[KYHeirloomer]

Ginger, et als,

There is an incredibly array of gravy and sauce additives that most of us only find out about by accident. The porcini and other mushroom powders are certainly among them.

One of my new best friends is powdered tomato. I've never seen it commercially, but it's easy enough to make at home. A spoonfull or two perks up many sauces and gravies.

Might be an interesting thread discussing these kinds of products.

Re: toasting flour. If anybody is going to try this for the first time, one word of caution. Do not turn you face away from it for a second. It can go from slightly colored to burned in a hearbeat. So be sure to stir constantly and watch the heat levels carefully.

[georgia]

Okay. I'm back on this topic again -- whether anyone is interested or not. As I type this, I have 4 quarts (yes, 4 QUARTS) of made-ahead gravy cooling slightly before I put it into the freezer for Thanksgiving. Tastes great, and all I can think of is that I will actually have enough gravy for the crowd I'm expecting AND I won't be struggling with it in the middle of preparing the rest of the meal.

I used Rainey's original recipe (via Women's Day magazine), nearly doubling it, as my starting point and tweaked it a bit as follows:

1. I used both wings and necks, partly because I knew the necks would be good flavor and partly because they cost a bit less than the wings.

2. I switched to convection the last half hour of roasting to increase browning.

3. I deglazed the pan with white wine first, then added some water to finish.

4. Increased the # of carrots in the stock and added some celery as well, just because that's how I usually make stock. Also used fresh thyme instead of dried.

5. Allowed the stock to cool overnight and then skimmed the (small amount of) fat before reheating and thickening.

Drawbacks? It takes time, and it takes some extra cash because you do have to purchase those additional turkey parts. Also, turkey parts might be hard to find. My local butcher carries them only at this time of year, so I was lucky. However, I think (for me) it will be well worth it next Thursday. I hope my guests feel the same way!

Just wanted to pass on my experience making this recipe since I raised so many questions about it.

[gingerpale]

Georgia, thank you for posting, I think it cinches/clinches this make-ahead turkey gravy idea. I had to read your comment twice to find the short but important part: "tastes great",
but I'm glad you documented the other stuff too!
I'm careful with carrots (and those sweet onions) because sometimes they add too much sweetness, but celery (and celery seed and celery salt) and yellow onions, fine.
It occured to me that your kitchen (lucky you) already smells like Thanksgiving!

I've been busy because my hunter is home from the Book Cliffs of Utah and an elk is now in my freezer.

Have a lovely day with your full house on Thursday!

[georgia]

Yes, it DID smell like Thanksgiving! When you think of it, the entire process is exactly like making gravy with the Thanksgiving turkey; just substitute the individual turkey parts for the big bird. And, then again, there's all that time and lack of pressure as well.

Bonus: I picked the succulent meat off the wings and combined it with some diced celery, apples, pecans, raisins and dried cranberries and made a lovely little turkey salad. Leftovers!

I've never tasted elk--in fact, have had very little game of any kind. Perhaps that should be on my culinary "to do" list.

Happy Thanksgiving to you (and everyone), too

[KYHeirloomer]

You do need to expand your horizens that way, Georgia. Game---both wild and ranched---is enjoying a justifyable resurgence. It tastes wonderful---often better than beef---and is much healthier.

Elk, itself, is one of the great meats of the world.

[Barbara]