For good pan gravy the very first thing you MUST do is fry up some good dead critter be it beef, chicken or whatever suits your fancy.
Then decide how much gravy you want to make. For Farmdad and I, I leave about 1/4 cup of the grease that I fried my meat in in the bottom of the pan. Make sure your grease is hot but not smokin hot.
Take a few tablespoons of flour and stir it into the grease. It needs to be just enough that it doesn't leave extra grease on top of your mess in the skillet. It should look somewhat like a thin paste:
Now the real secret to pan gravy is to let the flour cook into your grease. Do not under cook the pasty substance or you will be left with a very starchy tasting gravy. Actually most people think they are going to burn the gravy if they leave it too long and in a way that is exactly what you are doing but not enough to blacken it just get it to a nice golden brown. This usually takes 2-3 minutes.
Now the next step is the hardest. You really can't leave your gravy at this point. Take your jug of Whole milk,( whole milk makes a richer gravy) and start pouring it into the pan stirring constantly. ( Love my coated whisks for this. ) Put plenty milk in to start with or you will end up with a sticky glop. You must keep stirring the gravy and adding milk slowly as it thickens to get the right consistency. It will start out very runny but will thicken pretty fast. Add a little milk and let it thicken then add some more and so on. Keep adding milk and stirring till the gravy is bubbly and the consistency that suits you. If you happen to get it a little thinner than you want just let it bubble for a minute or two and it will thicken some more:
Stir, Stir, Stir! Too little stirring will leave you with lumpy gravy.
At the end, your gravy should cling to the spoon. It's going to be slightly more runny than you think it should be, but don't worry! It will thicken as it cools down:
Now you're ready for a delicious meal!
Once you get the hang of it good pan gravy is easy to make and will impress your friends to no end. (obviously LOL ) The best advice I can give is just practice till you get it the way you want it. Don't get discouraged if it doesn't work the first time. I had many failures before I got my first GOOD batch of gravy.
*post written by Farmmom, photos, editing, and compilation by Farmgirl.
21 comments:
That's the same method my mother taught me. She liked to add "cracklins" from the fried (pick your meat of choice) to the gravy.
One thing I've changed from that recipe is to use Seasoned Flour. I don't remember the brand at the moment but salt, pepper and some addition seasonings are added to the flour. Just makes things a bit easier.
My Gramma liked gravy sandwiches. She's slice a big chunk of home-made bread and sink it under a load of chicken or pork-chop gravy.
I've found there are few things on a dinner menu that can't be improved by a good splosh of gravy!
I'm SO slobbering-- can really only be 8 days since I had your delectable gravy? Thanks so much for the how-to, and the photos turned out beautifully. Thanks for the gravy-lesson! :)
*HUGS TO FARMFAM*
Dang, now I'm gonna have to try it. I have no excuse.
It looks like the meat was dredged in the seasoned flour prior to frying.. so that grease should be pretty flavorful already.
Crucis I use the same flour that I use to bread the critter. This happened to be my Spicy Fried Chicken so that just adds a bit of bite to the gravy.
Phlemmy, when you come back we will play!
Alan, go for it! practice makes perfect
It's just like my mom's recipe, and mine. My grandmother used condensed milk when she wanted a really rich gravy.
Do not even bother to try skim milk.
Agreed George. If you want really rich gravy use the condensed milk. And low fat or 2% just makes it taste watery. I usually use the condensed milk when I'm making biscuits and sausage gravy.
Condensed milk is all fine and good. But half and half is better, and if you want to stop your heart, heavy cream is just what you need.
FarmMom,
You've a way with words. This is far and away the best explanation of how to make gravy I've read. I do think you've a cook book in you.
Thank you,
Bob
Y'all are killin me here... I'm still on the road, stuck eating at Mickey D's until tomorrow... sigh...
And yep, that's the same recipe, but a better explanation than I've seen! It's also the way to make a roux for cajun food, rather than milk, you use onions to freeze the roux!
Yummmmm :-)
FarmMom,
Please, what spices were in the flour for frying the chicken?
Wing.. The spices are salt, pepper, seasoning salt and cayenne pepper. You will just have to play with the spices to see how much of what you are comfortable with. Enjoy!
Delicious!! NOMNOMNOMNOM...
Maybe FarmMom could start canning her gravy and selling it to folks like me, here in NY, who can't get any of that good stuff!!!! WANT!!! Oh wait...you just posted the recipe. Heh.
Looks like I'll be making some fried chicken some time this week. Mmmm...nomnomnomnom
I'll try this too - and blog it! (btw, what is the cheesy looking thing over on the side there?"
That's a steamed cauliflower head with plain old Kraft cheese slices laid over it while it's hot to melt in. Good stuff.
Oh Man! Thanks for the great explanation FarmMom! I have tried and failed to make sausage gravy so many times. Now I know why it tastes like flour paste with sausage flavoring. This Sunday I will prevail!
I'll certainly take you up on the invitation. And some day soon, when I get a little more time, the gravy post is going to have a permanent place in my side bar. You're doing the Lord's work with that stuff, Madam!
Adapted today for mushroom-bacon gravy. Highly successful!
I used your instructions to make turkey gravy this morning, used heavy cream, and it was great! My family all say thanks!
Phil
*whimpers* No meal was complete for my grandma if it didn't have white gravy. She always had the can of bacon grease there ready to go. I could still have GOOD white gravy with every meal and be a happy girl. I was lucky enough to have the two best cooks in Vigo Co. Indiana as my grandmas. You brought back many happy memories. (And a growling tummy)
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