Beth Moore is not only a great writer, Bible teacher, (and wife, mother and grandmother), the woman can cook. In her words she claims not to be “stellar,” but rather just a good country cook. Well…those kinds of cooks are my favorite. My Granny and my parents are both great cooks. I’m a good cook myself – based on what my family tells me, and their estimation is all that matters to me. In fact, my husband often says, “that was a feast” and it has become a family saying that especially tickles my daughter-in-law Erin.
Anyway, Beth wrote a great post on her blog this week about “Holiday Cooking Hints” and she and I had talked earlier in the day about doing a tutorial next year. How FUN! Go here for the complete post with lots of great recipes and great ideas. Siestaville is the best blog community anywhere. Following is her gravy recipe taken from the blog post:
See how the spout is at the bottom? The fattest part of the liquid will rise to the top after just a few minutes. You only want to use the bottom part to make your gravy or it’s too greasy. Set the filled measuring cup to the side until it’s time to make your gravy. Do you girls have iron skillets? They are best for making gravy but not imperative. You want it to be one of the last things you do before serving your meal. I’m going to tell you how to do basic gravy rather than giblet gravy so you’ll know how to make it from any roast whether beef, pork, or bird. I’ll leave giblet gravy to one of the other cooks on here.
Go back to your measuring cup of drippings. Pour that lower (less fat) half of your liquid in a skillet. Heat it up to a rolling boil. Depending on how much liquid you have in your skillet, put about a heaping tablespoon of flour (not into your pan yet!) into about a fourth cup of warm water and stir it up really well until the lumps are out. While the liquid in your skillet boils, pour in the flour mixture and stir constantly for at least several minutes. After it’s well mixed, decrease your heat to a low boil. Add some salt and pepper if the liquid needs it. (You can’t be afraid to taste it in process or it won’t be well seasoned.) The liquid in the skillet will all begin to thicken. Keep it boiling until it looks like gravy. Grin. And add some water – just a little at a time – until it has the consistency you’re looking for. Especially with any of my bird-gravies (chicken or turkey), I like to add no more than a dime-size of this:
It simply adds a little color. For those of you with access to a Williams Sonoma, however, this is absolutely FABULOUS (this is the only thing on here today you can’t get from a regular grocery store):
I pray you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by loved ones and that you take the time to truly give thanks to our Great God for His goodness to us. This past Sunday night at my church our interim pastor, Joel Southerland, actually had us physically write down our blessings. Since I’ve been “counting to 1,000” with Ann Voskamp on Multitude Mondays that was near and dear to my heart. I’ll be sharing my list soon.
Happy Gravy Making!