Last week, we talked turkey. Now, let's round out your Thanksgiving spread and get on the gravy train! Good gravy can save dry turkey, lumpy mashed potatoes, and tie together the many carbs on the holiday table. For me, gravy is as essential as turkey and cranberry sauce to get into the spirit. Luckily, it's super easy to make.
I like the classic, roux-thickened gravy. When it comes to food, my husband, Ham, and I don't disagree on much, but gravy is the one time he's totally wrong. He, the pretentious monster, prefers a starchless jus. That's when you reinforce a stock or broth with aromatics and additional seared meat or bones and reduce it until thickened. All the body comes from the reduction. It's popular in fancy-pants restaurants where you might get one spoonful artfully drizzled over a roasted squab breast. That one spoonful likely started out as an entire quart of broth. It's expensive, it's time-consuming, and it's too damn French for Thanksgiving.
Ham turns his nose up at my preferred roux-thickened gravies, made by sizzling some flour in fat and streaming in broth, before simmering it all together until thickened and creamy. It's nostalgic and homey and reminds me of the best fast food item of all time, KFC mashed potatoes and gravy. For some meals, we'd make two gravies, one to satisfy his French culinary training and another straight from my fast-food roots, but for Thanksgiving, a classic, roux-thickened gravy is what always accompanies our mashed potatoes. Here's how it comes together.
The Broth
There are plenty of high-quality chicken bone broths available these days that make an excellent base for gravy. Still, for Thanksgiving, I get extra and reinforce that broth. Remember that turkey neck, back, and wingtips we saved from breaking down our turkey? They are gonna team up with 2 quarts high-quality bone broth, 3 carrots, 3 celery stalks, and 1 onion (chop the veggies into rough 2-inch chunks), and a few sprigs of thyme to level up the flavor of our gravy. You've got three options when it comes to reinforcing your broth:
Option 1: Get to the point
Combine everything in a stockpot and simmer gently, covered, until the neck and back fall apart, at least 1 hour and up to 3 hours. (Or you can cook everything in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes.)
Option 2: Get Fancy
Spread the turkey pieces and chopped vegetables onto a rimmed baking sheet and coat with 2 tablespoons neutral oil. Roast at 450F until everything is deeply browned, tossing once during cooking. (If your oven has a convection setting, this is the time to use it.) Transfer the browned goodies to a stockpot or pressure cooker and top off with the broth and thyme. Add a splash of water to the baking sheet and use a stiff wooden spoon to scrape up all the brown bits and add them to the pot. Simmer as directed above.
Option 3: Still Fancy, But Save Oven Space
Use a cleaver to hack the turkey neck and back into 2-inch pieces. Add them to a large dutch oven or another heavy-bottomed pot, along with the chopped vegetables and 2 tablespoons neutral oil. Cook over medium heat, frequently stirring until evenly browned. Add the broth and thyme and scrape up any browned bits. Simmer as directed above, or transfer to a pressure cooker and simmer as directed above.
Regardless of the route, after the bones and veggies have given up their flavor, scoop out the big bits with a spider or large slotted spoon and strain the broth through a fine-mesh strainer. Now you've got an amped-up, mega flavorful, super broth ready to make the best gravy ever.
The Roux
With my reinforced broth in tow, it's time to thicken it up using a roux. A roux is a mixture of starch and fat that thickens many French sauces—think bechamel, mornay, or veloute (so yes, KFC gravy has fancy French beginnings). Coating the starch granules in fat helps them disperse when combined with a liquid. When the liquid is heated, the starch granules swell and burst. This results in a spread of starch molecules throughout the liquid. The bumping of all these molecules slows the overall molecule movement in the liquid. This is what we perceive as viscosity.
People use varying ratios of fat to starch for gravy, depending on how thick or thin you want the final sauce. I like to use 3 tablespoons fat (I prefer butter, but any fat works, including drippings) and ¼ cup all-purpose flour for 1 quart broth. You can play around and find the ratio that works for you, but this is how it should all come together:
Heat the fat over medium heat. If you add flour to cold fat, it's more likely to clump, so wait until it shimmers (or in the case of whole butter, gets foamy).
Add the flour all at once and whisk it into a smooth paste. Cook until the flour goes from smelling starchy to nutty and looks foamy and blonde.
Slowly stream in one ladleful of broth at a time while whisking constantly. If you add all the broth at once, it's more likely to get lumpy. I've seen chefs get crazy and add all the broth in at once, but unless you're a gravy pro, I recommend you play it safe by taking it slow.
Once half the broth has been incorporated, it's safe to dump the rest in. Let the gravy simmer, frequently whisking until thickened, and you no longer taste raw flour. It usually takes around 5 minutes of steady simmering.
The Seasoning
With my gravy thickened, it's time to season. For Thanksgiving (and 90% of the time), I opt for the simple yet classic combo of kosher salt, honey, fresh thyme, and freshly ground black pepper. I add it at the end and let the herbs steep in the residual warmth of the gravy.
I know the typical move is to make your gravy with turkey drippings just before the meal while the turkey rests, but I find that super stressful. All the aunties have circled me, everyone's telling me I'm doing something wrong, and some impatient uncle just ran off with a turkey wing. Instead, I make my gravy a couple of days before, just after spatchcocking or breaking down the turkey. Before serving, I'll rewarm it on the stovetop and adjust the seasoning if needed. But don't worry, no drippings go to waste in our house. Save them to crisp up the leftover turkey the next day for the best leftover turkey tacos.