Perfect Gravy, Every Time
Gravy is one of those things that can quickly go horribly wrong. And, since gravy usually goes with the Important Holiday Meal, we want to avoid that at all costs! So here’s a tip: focus on the ratios, and you’ll get perfect gravy every time. (Also, have a fine mesh sieve on hand, in case you get distracted and end up with lumps!)
INGREDIENTS
- 2 Tablespoons of flour
- 2 Tablespoons of fat
- 2 Cups of liquid
( This will get you a thick-ish gravy, which you can thin at the end of cooking if you prefer. The wonderful thing about cooking by ratios is they are infinitely expandable. If you want 6 cups of gravy, you’d just do 6 tablespoons each of fat and flour, and 6 cups of liquid.)
- Melt or otherwise heat your fat, then stir in your flour. You want to cook this mixture (called a “roux”) until it is bubbling so your gravy won’t taste like raw flour. You can continue cooking and brown the roux a bit if you want to, but stay at the stove; it can burn fast if you’re not careful.
- Now start adding your liquid, in a slow dribble to start. Stop and stir after each few tablespoons at first, making sure you smoothe out lumps as you go. At first, the roux just soaks up all the liquid and stays stiff and pasty. Soon, however, you will see things start to thin out. When you get to that point, your risk of lumpiness declines and you can add your liquid faster.
Then you just cook and stir over low heat until you get the consistency you want. You can add some cream for luxury. At the very end, taste and adjust for seasoning. - And…if you should get a little lumpiness, never fear. That’s why you have your fine-mesh sieve!