Moms Turkey Gravy Recipes

THE BEST TURKEY GRAVY RECIPE

Steps:

• Transfer the fat to a large saucepan over medium heat. Let the fat melt and then sprinkle on the flour. Using a wooden spoon, stir continuously until the fat and flour have formed a homogeneous mixture. Continue stirring until the flour browns slightly, this takes 4 to 5 minutes.
• If your drippings have cooled down, heat them up in the microwave for thirty seconds or more until they are nice and hot. (If you have less drippings than the recipe calls for, supplement with turkey broth or chicken broth.)
• Whisk in the hot drippings slowly into the roux. Keep whisking until the liquids are fully incorporated.
• Bring the gravy to a simmer and continue simmering until it reaches your desired consistency.
• Season with salt and pepper and for the final step...stir in one tablespoon of butter or heavy cream.
• Serve hot in a gravy boat.

HOMEMADE TURKEY GRAVY

Steps:

• Separate the oil from the liquid in the turkey drippings by pouring the drippings into a clear 4-cup measuring cup. Allow the drippings to settle and separate into oil on top and juices on the bottom. Remove 1/4 cup oil using a kitchen syringe; transfer to a saucepan.
• Mix flour into the oil in the saucepan; cook and stir over medium-low heat until color changes to a light brown, about 5 minutes. Pour 1 cup juices from the measuring cup into flour mixture (roux); cook and stir, adding more drippings for a thinner gravy, until gravy is heated through and smooth, about 5 minutes. Mix chicken broth into gravy; cook and stir until heated through, adding more broth for a thinner gravy, about 5 minutes.

MOM'S COUNTRY GRAVY

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, salt and pepper until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until browned, about 10 minutes. Gradually stir in milk so that no lumps form, and continue cooking and stirring until thickened. If the gravy becomes too thick, you may thin it with a little more milk.

MOM'S PAN TURKEY GRAVY

Steps:

• After roasting the turkey, transfer it to a platter. Either place roasting pan on burner of stove or place dripping in a pan on stove. Turn burner to medium heat.
• Mix flour with cold milk in a jar with a lid and shake to remove lumps. Add a little bit of the pan drippings to jar and mix.
• Pour milk/flour mixture into the roasting pan with drippings. Add broth. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Turkey gravy is usually not very thick. If you want the gravy thicker, add more flour/milk.
• Season with salt & pepper.
• OPTIONAL: I always take the giblets, put them in a pan and cover with water and cook on slow simmer until done, about 2 hours. Then chop the meat and add it to the gravy. Yum!

CLASSIC TURKEY GRAVY

Steps:

• When your turkey goes into the oven, start the broth: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and turkey neck and giblets; cook, stirring, until the giblets are browned, about 15 minutes. Add the chicken broth, herb sprigs and bay leaf; cover and simmer while the turkey roasts, about 2 hours. Strain the broth and keep warm; reserve the neck and giblets, if desired.
• When your turkey is done, transfer it to a cutting board and pour all the pan drippings into a degreasing cup. Add 1/2 cup of the prepared broth to the roasting pan and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. (If the bits are stuck, put the pan over a low burner to loosen them.) Add the bits and liquid to the degreasing cup.
• Let the fat rise to the top of the degreasing cup, then spoon off 1/2 cup fat and transfer to a large saucepan over medium heat. Make a roux: Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the flour browns slightly, about 4 minutes.
• Gradually add the hot broth to the roux, whisking constantly to prevent lumps. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low. Pour the dark roasting juices from the degreasing cup into the gravy, discarding any remaining fat. If desired, chop the giblets and shred the neck meat; add to the gravy. Simmer, whisking occasionally, until the gravy thickens, about 10 minutes. Add the Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the flavored butter, if desired.
• Start with cold heavy cream and mix on high speed.
• After about 3 minutes, you'll have whipped cream; continue mixing.
• After about 6 more minutes, the butter will clump and separate from the liquid. Strain and wrap the butter in cheesecloth, then squeeze out the liquid.
• Tip: To make perfect rounds, shape flavored butter into a log using parchment paper; wrap and chill, then slice.
• Pumpkin
• Mash 1/4 cup canned pure pumpkin, 1 stick softened butter, 1/4 teaspoon orange zest, 1/2 teaspoon each sugar and pumpkin pie spice, and a pinch of salt.
• Spiced Cranberry
• Simmer 1/2 cup cranberries with 1 tablespoon water, 1/4 cup sugar, 1 strip lemon zest, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 clove, 6 to 8 minutes. Discard the zest, cinnamon and clove; let cool. Pulse in a food processor with 1 stick softened butter and a pinch of salt.
• Bourbon-Raisin
• Microwave 1/2 cup raisins with 1 tablespoon bourbon, covered, 45 seconds; let cool. Pulse in a food processor with 1 stick softened butter, 1 tablespoon chopped chives and a pinch of salt.
• Sage Brown Butter
• Melt 1 stick butter over medium heat and cook until browned. Add 1/4 cup sage and fry 30 seconds; drain on paper towels, then chop. Let the brown butter cool; mash with 1 stick softened butter, the sage and a pinch of salt.

