Thanksgiving Gravy w/giblets

[Zhizara]

Here's my Thanksgiving gravy:

I simmer the giblets with water, salt, bay leaf, celery stick, and onion.

1/2 hour before the turkey is done, I add water to the pan not too much, just enough to cover the bottom. This makes the bits on the bottom of the pan loosen. When the turkey is done and resting, I pour off the liquid, leaving a little of the fat, scrape up the bits left in the pan and add flour and stir until incorporated.

I use the liquid from the giblets for the liquid in the gravy. You can add the minced up giblets if you like.

How do you make your Thanksgiving gravy?

 

[babetoo]

out of jar.

 

[kadesma]

Found a wonderful one at Cost-co it's great have had it the last 4 years
kades not a great gravey mekes but i try
kades

 

[bakechef]

I make mine similar to the way you do.

The evening before, when I put the turkey in the brine, I take the neck and simmer it with onion, carrot, celery and a bay leaf for a good hour. I chill the stock to use the next day.

After the bird is removed from the pan, I pour off the drippings into a gravy separator and discard any chunks of stuff in the bottom of the pan. I use the remaining fat in the bottom of the pan to make a roux over medium heat, I add a little butter if I need it or add back a bit of turkey fat from the top of the separator. Cook the roux for a minute and add the stock from the turkey neck and the drippings minus the excess fat from the separator. If the gravy is too thick, I add a bit of chicken broth from a can.

I don't like gravy from a jar or can, they all have a distinct funky flavor to me. Gravy made this way, just tastes like thanksgiving to me, the way my mom made it.

 

[Selkie]

I use about two cups of boxed turkey or chicken broth in the roasting pan with the turkey.

On the stove I make a roux with flour, butter and a little boxed broth. I don't let it get lumpy. That's why I use a little broth.

When the turkey is finished and removed from the roasting pan, I put the pan on the stove and heat to medium. After adding a cup of two of white wine and scraping off the dark bits, I season it and then I pour it off into an oil/grease separator. I then add it to the pan with the roux and continually stir until I get the consistency that I want, and then pour it into the gravy boat.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I simmer the neck and giblets in water with butter salt and pepper. The bulk of this broth goes into my stuffing, the giblets are diced, the neck is my reward.

Remaining broth is stirred into the bottom of the roasting pan, reheating to get all the sticky bits up and resulting liquid is poured into a roux. Stirred until thickened, divided in half and the diced giblets go into my half of the gravy. Shrek won't eat them, even accidentally.

 

[mollyanne]

As of a few years ago I would simmer the giblets without any seasonings except salt and pepper and then discard the giblets. My cat&dog won't even eat giblets.

I prefer pure unadulterated turkey gravy...no wine, bayleaf, thyme, nor carrot/celery/onions...just salt and pepper. It just tastes more like traditional Thanksgiving to me that way for some reason....maybe it's the purist influence.

But now, for the past few Thanksgivings, I haven't done the giblet thing at all. I figured the cat and dog knew something I didn't*. I just add chicken stock to the separated turkey juices and flour for thickening. I don't thicken it much...I prefer the consistency to be halfway between an au jus consistency and a thick gravy. I like it better because you aren't tasting flour. Again...it's a purist thing for the sake of tradition. It's also more moist that way and less caloric.

*seriously, I take little things like that as a sign. I actually told my realtor to find me a brick house because of the 3 Little Pigs story . I'm not kidding...i now live in a brick house.

 

[msmofet]

Roast turkey wings with or without veggies in oven till brown. Add wings and veggies, salt, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme & sage to stock pot with enough water to cover. Simmer about 2 hours or until it has nice flavor. Cool, strain, seperate, reserve a bit of stock to deglaze turkey pan, add a bit gravy master to stock, make roux, whisk in stock and simmer till very thick. Deglaze roasting pan, add to gravy till proper thickness is achieved. Correct seasoning, if needed a bit more flour can be mashed into butter and whisked into gravy to thicken, serve.

 

[mollyanne]

It really does sound delicious with all those flavors of " veggies, salt, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme & sage...and celery, bay leaf, wine as mentioned previously" but I have a question:

When you pour your flavored gravy on the mashed potatoes and stuffing, as well as the turkey, then doesn't it all have the same herbal/veggie/wine flavor? Whereas if you keep it simple then you can taste the stuffing recipe flavors for what they were intended, and potatoes taste like potatoes/butter/sourcream with a touch of tasty turkey, and turkey tastes like juicy turkey.

