Making gravy when you haven't had a roast. How?

black-saturn

Open the jar, put 3 tablespoons in, pour on boiling water and stir!! Voila, gravy!!

Horasio

Ordinary Bisto is best. Granules have MSG which upsets my husband.

Bisto is cornflower, salt and caramel colouring.

babyblooz

best way is to fry an onion, gently without burning, in just a little oil, and some garlic if you have some (you can buy jars of it minced now) and let it all sweat slowly, then turn up the heat, and as it sizzles, pour in a little water, and this sort of lifts up all the tasty bits from the bottom of the pan, ..... then you can add granules or powder to this if you want, or add salt and pepper etc, and it tastes so much better than the thick brown wallpaper paste that masquerades as gravy. If you add a stock cube, or some mixed herbs, or whatever really, it just tastes so much better, and if you have cooked veggies, just use the water from that, and it will all add to the taste. Just give it a go, even add a splash of red wine if you have any leftover stuff.

Penny-Pincher!!

We have gravy most nights and always have instant as a back up. What I usually do though is when I do roast a joint or cook a chicken, make loads of gravy and freeze in bags, then pull out when needed.

HTH

PP
xx

wigginsmum

Bisto Best is the way to go, and the added bonus is it's gluten-free.

belleooo

CCStar wrote:

Ordinary Bisto is best. Granules have MSG which upsets my husband.

Bisto is cornflower, salt and caramel colouring.

Juices from the vegetables that have been simmering away and Bisto (proper Bisto gravy salts in the box, remember to mix a bit with some water to form a paste before adding it to the juices). Or, never tried this before, an Oxo with the Bisto. Proper Bisto is an essential item in anyones kitchen cupboard. And yes, you can freeze homemade gravy. Remember to drain any fats if using meat juices.

dronid

I've popped this elsewhere but given that I avoid Bisto and it's ilk I thought I'd put up this alternative

The meat juices and fat from the roasts aren't particularly healthy but they're at least found in nature unlike the dreaded hydrogenated fats which have all sorts of oddities in them including the nasty trans-fatty acids which are really nasty. If you're embarking on a totaly fat free diet then fine but it does add a good flavour. You could also skim off the fat from the meat juices too.

Basic Gravy

1pt stock(ideally water from the vegetables)/wine/water and if still a bit weak tasting you could add a bouilon stock cube.
1tbsp Plain Flour and slightly more of fat (IE just over 1tbsp fat vegetable oil or animal fat (Roast Pan Juices?) If not then skip to the end.

Put the roasting pan over the heat until it's sizzling, add the flour and stir briskly into the fat and juices. You'll need to be pretty asssertive in your stirring as well as this stops lumps. You should end up with something like a thick paste and it should be sizzling too (this is a roux).
Start stiring in the stock a little at a time. It should amalgamate with the roux and loosen up. Keep stiring and adding, the mixture should be bubbling all the time, it can't be done cold or cool. Each time you mix in some stock ensure it's all mixed in.

That's gravy.

If it's too thick add a little more stock, if it's too thin simmer it until it reduces and thickens up.

Cheat - use cornflour and do the same thing in a saucepan, it shouldn't form lumps at all. just keep mixing! If you're using no fat at all mix the cornflower into cold water first until there are no lumps, then add it to the stock and boil it up stirring all the time.

if you want it particularly flavoursome as suggested fry an onion until caramelised and mix that in.

You should be able to freeze any gravy.

Yummy!:D

[Deleted User]

black-saturn wrote:

Open the jar, put 3 tablespoons in, pour on boiling water and stir!! Voila, gravy!!

Do you mean Bisto?

[Deleted User]

wigginsmum wrote:

Bisto Best is the way to go, and the added bonus is it's gluten-free.

Does it have the dreaded hydrogenated fats?

[Deleted User]

When I do a roast, (other than a whole chicken cos it won;t fit in my slow cooker) I tend to slow cook the joint and then put in the over for the last 15 mins to get the roast taste. I usually spray it with olive oil before it goes in the oven.

Hence I don't really ever have any meat juices for gravy.