I saw the most ridiculous thing in Sainsburys today...

[clary]

A pot of gravy - the size of one of those plastic pots of posh soup - for £2.60! And this was a special offer - it's normally £3-something.

Gravy - that's some meat juices with flour and a bit of veg water, right? How the dickens is a portion for about three people worth three quid?

I thought this was going to be about seeing an empty shelf where artichoke hearts should be.

While £2.60 for a small pot of gravy is in no way ridiculous.

It is nice though when its half price

Bought gravy is disgusting. I have no idea what they do to it (preservatives?) but it is NO WAY as good as my gravy and I don't so anything special, just make it in the normal way.

misses point of thread

I thought you were going to say the selection of mother's day presents - seriously they are seriously cringey!

OP I am with you that is a lot of money but obviously there are shoppers such as LeighaJ who think its acceptable.
Making your own gravy is cheaper still.

Ooh, I've bought shop gravy before as a luxury, it's way better than my boiling water on Bisto. In fact it made my 'best roast' according to ds

Any decent gravy recipes would be appreciated though, I haven't a clue.

Gravy is easy to cock up though. I make a very good gravy if I say so myself, but if I didn’t have the knack, or if was cooking something that would benefit from gravy but wasn’t going to produce roast meat juices to start with and especially it was a “big” meal I might splash out on the ready made stuff. After all even though 3 quid might be objectively overpriced for the ingredients, it’s not a lot of money for most people.

Gravy at £2.60 is the most ridiculous thing you've seen in a supermarket? You haven't lived....

I agree it's not easy to make proper gravy without a roast but the only time I ever want it then is if we are eating sausages with veg and potatoes. If I need it then I make onion gravy. I just can't imagine spending more on the gravy than I have on the sausages!

Other ridiculous things? Ready made mash! Because that is so hard to make. Frozen roast potatoes! And they’re horrible.

Please give your top tips for gravy making though, I’m rubbish at it.

Poshindevon

Yep, I have about 10 pots of that gravy in case I run out, even though I don't like gravy at all. 🙄

People BUY gravy?! WTAF?

I thought you were going to tell me about the honey at £25!

I bought a pot of Tesco's Finest turkey gravy for Christmas as gravy is my weak spot. It cost £3 so I was expecting great things. I heated it up on the day, tasted it and chucked it away. It was sweet, slimy, herby. Disgusting. My own meat juice/veg water/wine and gravy granules gravy was so much better.

But people cook sausages when they don't have time to cook so I can see the appeal of this. I'm a sucker for anything ridiculous though. I clicked on this thread to see what amazing new stupid thing I would need to get.

Other ridiculous things? Ready made mash! Because that is so hard to make. Frozen roast potatoes! And they’re horrible

There is nothing ridiculous about ready made mash, and while some frozen roast potatoes are not good, some are excellent.

Tinned potatoes. It makes my Irish heart weep. Fecking heathens! 😠

I know people bash these ready made items, but for some disabled people they are an absolute life saver and allow them to live independently.

Don't assume that only lazy people buy them - some people don't have the mobility/dexterity to make things that you consider ridiculously easy.

lalliella Agree ready made mash or powdered mash is just lazy as is frozen mash

JessFine

This is how I do mine.

While your meat is roasting, periodically drain off the fat from the roasting tray and put to one side.

When your roast is out and resting, pour water (or preferably wine or stout) on the tray and heat up (this had the beneficial effect of making your tray easier to clean). Pour off the liquid into a jug.

Pour the fat onto a small saucepan. Put some flour on top. Cook the flour slowly in the fat. Once it's coloured, add the liquid slowly and whisk, heating all the time.

I sometimes add soy sauce or Worcester sauce for extra flavour.

I don't bother making gravy for roast lamb (I do something even better!)

Now, let someone come and rip my method to shreds so I can make even more delicious gravy.

There's an appeal to ready made mash.
It's not got junk in it like the powder and it's far quicker than peeling potatoes then boiling them. Esp when you've young kids and not home until 6pm.

Tinned potatoes. It makes my Irish heart weep. Fecking heathens! 😠

tinned potatoes make amazing frittata.

Can people not start wittering about ready made mash etc being "lazy"? Not only does it make you sound like a judgemental twat with no life, it's also really rude to people with disabilities, difficulties and time issues that mean that time saving products are often the only way they can cook for their families.

I was a massive mashed potato nazi. Had to be Maris Piper. Had to be mashed in a Mouli Legume. The milk and cream had to be hot, only butter and white pepper would do.
The work was phenomenal. Peel the potatoes, boil them, drain them and steam them dry, them sieve them with the heated cream, milk and butter, beat with a fork and serve. So the washing up was peeler , knife and chopping board, potato saucepan, colander, milk and cream pan and then the three parts of the mouli. Now I buy Waitrose or Tesco prepared mash, the ingredients are exactly what I would have used and all I wash up is the plastic carton. And it's cheaper.

People use 'better than sliced bread ' as a superlative but I find making, baking and slicing my own bread (and also making my own Greek style yogurt) much easier than making my own mash.

I know people bash these ready made items, but for some disabled people they are an absolute life saver and allow them to live independently.

That’s an excellent point deno.

Jessfine, gravy is basically a stock based sauce, as opposed to a cream based one. You start off with meat juice - either a few spoons worth from the roast or the residue in a pan you've cooked meat in. Heat it up, stirring constantly with a plastic whisk getting all the nice bits of meat worked in too. Add a splash of wine, keep whisking and heating until the liquid thickens. Add a couple of tablespoons of flour and stir and scrape like mad. You can add other stuff at this point too - bit of Hendersons or Worcestershire for eg if you're doing sausages or red meat, bit of Dijon for your chicken ... then stir in your jug of stock, stirring with the whisk all the time.

It only takes a few minutes and you can do it while your meat is resting. If doing it from your roast, just put the entire roasting tin on the hob having poured off the excess juice - as you stir it all together it gathers the bits of crispy roast left on the tin (also makes washing the tin easier!)