Save yourself the stress and hassle of making gravy on Thanksgiving morning: make it ahead! This is a very simple recipe, which will leave you with a quart of rich, flavorful gravy you can have at the ready when the bird is cooked. Warm it gently on the stovetop before serving, and fortify it with this year’s drippings for even more flavor.
A few weeks ago, when I began thinking about Thanksgiving, I logged in here, to my Alexandra’s Kitchen dashboard, hoping to find a Thanksgiving 2018 “After Action Report”, a draft I thought — hoped! — I had created with notes from last year’s feast.
Incredibly, it existed. Truly a Thanksgiving miracle. Included in those notes was a recipe for a make-ahead gravy, which I made earlier this week based on this one sentence:
“Made the gravy: 4 tablespoons butter, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 cup Sherry, 5-6 cups stock (turkey stock frozen from last year), salt, pepper, simmer.”
That’s truly all the instruction you need to make a simple gravy, but I’ve included a recipe below. What is especially nice about having a gravy on hand before the bird is even roasted is the mental assurance that as soon as the bird is done, you can (after it rests) serve it without too much of a last-minute scramble.
Make Ahead Gravy How-To
Gather your ingredients: Homemade chicken (or other) stock is best. If you have turkey stock made from last year’s (or other) bird on hand, use that.
Melt 4 tablespoons butter.
Add 1/4 cup flour and whisk to combine. Love this sauce whisk .
Whisk until it begins to turn light brown, 2 – 4 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup Sherry, and whisk to combine…
it will seize up…
Add 5 cups of stock, a teaspoon of kosher salt, pepper to taste, a few sprigs sage or thyme, and …
… bring to a simmer:
Reduce heat, and let simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until slightly thickened. Taste. It should taste nicely seasoned. Keep it on the thin side: it thickens up as it rests, and furthermore you’ll be simmering it again on Thanksgiving morning, which will reduce it further.
Store in the fridge (or freeze) until Thanksgiving. Warm gently stovetop before serving.
Description
Save yourself the stress and hassle of making gravy on Thanksgiving morning: make it ahead! This is a very simple recipe, which will leave you with a quart of rich, flavorful gravy you can have at the ready when the bird is cooked. Warm it gently on the stovetop before serving, and fortify it with this year’s drippings for even more flavor.
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Sherry, such as Harvey’s Bristol Cream
- 5 to 6 cups chicken stock or turkey stock , preferably homemade
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- a few sprigs fresh sage or thyme
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Continue whisking for 2 to 4 minutes or until the mixture begins to turn light brown. Add the sherry, and whisk to combine. Add 5 cups of the stock, the 1 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste, and the few springs herbs.
- Bring to a simmer, watching closely — it will bubble way up. Adjust the heat so the mixture is just barely simmering. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Extract the herbs using tongs. Taste the gravy. Add the additional cup of stock if you wish to thin the texture if it is too thick. Adjust flavor with more salt or pepper to taste. Simmer to reach the desired consistency. Suggestion: Keep the gravy on the thin side because you will be simmering it further on Thanksgiving morning.
- Straing the gravy; then store it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to serve. Before serving, gently reheat stovetop until hot. Add drippings from the current year’s turkey for an even more flavorful gravy.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Description
Save yourself the stress and hassle of making gravy on Thanksgiving morning: make it ahead! This is a very simple recipe, which will leave you with a quart of rich, flavorful gravy you can have at the ready when the bird is cooked. Warm it gently on the stovetop before serving, and fortify it with this year’s drippings for even more flavor.
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup Sherry, such as Harvey’s Bristol Cream
- 5 to 6 cups chicken stock or turkey stock , preferably homemade
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- a few sprigs fresh sage or thyme
- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the flour and whisk to combine. Continue whisking for 2 to 4 minutes or until the mixture begins to turn light brown. Add the sherry, and whisk to combine. Add 5 cups of the stock, the 1 teaspoon salt, pepper to taste, and the few springs herbs.
- Bring to a simmer, watching closely — it will bubble way up. Adjust the heat so the mixture is just barely simmering. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Extract the herbs using tongs. Taste the gravy. Add the additional cup of stock if you wish to thin the texture if it is too thick. Adjust flavor with more salt or pepper to taste. Simmer to reach the desired consistency. Suggestion: Keep the gravy on the thin side because you will be simmering it further on Thanksgiving morning.
- Straing the gravy; then store it in the fridge or freezer until you are ready to serve. Before serving, gently reheat stovetop until hot. Add drippings from the current year’s turkey for an even more flavorful gravy.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Find it online : https://alexandracooks.com/2019/11/15/simple-make-ahead-gravy/
Friends, Thanksgiving is fast approaching. Are you ready?
I’ve been making to-do lists and slowly stocking up: with every visit to the store, I pick up an extra pound of butter or a sack of flour or a bag of brown sugar … I know it won’t go to waste.
I’ve rounded up my favorite recipes below.
Hope all of your preparations are going well. I truly cannot believe another Thanksgiving is nearly here.
As always: I’m thankful for all of you 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽
Thanksgiving Favorites
Philadelphia Fish House Punch
Alice Waters’s Potato Gratin
Kale and Caramelized Onion Stuffing
Ina Garten’s Balsamic Brussels Sprouts
Red Wine Cranberry Sauce
No-Cook Cranberry Sauce
Make-Ahead Gravy
No-Knead Thyme Dinner Rolls
Peasant Bread
Roasted Butternut Squash Pie
No-Corn Syrup Pecan Pie
Salted Maple Pie
French Apple Tart
Philadelphia Fish House Punch
Perhaps for its three-times-a-year appearance but more likely for its reception, which without fail is wild, I look forward to both making and drinking Philadelphia Fish House Punch more than just about anything during the holiday season. It’s festive and fun, and it makes everyone happy.
Get the Recipe
Stuffing
A great way to get a jumpstart on Thanksgiving preparations is to make stuffing and freeze it. Below is a recipe for my favorite stuffing, which emerges with a crisp golden exterior and a creamy center, flavorful enough to eat on its own, but welcoming to many a sauce, gravy, relish or anything else the Thanksgiving table has to offer.
Get the Recipe
Vegetable Side Dish
I say this every year, but I can’t help repeat it: One bite of Alice Waters’s potato gratin makes me instantly forget everything else on the table. It is so utterly delicious.
More Vegetable Side Dishes
Make-Ahead Gravy
The especially nice thing about having gravy on hand before the bird is even roasted is the mental assurance that as soon as the bird is done, you can (after it rests) serve it without too much of a last-minute scramble.
Bread
Thyme dinner rolls have become a Thanksgiving staple, but I also always have a few loaves of my mother’s peasant bread on hand, ready to heat up as needed.
More Bread
Biscuits
If you are yeast averse, here are two options:
Cranberry Sauces
Two More Sauces
If you are making a ham, my grandmother’s mustard sauce is a must! I also love applesauce on the Thanksgiving table.
Dessert
Every Thanksgiving I make a double batch of this pie dough recipe (video below), which yields 4 rounds of pie dough, which I use in the 4 recipes below.
After punch, I think I most look forward to butternut squash pie , AKA Ronnie Hollingsworth’s most excellent squash pie. There is something so special to me about roasting a butternut squash for dessert — butternut squash truly makes the best ‘pumpkin’ pie you will ever taste. I promise.
Also: You know what I think is the key to every Thanksgiving pie’s success? Salted whipped cream. So good. Recipe included here .
More Desserts
Foolproof Pie Dough
How to Roll Out Pie Dough
Gobble Gobble
Wishing you all a happy holiday season.
xo
