[azubah]

How do  you make really good gravy? I have never been very happy with mine.

[Yorkie]

I add some flour, stock cube and wine to the cooking juices, then cook on the hob for a few minutes until thickened.

[snowdrops]

Soften some onions in a pan or put them under the meat, when cooked/ready to make gravy,drain excess fat off,add flour & cook well,add wine/port, slowly & cook off alcohol,add stock of some description slowly. At this point when cooked through I used to sieve out the onions but now I blend with the stick blender & season with salt & pepper,usually I add some quince/redcurrant/apple jelly or marmalade for beef & mustard also for beef. If needed I add gravy browning to adjust colour,but for beef or lamb the onions get caramelised in the pan & make it dark enough

[azubah]

Thanks for  your replies. I usually just add gravy granules to vegetable stock and stir the lumps around a bit. It does not look or taste very good. I shall have to do some real cooking.

[Annen]

What I do may not be proper cooking but I get meat juices if possible in a roasting tin, throw in several glugs of red wine, and a one of those jelly stock cubes and let it boil until reduced to half.  It isn't thick because I don't add flour, but it is really tasty.

[Steveharford]

I always sit the meat on top of quartered onions and a few garlic cloves to roast. While the meat is resting under foil I drain off the fat from the roasting tin. Deglaze with wine then add oxo or bisto or sometimes both. I always use the cooking water from the veg to bulk up the gravy at this point. Final thickening is done with a bit of corn flour in milk or more bisto depending on taste. ( I like my gravy thick and tasty! ). Some time during this process I will have removed the onions, and garlic after squidging them. If we have guests I might strain it.
For special occasions I will add home made stock. For Christmas I make a stock from turkey bones. Fortunately we have plenty as our dog gets fed on roast turkey leg etc. so I just freeze them until I have a load then make a big pot of stock. This year I went further and made the complete turkey gravy which I will be taking from the freezer today. This saves a lot of drinking time while serving up the Christmas dinner and is kept hot in the slow cooker from which everyone can help themselves to a ladle full.

[plum crumble]

yup - the caramelised onion thing described above is the way to go!! It makes a huge difference.

[Beetroot Queen]

My meat cooks on a bed of veg, onion, carrots, celery etc etc. i add a pint of stock and once the meat is done i whizz it all up, pass through a strainer to remove big lumps. Add cornflour to thicken. Season and enjoy.

[Lardman]

Thanks for  your replies. I usually just add gravy granules to vegetable stock and stir the lumps around a bit. It does not look or taste very good. I shall have to do some real cooking.

Granules are terrible - even the good ones. I don't do well with meat juices, most of the time there just aren't enough. I use gravy browning powder mixed with cornflour add some water slowly to make a paste, add water and meat fat whilst heating.

Tastes much better than granules and it's only a little more hassle. ... Oh and make sure the spoon stands up   

[Fairy Plotmother]

I use gravy browning mixed with cornflour. Pour into meat juices and cook while stirring and gradually ad veg water. Adjust everything as I go. Special gravy as BQ does it.

[Mrs Bee]

Thanks for  your replies. I usually just add gravy granules to vegetable stock and stir the lumps around a bit. It does not look or taste very good. I shall have to do some real cooking.

Granules are terrible - even the good ones. I don't do well with meat juices, most of the time there just aren't enough. I use gravy browning powder mixed with cornflour add some water slowly to make a paste, add water and meat fat whilst heating.

I find there aren't enough meat juices too and I like lots of gravy so I save the bones from roasts and get bones from my favourite butcher and make stock well in advance of the big day, cool it, remove the fat and reduce the stock until it is very strong and meaty and freeze so I can add it to what meat juices I get from the joint on the day.

Then I use some of the fat from the roast and cook with some flour, then add the stock and any meat juices from the resting joint. I also have a goodly amount of red wine reducing in a pan until thick and syrupy and then tip the gravy in with the red wine reduction. 


edit to fix quote

[devonbarmygardener]

Appropriate stock, wine/Madeira/marsala/port, any meat juices available, bit of cornflour (if not a reduction) sometimes something fruity like redcurrant jelly for game. ..

I kinda just think of the flavour of the meat and what would go with it
Play with the flavours!

[Swing Swang]

My way of doing it:

Pour off the meat drippings (ie fat and liquid), allow to settle, and separate into liquid and fat.

Deglaze pan with wine, return the non-fat separation from the meat drippings (above) and set to one side – I add any liquid (non-fat) flavourings at this point too – marmite, redcurrant jelly,‘hard’ herbs (that will be removed from the stock before adding to the fat/flour) etc – I also do any reducing at this stage too if I have a stock that I think will work well in the gravy etc.

Pour the fat into a separate pan and stir in a similar quantity of flour (note flour, not an alternative starch, as the protein content in the flour makes for a better gravy), cook until the flour picks up a little bit of colour (personal preference, but don't take it too far). If you want to caramelize some onions then do this before adding the flour though. Remove from heat.

Slowly add juices from the pan, stirring so the gravy doesn’t go lumpy.

Return to the heat to thicken.

Adjust thickness with veg water if too thick/beurre manié if too thin and season to taste.

Easier to do than write down, but basically adding flour to fat then liquids at the end virtually eliminates the risk of both greasy and/or lumpy gravy.

[barley]

I need to make gluten free gravy as hubby is now gluten intolerant - can you still buy Bovril ?

like the sound of wine added

[azubah]

Bovril is still around. How about yeast extract? (Similar to marmite.)