Preparation:
1st Way:
1. Make about a 1/4 cup of roux. Heat equal amounts of drippings fat and flour in a sauce or fry pan stirring constantly. I think it is easiest to heat the fat to just slightly bubbling and then add a little flour at a time, stirring constantly. You will be making a paste from this combination, so add a little more flour at a time until you form a nice paste. This paste (roux) is your thickening agent for the rest of the drippings. So the amount of roux that you want is dependent on the total amount of gravy you want to end up with.
2. In a separate pan heat the remainder of your drippings to just bubbling. I like to use a flat 9" X 13" cake pan for this step. It has about 2inch sides and I find the large surface makes smooth stirring much easier than a round pan.
3. Slowly add the roux to the entire drippings liquid until it thickens to your liking. I use a large flat heat-resistant plastic or wooden spoon to sort of constantly scrape the bottom of this pan. This process basically keeps the roux from sticking to the bottom of the pan while it is becoming gravy. Hope this is not too confusing. If it never gets thick enough, then you need more roux. It will take a few times, like Qing, to get the hang of the mix you like.
4. If you like you can perkup the gravy a bit with spices. I usually add a little salt and pepper and just a tad of Adobo Con Pepper. The Adobo is not required, I just like it because it has a combination of a lot of spices that I like. Goya makes several Adobo spice blends that are nice. Once thickened, you have your gravy.
2nd Way:
1. Heat up all of the drippings in a 9" X 13" pan.
2. In a shaker container combine 1-3 ratio of flour and COLD water. Shake like hell. You can add spices to this mixture if you like. The "shaking" action is to get all of the lumps out of the new formation. (The ratio of flour to water is sort of a guess. I usually add several tablespoons to a 1/2cup of water.) This is your thickening agent.
3. When your drippings are bubbling, slowly add the flour/water
mixture, stirring constantly.
4. Watch for thickening action and be careful not to add too much flour/water mixture or you'll have glue. The thickening action is slightly delayed after you add a bit of flour/water stir a while and see if it is thickening. If you end up with glue, just add a small amount of water. You want to limit doing this, as you will weaken the flavors you worked so hard to obtain.
5. Be sure to constantly scrape or move the thickening gravy from the bottom of the pan as you go. Once thickened, you have your gravy |
