~Bona Vita~

Simple, unpretentious ingredients work synergistically to produce glorious golden gravy. Fat, flour and liquid. . .  the combinations and variations of these three components are too numerous to mention. Creative culinarians have produced sumptuous rich gravies from this uncomplicated trio for generations.

The gravy that embellishes the feast at our home embodies the flavors that I relish -  creamy butter and vibrant white wine. This is what works for me. Visit Works For Me Wednesday for other terrific ideas and tips.

Turkey neck

celery stalk

1 carrot

onion, peeled and quartered

2 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup of wine or apple juice

Place the above ingredients is an medium sauce pan and add water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 hour.

Strain the simmered liquid. Add chicken or turkey stock and 1/2 cup of white wine to the liquid to make 8 cups. Set  this stock mixture aside. You can make this ahead time.

Once your turkey is roasted, remove the turkey from the pan drippings, pour the liquid drippings from the roasting pan into a bowl. Skim the fat from the liquid and reserve. It is easiest to separate the fat if you cool the drippings. Place the roasting pan over high heat and deglaze with white wine.

Add the stock mixture to the roasting pan and bring to a boil over medium heat.

Combine butter and some of the reserved fat to make about 1/2 cup. I prefer butter and combine accordingly. Heat until melted and then slowly add 1/2 cup of flour whisking continually until you have a smooth paste or roux. I like to cook this paste to a golden brown as it imparts a lovelier color to the gravy.

Add the roux in small amounts to the gravy liquid to thicken the mixture. Once you have arrived at a desired consistency season with salt and pepper to taste.

Tags: meme, sauce, turkey, Works for Me Wednesday

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 at 3:31 pm and is filed under Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.