Gravy - or rather lack of it...

[Sonnet]

I've always disliked gravy - don'tknow why , just do. My family are gravy lovers and up until recently I've always provided gravy made from instant granules BUT I've recently committed to 2reduced additive living" and therefore do not want to use them. So, the question is how do I make "proper" gravy????

With a roastie or without?

Here are a few tips i pasted for you hope it helps:

SECRETS FOR SUCCESS

I boil the chopped onion and celery for the stuffing in chicken stock with a couple of bay leaves tossed in. You can use canned or fresh. My local Chinese restaurant makes a really tasty chicken broth and that's what I use.
I retain the vegetable/chicken stock and cool and put into the refrigerator. All the fat rises to the top and hardens. Remove it. This will be the liquid base of the gravy.

I make my gravy in a saucepan not in the roasting pan. It's just easier for me. If you are a dedicated roasting pan fan...no problem.

I pour the drippings into a big measuring cup so that the fat can go to the top. You want a little fat but not a whole lot. A time saving tip is to put a couple of ice cubes into the drippings to separate the fat fast. Ice cubes won't hurt the gravy.

If I've got tasty crumbles in the pan, I deglaze. After you've empitied the roaster, turn the heat up. Once the pan is hot, stir in a little white wine or water and scrape off all the good tasting bits. Add this to the saucepan for the gravy.

In a cup or a bowl mix several tablespoons of flour with 1/2 C of the stock, COLD from the refrigerator. Use the whisk and make sure this mixture is absolutely smooooooth. Very important! This is the trick to lump-free gravy.

Put the drippings and whatever amount of fat you want...zero to 1/2 c depending on how much gravy you are making and how rich you want it. I add the remaining stock to the drippings and bring to a good solid simmer. In a nice thin even stream, add the cold flour/stock mixture to the pan. Use that whisk in a nice motion...too fast and it will encourage the starch molecules so break down too fast.

Crikey! Glad I didn't add my twopenethworth!

Both, Carla!
My god Mother nature - that sounds so so complicated....(but with your name it must be second nature )
I follow it until I get to the part "I pour the drippings...." - what are the drippings - is that the cooled stock mixture with the fat removed OR the bits from the roasting tin....Help

Please do Carla - I'm only a simpleton....

Drippings - bits from roasting tin.

Wow that sounds complicated.

I just take the roasting pan when roasting lamb or beef, put it over the heat on the stove and stir in a big spoon of flour. Cook for a while say 3 or 4 minutes (if you don't the gluten in the flour will not expand and your gravy will go lumpy)

Then add some hot water from your vegetables which have been cooking. Wait until the water is boiling in the pan then stir it in. You may need a whisk at this point to make sure it all comes together. Then add more water and repeat.

Pour into a saucepan and beat until smooth, keep it cooking as long as possible and keep adding veggie water and reducing.

If it's a bit pale you can add some browning or an oxo cube (not for you I guess with your additive free cooking, but maybe you could find something similar with no adds) Or just eat it pale.

Cheers CD - can cope with that....
Thansk for the clarification MN - will try CD's route and then when my competance increases I'll move on to your method... and then I'll be posting methods of my own - Sonnet the queen of gravy!!

Emmm.... the reason I ask with or without .... is that I can only do with (runs out holding her head in shame) .....

If you are using the roasting pan the meat was cooked in, drain all the fat out first. Mix up the bisto powder with water to make a paste, add that to the pan and heat on the hob. Add more water a bit at a time until it is the consistency you want. If you can, use the cooking water from any vegetables you've done, much tastier. Stir it to keep it lump free. If it is still a bit lumpy at the end, or has remnants of whatever was in the pan, just strain it before serving. You can add red wine if you want. Should only take about 5 mins or so. Hth.

Carla - I can't even do that.......

Thanks Lou33 - don't know if bisto contains additives but will look next time - I supose I could add flour/cornflour instead but would possibly loose the flavour....

For extra flavour put the meat back in the oven in a ceramic dish while making gravy and lots of juice should come out, put that in to the gravy too.

Or buy some nice organic beef/lamb/chicken stock eg Jouberts

Or make stock first (faff)

Sorry, didn't read the additive free bit. Bisto INgredients are: Starch, salt, clour E150c, Dried yeast, onion powder. I'm sure there are other things that do the same job.

Thanks every body _ i made fab gravy on Sunday, well so I'm told anyway...
Used meat juices, flour, red wine and veg water...used your tip as well CD...
Thanks all....