ok ihave a chicken roasting in the oven, please help me make nice gravy

[nailpolish]

dh always moans my gravy is crap
what do you do?

I always put a spoonful of flour under the roast (which is on a rack, in the roasting tin) and add to this either a tsp of chicken stock powder or vegetable stock powder and some black pepper. When the roast is cooked, you can then remove most of the fat from the pan, add more stock/vegetable water to it and whisk away until you have a nice gravy.

hmm
chicken isnt on a rack

Flour etc around the roast, then? If all else fails use instant gravy - most men wouldn't notice!

do you put the flour etc round the roast at the beginning?

i used instant gravy once and dh noticed i did agree with him though and it was horrible

I roast the chicken then take it out of pan to rest. Skim off some fat. Put the pan back on the hob and chuck in some water or wine if there is not much liquid left. Scrape around with a wooden spoon getting all the burnt bits off the bottom.

In a cup mix up some flour (tbsp) and some water to a smooth paste (or use gravy browning - more or less the same but makes the gravy brown. Add this and some more liquid (1/2 pint) of water or stock from vegetables or a stck cube. Stir this all and it will begin to boil and thicken. Judge how thick it is and add more liquid or boil it more to reduce the liquid. add salt and pepper. Whisk or sieve if it looks lumpy.

When chicken is cooked, take it out of the roasting tin, cover it with foil to keep it hot and let it rest.

Tip out most of the fat from the roasting tin (with a chicken there may not be a lot - and you do need some to let the flour thicken the gravy). Put the tin on to the hob, and on a low heat, add a heaped tbsp to the roasting tin and stir this into the juices. It will go very thick and lumpy quite quickly.

Using the water that you have boiled your veg in (assuming that you're having boiled veg of some sort!), gradually add this to the tin, stirring all the time so that there are no lumps, and make sure you scrape up all the bits from the bottom of the tin.

Keep going until you have the texture you need, then season.

I sometimes add a bit of wine, or soy sauce (in which case don't use any salt), even Worcestershire sauce and sometimes a bit of cranberry sauce just to give a little bit (only a tiny bit) of sweetness. Just do what you think it needs to give it the right flavour.

HTH

Sorry - add a heaped tbsp of plain flour!

great! thank you

I am using this recipe tonight

make sure it simmers for a while so it doesn't taste 'floury'

misty thats a goo drecipe
might keep it for another time, too late for this bird which is nearly done!

I've never made it before so hopefully it will taste as good as it sounds

now, do you girls wrap yours in foil or not? my mother wraps hers in tin foil.

and do you put butter on the skin prior to cooking?

i do and i thinks its maybe spoiling the gravy...?

no foil and either oil on the skin or butter under it. can't see why this should spoil your gravy as long as you skim off a lot of the excess fat.

What do you normally do and how does it go wrong?

Mine isn't at mo but will keep an eye on it in case it get's too brown. It is a large one and so it may need covering later.

its really watery bbbeeee, and quite tasteless. doyou add salt?

maybe i am skimming off too much fat

Have you put in any stock?

you shouldnt need to add salt. have you put stock in it

no i just use flour, no stock

i will od now though

i assume you mena stock cube

yes do you have one

What veg are you cooking with it? Sometimes the water they are cooked in is good enough.

yes i have chicken stock cubes

we are having brocolli and carrots

Chicken stock cubes would be fine. Tarragon is always a nice herb to go with chicken too if you have any in the cupboard.