Just curious if i'm the only one that thinks this way. My sister makes a strong thick herbal flavored gravy and it overwhelms everything in my opinion...and it makes the 3 dishes all alike except texture.

 

[Barbara L]

It really does sound delicious with all those flavors of " veggies, salt, peppercorns, rosemary, thyme & sage...and celery, bay leaf, wine as mentioned previously" but I have a question:

When you pour your flavored gravy on the mashed potatoes and stuffing, as well as the turkey, then doesn't it all have the same herbal/veggie/wine flavor? Whereas if you keep it simple then you can taste the stuffing recipe flavors for what they were intended, and potatoes taste like potatoes/butter/sourcream with a touch of tasty turkey, and turkey tastes like juicy turkey.

Just curious if i'm the only one that thinks this way. My sister makes a strong thick herbal flavored gravy and it overwhelms everything in my opinion...and it makes the 3 dishes all alike except texture.

I feel the same way. I don't like a lot of extra flavors added to my gravy either. I make mine with the juices from the turkey, Swanson's chicken broth if needed, salt and pepper, and flour.

Barbara

 

[joesfolk]

Oh, but a few mushrooms, a tiny bit of wine...well, to each his own. My dh prefers it out of a can...

 

[Barbara L]

Oh, but a few mushrooms, a tiny bit of wine...well, to each his own. My dh prefers it out of a can...

I love mushroom gravy! For Thanksgiving though, I like the traditional gravy we always had.

Barbara

 

[buckytom]

i do it simply as well.

i just add some water to the roasting pan ( there's usually not enough liquid leftover from basting the bird) to help scrape up the fond on the bottom of the pan.

it goes into a tall quart container and into the fridge to let the fat rise to the top. when the fat rises out, most of it is scooped off, then the remainder is put into a wide sautee pan to reduce a bit.

when reduced, s&p is added to taste, and a cornstarch slurry stirred in to thicken it.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

when reduced, s&p is added to taste, and a cornstarch slurry stirred in to thicken it.

If I don't cook a medium brown roux, Shrek pouts...he loves the smell of it cooking.

He loves the smell a brick red roux even better.

 

[msmofet]

I don't use a lot of herbs but I do like it to have a bit of flavor or else why not just use bottle, can or package?

 

[mudbug]

I went looking for this old post of mine..... good results, made about 6 cups of gravy (i.e., 5 cups for me, the rest for the rest)

We [my sis and I were in charge of gravy that year] used ALL of the drippings from the roasting pan. Didn't even bother to dump any out, just started shaking flour over it. Maybe half a cup of flour in all. We kinda made a roux first, but kept whisking and adding what looked right at the moment (flour, butter, or liquid). Lotta butter -probably half a stick when it was all said and done.

For liquid, we used a carton of Kitchen Basics chicken stock, plus the cooking water (2 cups?) from the turkey neckbone, which I had boiled up with a couple hunks of celery, a few baby carrots, about a quarter of on onion, some peppercorns, and salt. I shredded out the meat and added it at the last minute.

Oh, and we did it all in the turkey roasting pan over two burners.

 

[Zhizara]

I really didn't intend for the post heading to include giblets, I just want to know how everyone makes THEIR Thanksgiving gravy. I should have asked the question in the title to the post to be clearer. I'm enjoying the answers.

I too made it like you, MudBug, unfortunately I got carried away with the spices and it ended up too strong. Now I try to keep it as simple as possible, because, like most people agree, the best gravy is the simplest and highlights the food instead of overpowering it.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Any spice in my gravy is from any stuffing dribble into the roasting pan...or I put a spoonful in if it didn't dribble.

 

[Zhizara]

Any spice in my gravy is from any stuffing dribble into the roasting pan...or I put a spoonful in if it didn't dribble.

That's a good idea!

 

[buckytom]

i forgot to add that the turkey is rubbed with a few spices, so as it gets basted, some if it runs off flavouring the eventual gravy.

also, the turkey's neck goes into the bottom corner of the pan under the rack while the turkey roasts to add more taste to the drippings/basting liquid. my mom, bil, and i like to nibble on the neck after it's cooked.

my wife usually chucks the giblets, but if i get there in time i save them, chop them up and make a turkey offal fry with some onions, bacon, and butter the next day.