Roast in oven about 20 minutes until nicely browned and the aroma makes you say "Mmmmm" when you pass through the kitchen.

While the turkey parts are roasting, chunk up two large yellow onions, four carrots, and four stalks of celery.  No need to peel the onions.

Scatter veg over the roasted turkey parts, drizzle with a little olive oil, sprinkle on another teaspoon of salt and grind on more pepper.  

Pop the pan back in the oven and roast another 20 minutes or so, until the vegetables have browned nicely.  

Reduce oven temperature to 180 degrees.  Use tongs and transfer turkey parts and vegetables to a very large stockpot.  The empty roasting pan should look like this.

Add two cups of water.  Place the pan over a burner and turn to high.  Use a wooden spoon to scrape up the tasty brown bits and add contents of roasting pan to stockpot. Add an additional 3 quarts of water to stockpot, bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Cover stockpot and carefully transfer to lowest rack in the oven.  Close the door and forget it for 6 - 8 hours, or overnight.

Now carefully remove the stockpot from the oven and place it on a burner turned to medium-low.  Add 3 bay leaves, 5 lightly crushed cloves of garlic  (no need to peel), several grinds of pepper, a handful of fresh parsley (including stems), 8 sprigs of fresh thyme, and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste.  Maintain a bare simmer and cook uncovered for 1 - 2 hours.  

Put a large colander over a clean stockpot large enough to hold the stock.  It helps to recruit a partner to pour the liquid into the colander while you hold back the big chunks in the pot.  After you've got most of the liquid out, transfer all the solids to the strainer and let them stand for about 15 minutes to let the rest of the stock drain through.

Let the stock sit until it cools a bit and put it in the fridge in the pot overnight.  In the morning, fat will have risen and gelled on the top and is easy to remove. Reserve 3 tablespoons of turkey fat for making the roux (keep refrigerated).  If you're making stock more than 3 days in advance of Thanksgiving, transfer it to Ziploc bags and tuck it away in the freezer until you are ready to use it.

If you froze the stock, thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.  Thanksgiving day, place stock in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Adjust the temperature so that you have a rolling boil, but not so high that the stock boils over.  Boil until reduced to about 8 cups.  Taste stock and add salt and pepper as desired. 

ROUX THE DAY

How thick you make your gravy is entirely up to your own personal preference.  I like velvety gravy that is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon and cling to the turkey, but not so heavy it doesn't feel clean on your palate.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter and reserved turkey fat in large saucepan over medium low heat.  Add 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour and begin whisking.  The roux will start out pale and then gradually become a toasty caramel color.  This takes about 15 minutes and is a great thing to do with a glass of wine in your other hand.

When your roux looks like this, gradually whisk in the hot reduced stock to make gravy your desired thickness.  Whisk in the juices that collect on the cutting board when carving your turkey. 

At this point you can call it gravy.  But since it's a holiday it's worth one more step to make this a show-stopper.  

THE KICKERS

After you've removed the turkey from the roasting pan to rest, pour the liquid in the pan in a fat separator if you have one and discard the fat.  If you don't have a separator, pour liquid in a wide bowl and let sit a few minutes until you can skim the fat off.  Add liquid to gravy.  Repeat the deglazing process with the turkey roasting pan, this time using 1/2 cup sherry, white wine, or apple cider in place of water.  Whisk contents of roasting pan into gravy.  You can brighten up the flavor a bit by whisking in a squirt of fresh lemon juice, if you like.

If you're a fan of giblets, chop them fine and saute them with minced shallot in butter until browned and add them the gravy.

Load up warmed gravy boats and give thanks for the loved ones with whom you share this meal and to your turkey for making the ultimate sacrifice.

Plucky ones (left to right) dear friends Cris and Herb, and world's best husband and sous chef, Phil.

 

Turkey Stock 
2 large turkey drumsticks
4 large turkey wings
2 Spanish onions chunked, not peeled
4 carrots chunked
4 ribs celery chunked

3 bay leaves
5 cloves garlic, smashed with back of a knife, not peeled
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Handful fresh parsley and 8 sprigs fresh thyme

Roast the turkey in 425˚ oven until nicely browned. Scatter onion, carrot and celery over turkey parts and roast again until browned.

