Preparation / Directions:
I thought that the way I make turkey gravy was the way everyone makes it. I guess my way is more a technique rather than a recipe per se. I use a clear gravy rather than opaque. Anyway here is my method.
If the turkey is oven roasted, it is on a rack above a pan that can be put on the stove for deglazing.
If the turkey is smoked, I buy cheap turkey legs (about $0.29/# on sale) and cook the legs at on a rack at 250 degrees for about 4 hours). I want the drippings.
Once the turkey is done, I remove the turkey from the pan, place it on the stove and deglaze the pan using about one cup of cranberry juice and a whisk. I add a cup of water and bring it back to a low boil and reduce the sauce for about ten minutes. If I think I will need more gravy, I begin adding chicken stock or canned low fat chicken broth. Add a little salt and pepper (I use white pepper...but black works well also).
Once I have the amount I think I need, I pour it into a glass measuring cup or metal bowl. Ice it down to let the fat congeal on the top. Then I either take the fat off with a spoon (or since I am usually in a hurry and don't let it cool long enough, I use the baster to remove all of the fat that I can). If you refrigerate this overnight, what you will have is a gelatin.
To thicken the gravy, I put the liquid - fat which we have removed - in a sauce pan and heat it. Then I mix a cornstarch paste from about 2 TBS ice water and 2 TBS corn starch. Begin to add this as the liquid comes to a boil. Usually this is enough to thicken the gravy to a serving viscosity.
Despite what my wife says, I actually know how to make a roux from fat and flour. I just never thought a roux had a taste of its own and why use it if you can avoid it.
I feel like I am carrying coals to Newcastle with this technique. I also use this gravy recipe in my turkey pot pies which are frozen and eaten a couple of weeks after a turkey feast. I can only eat turkey about two days in a row and then my stomach rebels
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