Carrie Runnals, one of the Divas from DivaCast called and asked me for my secret for making great turkey gravy.

Diva Cast Voice Mail

Here are my two tricks. A day or two before you cook your turkey, make home made turkey stock and a roux. Then, add them to the pan drippings when you’ve cooked your bird and you’re ready to serve it.

Turkey Stock

Buy some extra turkey pieces when you buy your bird. I use wings and necks. Have your butcher hack them into 3-4 in segments for you unless you own your own cleaver and know how to weild it. Throw them in a big sautee pan with olive oil and butter, and brown the skin well. Then add hacked up carrots, celery, shallots, onions and thyme and keep sauteeing for about 5-10 minutes until the onions soften and the shallots start to brown. Add hot water and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 hours or longer until the meat falls off the bones.

Cool and separate the stock from the turkey and veggies. Feed the turkey meat to your hubby and dog. Compost the rest. It’s dismal looking by this time.

If you’re making the stock a day or more ahead, refridgerate it. If you’re using it that day, keep it on a back burner to heat up when you’re ready to make the gravy.

Roux

Put a half stick or more of butter into a saucepan. Bring it to a bubble then turn it down. Whisk in Wondra flour - at least a 1/4 cup. Cook the flour on low heat, whisking the whole time with all your intention and focus on beautifully browning but not buring the flour/butter mixture. Cook it for 3-5 minutes until it’s a beautiful light brown. Take it off the heat and reserve it.

Once your turkey is cooked (put onions, carrots, celery, shallots and thyme in the pan with water while you’re cooking your bird (brine your bird first) put the pan on the burner, with the bird set aside, and bring the drippings to a boil and add the roux. Wisk the roux in, then start slowing adding the hot, hot turkey stock until you get a perfect consistency. Mash up the veggies in the gravy, then run the gravy through a seive to get out extraneous bits before pouring into a gravy boat.

Let me know how this worked for you.

YUM!