Put the turkey bones in a big pot and cover them completely with 4 quarts water, and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce oven temperature to 180˚. Put the pot in oven for 6 - 8 hours or overnight.

Add the remaining ingredients (if you don’t have enough room, remove the turkey bones—will have cooked out by now). Bring to a simmer, then reduce temperature to low, and cook for another 1 - 2 hours. Strain into a clean pot. Cool, then refrigerate.  Reserve 3 tablespoons of fat congealed on top for the roux on Thanksgiving day. (Stock may be frozen at this point.  Thaw before continuing with recipe.)  Reduce the stock to 2 quarts if it’s not already at that level. 

Turkey Gravy 
3 tablespoons each, butter and reserved turkey fat
6 tablespoons of AP flour
1 - 2 quarts homemade turkey stock (depending on how thick you like gravy)
1/2 cup sherry, white wine, or apple cider
Salt and pepper to taste
Minced cooked giblets, if desired
A few drops of fresh lemon juice, if desired

Melt butter and reserved turkey fat in large saucepan over low heat.  Add flour and whisk until deep caramel.  This takes about 20 minutes.

Turn the burner to medium-high and pour in the stock, whisking continuously as you do.

Keep cooking until the gravy comes to a boil and thickens. Season with salt to taste. Skim and discard any foam that collects on the side of the pan. Add a few drops of lemon juice.

Whisk in juices that accumulate on cutting board when carving turkey.

Deglaze turkey roasting pan with sherry, white wine, or apple cider and whisk into gravy.

If you want a perfectly smooth gravy, pass through a wire mesh whisk and return to pan.

Bring to a boil, pour into warmed gravy bowls, and serve.

Color Me Fall: Pumpkin Gnocchi, Roasted Chanterelles, and Apple Cider Caramels with Sea Salt

Phil and I don't have children.  Frankly, they would be redundant, as we have no intention of growing up.  In the Fall I am at my least mature.  I shriek while running through piles of dry leaves. I've been known to cover my floors and furniture with visqueen and invite 20 or so friends over with power tools to carve pumpkins. We watch black-and-white spooky movies, curled up by the fire, with big bowls of liberally buttered popcorn on our laps. 

The grownup in me emerges to cook with the season.  Pumpkins, mushrooms, apple cider.

Fall begins with a visit to Suyematsu Farms pumpkin patch on Day Road.  For years Phil dutifully pulled a wagon behind me to the farthest reaches of the farm (where clearly the best pumpkins must hide) as I deliberated the merits of the many varieties . . . Cinderella, Ghost, Turkish Turban, New Zealand Blue. Which to choose?

In recent years, the pumpkin patch visit has become a girlfriend ritual.  

Sneaking away from work for a happy hour in a sunny field.

Katy, Michele, and Me.  

Because Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Only One Pumpkin.

What to do with the bounty?  Pumpkin Gnocchi With Apple Cider, Brown Sugar, Butter, and Sage is a good place to start.

Grab a sugar pumpkin, scoop out the guts, put the pumpkin on a cookie sheet with its top back in place and roast in a 350-degree oven for an hour or so, until brown and soft when pushed with your finger.

 

When cool enough to handle the skin will easily peel away from the flesh.  Discard skin and puree pumpkin in food processor in batches. Drain pumpkin overnight in a colander lined with coffee filters or cheesecloth. Pumpkin puree keeps several days in an airtight container in the fridge.

Follow Recipe for Gnocchi and Sauce At End of This Post

Devour.

But woman cannot live by pumpkin alone.  There are chanterelles to be roasted.

There are friends who would get on a plane in the middle of the night to be by your side in a crisis.  Friends who would bail you out of prison.  Friends that make you a better person, just by spending time with them.  I am blessed with those friends.  Joni is one, but she takes it up a notch by bringing me bags of gold -- piles of foraged chanterelle mushrooms.  

 

Like tomatoes in summer, I could eat them every day.  For those of you who don't have a friend like Joni, you can find chanterelles at your local grocer.  Then do this with them.

Use a mushroom brush, an old toothbrush, or a lightly dampened paper towel to remove detritus from the forest floor from the mushrooms. Cut mushrooms in large chunks and arrange in single layer in a baking dish. Top with torn pieces of fresh mozzarella, sprinkle with fresh thyme leaves and sea salt. Drizzle on a generous amount of good olive oil.  Roast in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes, until mushrooms give up their liquid and the cheese is lightly brown and bubbly.

