Peppercorn Press

Every Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter with our families, one of our aunts or mothers (please don’t tell them we said this) struggles with the turkey gravy.  We can end up with anything from light brown flavorless water to lumpy turkey flavored pudding!  Each of them means well, and everyone in the family will always swear that it is the best gravy they have ever tasted, but in truth, many times it falls flat.

This gravy is the perfect complement to holiday turkeys, and it turns out every time.

Ingredients

4 cups turkey drippings/stock

5 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature

¼ cup + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour

2 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chopped sage

1 teaspoon thyme leaves, crushed

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Kosher salt to taste

Preparation

Skim the fat from the turkey drippings.  Add turkey stock to make 4 cups.  (If your drippings are heavily seasoned, you may want to use only turkey stock.) Chicken stock can be substituted, but if serving with turkey, start with 6 cups chicken stock and simmer until reduced to 4 cups.

In a large saucepan over medium low heat, melt the butter.  Add the flour, using a whisk to combine.  Stirring constantly, cook the flour for about 2 minutes or just until it begins to brown.  Using the whisk to keep it from getting lumps stir in the stock.  Simmer for about 5 minutes until it begins to thicken stirring constantly with the whisk.

Hopefully the gravy is velvety smooth, but if you ended up with a few lumps, don’t worry.  Simply pour the gravy slowly through a wire mesh strainer to remove any lumps.  Return the lump-free gravy to the pan and heat to a simmer again.  Stir in the parsley, sage, thyme and pepper.  Salt to taste, and serve piping hot.

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas.