That and some leftover yummy black coffee from the a.m. Some of the best gravy ever.

This year picked up some duck demi glace, I can hardly wait. I did a test roast turkey last week and used some demi glace in the gravy. Most silky ever.

Biggles / http://www.meathenge.com/

I followed these instructions (more or less) this year and the result was wonderful. The powdered 'gravy' that the hostess had planned on using went back in the drawer pretty quickly once this arrived. That and the cranberry sauce from Ming Tsai (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_17018,00.html) and a soy-maple brined turkey (http://www.recipezaar.com/mycookbook/getrecipe.zsp?id=23686) and this thanksgiving was food paradise.

My mom uses the turkey broth that she drains from the turkey roasting and uses that in her giblet gravy. She makes sure she runs it through a colander first though. Then she adds the turkey neck meat, as the other goodies (liver, heart, etc,...) she chops and puts into the cornbread stuffing. If the gravy needs additional broh she uses cans of chicken or even veggie broth. She adds corn starch to the gravy as well as s/p to taste.
It is sure pretty tasty!

This suggestion may be covered elsewhere, but a good rule of thumb for any thickening agent:

Add cold roux to hot stock or cold stock to hot roux.

The finished product will come out much better if there is a significant temperature difference when combining them. Either start with cold stock, and bring the roux/stock mixture up to a simmer or let the roux cool to room temp before adding to the simmering stock.

I totally advocate the use of hot roux/cold stock or cold roux/hot stock for safety reasons. My cooking instructor was burned by a student because the student mixed hot stock into hot roux while the instructor was checking out his gravy. The instructor had warned us about the danger of mixing hot stock with hot roux..guess the student will never forget that warning ever again!

I used a recipe yesterday from Cook's Illustrated that sounds like the same one they put in the New Best Recipe except that it started with chicken broth instead of turkey stock.

With regards to the hot broth/hot roux, I can attest that it can cause steam burns.... Having never made turkey gravy before, I wanted to make it in a container that was big enough for the six cups of gravy, and the recipe called for a saucepan, so I used a 3-qt saucepan that was about as tall as it was wide. That was a big mistake--the verticality of the pan concentrated the steam as I added the hot broth to the very hot roux and I got a rather nasty steam burn on my index finger that was holding the whisk. I got to spend the rest of the time finishing the gravy with my nondominant hand while my dominant hand was swishing about in a bowl of cool water and having to have other people give me a lot of help. (I was glad this morning when I noticed that my finger hadn't blistered, as I had expected it to.) Next time I'll use a large skillet so I can keep my hand well away of the steam and the steam can dissipate more readily and/or cool the roux.

I've found that gravy is best made by just adding (sprinkling a little at a time so there are NO lumps) flour onto the fat in the drip-pan content that results from a bird or beef roast sitting on a rack above. Drain some fat if you need to, but a roux is a roux and you just mix the flour in the usual proportions for fat/flour and cook it THOROUGHLY - preferably to the "chocolate" color. At that point you can start adding stock or whatever liquids you want - just drizzle it in there and keep stirring and keep adding, and monitor the thickness - it's going to take 1/2 hour at least - don't rush it - just like any other roux - drink at least two beers.

Cheers.

"On the day that the turkey roast occurs, I brought the broth to a simmer".

"Once the turkey has been removed from the oven and set aside to rest, I spooned off as much oil from the roasting pan as possible."

---How about engineering a sentence!

Sorry - I generally write these articles as quickly as possible, and it still takes hours at a time. It's often difficult for me to form coherent sentences after work in the wee hours of the morning when the articles invariable get written. I do appreciate typos and grammatic errors pointed out to me, but generally prefer to receive them via e-mail so the article can be fixed without comments being added to the thread.

I wanted to thank you for this recipe. I tried it yesterday at Thanksgiving, and it was hands-down, the best gravy we've ever had in our lives!! Simply Amazing. We brined our turkey, which may have affected how wonderfully flavorful it was, but either way it's an excellent method, and one I will put in my files permanently.

Thank you!!!

This made a very good, flavorful gracy. I will use it again next year but will add some more flour to make it a little thicker.

Gravy is such a crucial part of the meal...it goes on the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing. This recipe is absolutely awesome. It takes a lot of time, but was definitely worth every second.

The only variation I made was in the last step. I ended up with a lot of liquid in the turkey pan, so after straining it and skimming the fat, I added only about 2 cups to the gravy mixture. I then cooked it down and added a little cornstarch to thicken it up.

I'm on my wife's good list today, and I bet I'll be making this awesome gravy again at Christmas. Thanks!!!

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