Scoop onto crusty bread, soaking up the rich liquid in the pan. You can also toss the roasted mushrooms with pasta, or serve on top of soft polenta, or on a hearty green salad.  Or just stand at the counter and eat them out of the pan.

Ready for some sticky fun?  Let's make apple cider caramels with sea salt.  

This time of year you will find just-pressed apple cider at Farmers' Markets. On Bainbridge you'll find jugs at Butler Green Farms. Fresh cider is a world apart from the pasteurized stuff sold in stores. The difficult part of this recipe isn't the prep, it's in allowing yourself to actually boil 4 cups of cider down to 1/2 cup of intense apple syrup.  But oh, does it make good caramel.

 I use painter's tape to anchor the parchment in place.

A long sharp knife is key to a clean cut.

Apple Cider Caramels

 Adapted from a recipe by Smitten Kitchen

4 cups apple cider
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. sea salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla

Boil the apple cider in a 3- to 4-quart saucepan over high heat until it is reduced to a dark, thick syrup, between 1/3 and 1/2 cup in volume, stirring occasionally.

Line the bottom and sides of an 8-inch straight-sided square metal baking pan with 2 long sheets of crisscrossed parchment. Set it aside. Stir the cinnamon and sea salt together in a small dish.

Once the apple cider has reduced, remove from heat and stir in the butter, sugars and heavy cream.

Return the pot to medium-high heat with a candy thermometer attached to the side, and let it boil until the thermometer reads 252 degrees F, about 5 minutes.

Immediately remove caramel from heat, add cinnamon and salt mixture, give the caramel several stirs to distribute it evenly, then stir in vanilla. Pour caramel into the prepared pan. Let it sit until cool and then refrigerate uncovered at least two hours. Once caramel is firm, transfer to a cutting board with the help of the parchment paper. Cut the caramels into 1-inch by 1-inch squares. Wrap each one in a 4-inch square of waxed paper, twisting the sides to close. Caramels will be on the soft side at room temperature, and chewy/firm in the fridge.

Yields about 64 caramels.

The Last Word:  Pie

When I find a recipe I love (and my guests love) I stick with it.  I've made the same pumpkin pie from Gourmet Magazine since the recipe was published in 1992 (with fresh pumpkin, of course).  Its a very grownup version, laced with cognac. As to the crust, ditch the shortening called for and use leaf lard, or all butter. 

The pumpkin patch awaits children and children at heart.

And dogs.

Pumpkin Gnocchi with Apple Cider Sage Butter
 
Gnocchi
12 ounces fresh drained pumpkin puree
8 ounces fresh ricotta cheese drained overnight in colander lined with coffee filters
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 3 ounces)
2 tablespoons (packed) dark brown sugar
2 teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 3/4 - 3 cups (about) all-purpose flour or "00" flour if available
Sauce
2 cups apple cider
4 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
Parmesan for grating
 
Place pumpkin and ricotta cheese in bowl and stir to combine. Add Parmesan cheese, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons salt, and nutmeg; stir gently but thoroughly with spatula to blend. Mix in flour with spatula, about 1/2 cup at a time, until soft dough forms. The dough should be very soft, but not so sticky that you can’t hold it in floured hands.

Turn dough out onto floured surface and with a knife divide into 6 equal log-shaped pieces. Rolling gently between palms and floured work surface, form each piece into 20-inch-long rope (about 1 inch in diameter), sprinkling with flour as needed if sticky. Transfer to baking sheet dusted with flour.

Bring large pot of water to boil; add 2 tablespoons salt. Transfer the gnocchi by hand to boiling water. Stir water gently from time to time to prevent any from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Maintain a gentle boil throughout. As the gnocchi cook they will float to the top one by one. Fish them out with a slotted spoon and place (not touching) on a clean baking sheet. Cool completely. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

While gnocchi are cooling, pour apple cider in a skillet (it should be large enough to eventually hold gnocchi) and boil until reduced by 1/3. Add butter and torn sage leaves and bring to a simmer, stirring to combine.

Add gnocchi and gently stir to fully coat with sauce. Serve immediately, grating fresh parmesan over top.