Making Gravy But Were Afraid To Ask?

Ok, someone somewhere must have a trick to making gravy.

Hmmm, must be a trade secret like magicians have.

awwww and here i thought you were going to reveal the secret
RainbowTrout

Whip it, whip it good!!!!

Use a roux...that is the best trick I know and it makes the best you
ever tasted!

SIMPLE ROUX RECIPE

Ingredients:

3/4 cup oil (Canola or Vegetable)
1 cup all purpose white flour


Directions:

Heat a heavy skillet or cast iron pot and add oil. Once oil is heated,
slowly add the flour, stirring constantly until all is blended. Continue
to cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly until flour and oil
blend to form a brown roux the color of a dark copper penny. The longer
you cook it, the darker the roux will become. Remember don't rush the
cooking of the roux; allow the mixture to develop at its own pace.
Transfer to cooking pot and add warm broth to hot roux for thickness
desired.

Oh, you are an angel, thanks. I use Canola oil. I have a friend who uses
Olive oil but that stuff is so thin. I tried making gravy before but
would get caught in the trap of thickening and thinning with the milk
and the adding of even more flour. By the time I would get done I would
have this pasty stuff coming over the top of the pan that I couldn't
even stir any more.

I personally love cast iron. My mom showed me how to prepare the pan
after she cleaned the rust off this cast iron pan I got by putting a
little oil in it and heating the cast iron skillet in the oven to cure
it. She had told me to heat the pan on the stove to dry it then to leave
a little oil in it so that it doesn't rust, again.

<------CANNOT MAKE GRAVY TO SAVE MY LIFE!!!!

THIS IS WHY WE BUY THE LOVELY PACKAGES OF INSTANT GRAVY!!!

ahhh yes. love the instant gravy.just add water and simmer!

The recipe came out wonderful. I can follow directions. I was surprised.
I fought the temptation to add milk or more flour. It wasn't easy
because patience is always one of my virtues. I thought about making it
into egg gravy but thought I would see if I could make simple gravy
first. With a little more practice I even think I could conquer making
biscuits but I am careful to not get a big head, yet.

Extraction: Patience is not always one of my vitues.

My dad used to say that I couldn't pour piss out of a boot with
directions on the hill. I think I have come a long way.

I can relate with the instant stuff. When I buy pancake mix I always
look for the just add water. It is simple enough for me to make because
it almost idiot proof. I tried the other mixes but they weren't idiot
proof because I still screwed them up. I am so happy that I found out
how to lower the temperature on the stove eyelets. That is what I get
for believing in turning knobs. I just assumed that the knob indicator
was correct. I had the same problem with a refrigerator. If one way is
all the way hot then turning it all the way the other way has got to be
cold. Sometimes one can be too intelligent to have common sense.

Whoops! Almost forgot: In the roux, you can also use pan drippings
instead of the oil...depends on your taste and how rich you want your
gravy

remember to always use COLD water or milk or you won't be able to count
the lumps!

oh and your mom had it right about the cast iron!

I got this hint from a girlfriend going to culinary school:

Always use pan drippings in your gravy, either with the Roux recipe or
instant then, melt 1 stick of butter, whip in flour until smooth (it
will be thick) then add to gravy mixture. Cook until thickened. You
will never get lumps! And this will make a wonderful gravy full of
taste. Enjoy!

Pan drippings. Oh, yeah like when one is making fried chicken. It is
really something to get that right consistancy. I am experimenting with
cooking times when you are cooking more than one thing at a time. I had
bought a cooking magazine but am thinking of getting an old fashioned
cookbook. Some cooking magazines have some wonderful recipes but some of
them are outlandish. I like to try a new dish now and then but find that
I always come back to the dishes that I grew up eating. Even when going
to a restaurant I always try to find the old fashioned buffets.

To make homemade gravy is to take an put lard or bacongrease which is
real. Heat it up and put your flour in the grease and let it get brown.
Keepstiring. Then after flour brown add water to the brown flour.
Sincerely yours, Troubles

That makes sense, troubles. I bet I have watched my grandmothers and my
mother make it but until one actually does it is like rebuilding a
engine with a book. My grandmother and my granny, too had one of those
old wood cookstove with the white enamel finish that had a reservoir for
heating water. It had the metal eyelets that you could lift up. Those
and those pot belly wood heaters are really hard to find around here
unless you go to an antique dealer which you might as well just give
them your wallet if you want to buy one. I can remember my grandmother
had a special metal container to put the grease in where she could reuse
it. Running water was when you drew the water from well and ran back to
the house with it or dipped it from a rain barrell. The real fancy white
enamel cookstove had the upper shelf where you could store stuff. She
had the flour closet with the built in sifter. Ancient history,
huh?