So last night I had the pleasure of cooking gravy for E’s Thanksgiving lunch today at work.
I like that they put together these things but I hate how the food sign-up works. Basically the men sign up for something they like, and assume their wives will make it. Lovely. I’m just glad he signed me up for something simple and cheap this time!
Anyway, GRAVY. IMO the person who brings the Turkey should always bring the gravy… so they can use the giblets (I’m not really sure what a giblet is either) and pan drippings. No such luck in my case, and no one around here sells JUST the leftovers, so I was stuck making Turkey gravy without the turkey. Here’s what I came up with:
Turkey gravy without the turkey
Ingredients:
A cup or two of chopped carrots, onions, mushrooms, and celery (use whatever you have)
About 2 tbsp olive oil
Garlic powder (I would have used fresh but didn’t want little pieces of garlic left in the gravy)
4 cans low sodium chicken broth (turkey would have been better but I couldn’t find any)
1 can cream of chicken soup
Various herbs for stock, like thyme, sage, bay, and parsley, plus salt and pepper
2 sticks of butter
flour
1/2 cup or red wine, dry white wine, sherry, or brandy (I didn’t have any (!) so used a little bit of red wine vinegar instead)
First, sautee the chopped vegetables in olive oil with garlic powder. You want them to brown or even burn a little bit. While the vegetables are cooking, throw the chicken broth and other herbs in a pot and simmer. When vegetables are good and soggy and brown, pour them into a blender or food processor along with a cup or so of the stock you’re cooking. Make sure you put the lid on the blender, then blend well. Strain remaining stock to remove any large pieces of thyme or bay, then combine the blended vegetables and stock in the pot and continue to cook.
In a clean sautee pan, melt the butter completely and add about 15 tablespoons of flour while stirring. Continue stirring until all of the white is gone and the mixture turns a nice medium brown color. Add your cup of alcohol and stir, making sure to get any bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the stock mixture a cup at a time, and then add the can of cream of chicken soup. Mix everything together and then taste and add more salt or pepper if needed.
If you get it too salty, add a little bit of sugar or puree a carrot to add to the gravy.
This actually turned out REALLY tasty.
We’re not even having turkey at our house this year – E prefers ham.
Great recipe! Thanks! Have a happy T-Day
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I just got back from the lunch at E’s office and everyone LOVED the gravy. There was not a bit of it left.
The real star though was the ham – someone’s wife baked the best ham I have ever tasted. He said the recipe was a combination of orange juice and brown sugar from the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. I’ll have to see if I can find it…
So I’m heading to boyfriend’s fam’s house for Thanksgiving for the first time this year. I don’t eat meat, and my family just accepts this craziness, even at Thanksgiving (my dad ussually makes a fish for me). Anyway, I hate the stigma that is vegetarianism (what? why? how? seriously, why. don’t. you. eat. meat? I want a pro/con list right now on why you don’t eat meat you PETA freak) so I never tell anyone unless it comes up. Very few people actually recognize that I never order/eat meat in their presence. Anyway, they know I don’t eat meat, but I really don’t want to offend anyone. I think I’ll go the take-one-tiny-piece-shove-it-around-on-my-plate route. Just thought of it since you had a Thanksgiving post up =)
BTW, I just don’t have a taste for meat, but this answer never seems to satisfy anyone.
I didn’t eat meat – except the occasional piece of turkey to be polite at holidays – for almost 6 years. I didn’t relize i was ‘being vegetarian’ until about the third year when someone brought it up.
Really the only reason I eat meat now is because every person I’ve lived with up to and including my husband eats meat, and its such a pain to cook two separate meals. Does bf eat meat? How do you shop/cook? I’m trying to get E to move from BEEF to chicken to hopefully someday fish, but its like getting a 4 year old to eat brussel sprouts.
So is his fam doing a formal dinner or potluck type thing? Maybe it would be appropriate if you brought/cooked a non-meaty main dish that everyone might like? Like stuffed portobellos or something.
Such a good idea…maybe I will do that! They do all the cooking, but me brining an additional dish for everyone can only be interpreted as polite, I’d think. Sweet nectar.
Yes, he eats meat and I am the cook in the family. About half the time I just eliminate the meat in the meal I make for myself. (example: last night I made chicken cordon bleu, peas and roasted red potatoes. I just ate peas, lotsa potatoes, and microwaved some white minute-rice for myself. Or I’ll make spaghetti and meatballs and make a batch for myself sans meatballs). Probably 25% of the time we have a meatless meal (lots of pasta varieties). The other 25% I really do just make two seperate meals.
Food shopping is a biyyatch, but because he’s the only one who eats meat, a bag of frozen chicken breasts lasts a loooong time. We freeze a lot of meat. but it goes a long way.