CLASSIC TURKEY GRAVY

Steps:

• Pour turkey drippings into a 2-cup measuring cup. Skim fat, reserving 2 tablespoons; set aside. Add enough broth to the drippings to measure 2 cups., In a small saucepan, combine flour and reserved fat until smooth. Gradually stir in the drippings mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Season with salt and white pepper to taste.

MOM'S TURKEY GRAVY

Steps:

• Wrestle that bag of giblets out of the turkey and pry the neck out of the other end.(Take the giblets out of the bag...I know if don't say that, someone will leave them in the bag to cook!). Put them in a big pan with about 6-8 cups of water and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper to taste. Toss in some onion and celery chunks if you want to add flavor, and simmer them, covered, until the larger pieces of the giblets can be easily pierced with a fork.
• Chop the giblets into small pieces (small enough that the children won't know what they're eating!) and cut the meat off the neck. Set the meat aside.
• Heat the broth from the giblets and add any drippings and juice from the pan you roasted the turkey in. The idea here is to get as much gravy as you can, while adding as little water as possible! While the broth is heating, stir the cornstarch into the cold water until it dissolves as much as possible.
• When the broth is boiling, gradually pour in the cornstarch mixture while stirring. You should see the broth beginning to thicken. Don't let it boil over, turn the heat down a little, but keep it pretty hot. Stop pouring and stirring and check the thickness. I usually use all the initial mixture of cornstarch and end up making more and adding it. It depends upon how much broth I have to work with.
• When the gravy is starting to thicken, add the meat, salt and pepper, and the Kitchen Bouquet. This is a liquid seasoning that adds flavor and color to the gravy. If you've never used it, it's worth looking for, and it's worth the cost. Be very careful not to use too much, though, because it can make your gravy bitter. NEVER measure it over the gravy (THIS is the voice of experience! :) ) In a pinch, a few drops of Worcestershire Sauce will make a fairly adequate substitute, but it's not nearly as good!
• The final step is to let it simmer a few minutes, and taste it again. See if you're satisfied with the amount of salt and pepper and if it's thick enough to suit you. You can always thin it with broth or water, or you can bring it back to a boil and add more of the cornstarch mixture if it's too thin.
• HANDY HINT: Once my gravy is perfect, I put in a Crock-Pot on low. It stays hot and perfect throughout the meal. I can just refill the gravy boats with hot gravy as they're needed.

MOM'S PERFECT ROAST TURKEY

Steps:

• Defrost turkey, if necessary.
• Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Open turkey package, (try this in a clean sink) removing turkey giblets and other interior cavity elements along with thermometer. Unless you want to make gravy or cook these elements, throw them away, noting the exact poundage of the bird (cut off the label with this on it if necessary and reserve for time calculations later). Leave the skin on the turkey for roasting.
• Wash (rinse) turkey inside and out, making sure that any stray feathers are removed.
• Place turkey breast-side down in a foil-lined rectangular cake pan (depending upon size of bird, use a 9x13 pan) or foil-lined roasting pan. Also take into consideration that some juices and fat will melt during roasting time and may fill up the pan a bit around the turkey unless put on a roasting rack in the pan. (No one likes to clean up turkey mess, but if you're out of foil, spray pan with cooking spray to have easier cleanup later. I prefer to use a disposable foil pan so that I can discard entire mess after Thanksgiving is over.).
• Place turkey with pan into oven, about in the middle (enough space needed for bird to fit), and not so close to heating element that anything burns.
• Do not change oven temperature. Cook for fifteen minutes per pound. (Example: 20.2 pound bird would be: 20.2x15=303 minutes. 303/60=5.05, so you would need to cook the bird for five hours, and one to three minutes.).
• Take out of oven, and let rest for at least 15-30 minutes. The juices will need to settle back into the bird. If you cut it immediately, you will have a dry bird. Basting is only required when you overcook the meat (aka meat thermometer), or if you want a particular flavor to the turkey (basting with stock, juice of some sort, butter mixture, BBQ sauce, etc.) Turkey, when done well, may be nice with seasonings, but has a great flavor on its own. If you left in the meat thermometer, you should not see it pop out. The bird is still safe to eat and YUMMY!