DIY -- Gravy

Gravy is not easy -- unless you know the tricks.

In the Salisbury steak post, I had you make gravy the quick way, with cornstarch.  Now I'm going to teach you the classic way, the French way, which also works for chicken and other meats.

Start two hours before you plan to serve whatever you will put the gravy on.  Roast your chicken or other meat and pour the drippings into a bowl.  If it's chicken, you should also boil the giblets for half an hour in at least a cup of water.  Pepper it lightly.

At least an hour before you plan to serve, make your roux.
Chop one onion and half a carrot finely and sauté in 2 TABLESPOONS of oil, margarine, or butter (I cook kosher so I would not use the butter) over 2 1/2 heat, no higher.   You can also add 4 diced mushroom caps, half a stalk of celery chopped, or a piece of green bell pepper the size of your palm diced fine.  Or all of them!

It's done when the onion starts to look transparent instead of white or yellow.

Now add 2 TABLESPOONS of flour and stir to coat the vegetable.  Keep stirring until the mixture is only slightly damp.  The roux is done.

Now add your broth made from the drippings or giblets and stir thoroughly.  Taste and add pepper if you want.  Leave the lid off and let this simmer -- bubbling slightly -- for at least half an hour.  It should be thicker.  Let it simmer another half hour.  If it isn't nice and thick -- and the quantity will be less by this point -- you can use the cornstarch mix if you want.

So why not just go the cornstarch route with the drippings and giblets and forget all this work?  It's fine by me, I'm no snob.  I'm just here to show you that you can avoid the chemicals in the canned gravy and the money you pay for the manufacturing of the chemicals, the gravy, and the packaging and get a superior product, if you DIY.

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2018 All Rights Reserved

DIY -- Basic Cooking V Roast Chicken

I checked out what I would pay for this at the same place as I bought the whole chicken in my freezer.  It almost comes out even, except that the store wants you to feed 8 people on one chicken and it doesn't say what weight the chicken is.  Now, that's not really a bad thing because the meal includes sides, salad and bread so even if each person only gets 1/8 chicken, that's a reasonable meal size unless you insist on making your guests fat.  It costs extra for soup and appetizer and dessert.

Here's the DIY version.
Make your bread in the morning.

Set up your appetizer dish: pickled cucumber, olive, onion, artichoke hearts, and beets.  Optional fish in wine sauce or rolled up slices of hard salami.

Make your dessert while the oven is hot from the bread.

Roast chicken
1 raw chicken, whole, cleaned (giblets might be in it)
1 TBSP parsley
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp tarragon
1/2 tsp chives

Rub or sprinkle outside of chicken with seasonings, place in roaster and put in 450 degree oven.

The same vegetables as last week's meatloaf: 1 small white potato or half a large russet or 1/2 sweet potato per person, 1/2 carrot each (unless you're using sweet potatoes and then substitute 1/2 turnip), 1/2 stalk celery each, mushroom caps.

If you got giblets, then make a roux as I taught you, add the giblets and a slice leek, a bay leaf, a pinch thyme, and a cup and a half water.  Set the burner to 2, cover and let simmer simmer simmer.  Stir once in a while.

When the chicken has been roasting 30 minutes, put in the vegetables, then cover again and put back in the oven.

Make your salad and put in the fridge.

At the 45 minute point, pour 1/2 cup wine or sherry into the roaster and swirl it around to get the drippings off.  This is called "deglazing the pan."  Pour half of this in with your gravy in the saucepan, cover, and keep simmering.

Put the vegetables on a heavy china serving plate.  Take the breast meat off and put on top of the vegetables.  Add the thigh meat.  Leave the skin on the meat to keep it from drying out.  Cover the dish closely with aluminum foil, turn the oven down to 200 and put the dish in it.

Then put the wings, drumsticks and the rest of the carcass, along with the other half of the drippings, in a soup pot with two cups of water, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp onion powder.  If you want parsley floating in it, add a pinch.  Bring to a boil, then simmer half an hour covered.  This will make a clear soup in which you can float croutons or oyster crackers.  If you want vegetables in it, add the roasted celery and carrot or turnip.

Check your gravy.  If it's too liquid, tilt the lid of the pan a bit, which makes a vent through which the juices will boil off a little.  If it's too thick, add a little water, stir thoroughly, and put the lid on straight.

Now set your table and make sure you put a ceramic plate in the middle for the hot serving plate of chicken and vegetables.  Or else let everybody serve themselves in the kitchen. 
Put the salad and dressing in the middle with the basket of sliced bread next to it and get started. 
Serve the soup piping hot after fifteen minutes. 
Bring out the entree and add a tureen full of the gravy. 
Then serve your dessert.

If you think it's overkill to have both gravy and soup, well, don't serve the soup to your guests.  Serve dinner while the soup simmers instead of waiting for the soup to cook.  You can add noodles, peas, corn, etc. and take this and some of your bread to work for lunch.  It should be at least 3 servings of soup.

This gives you a six-serving five-course dinner, or four courses plus 3 to 4 lunches for work.
© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2018 All Rights Reserved

DIY -- Basic cooking III Saute

It's a short step from browning to sautéing.  And for that we're going to make Salisbury steak.

There are two ways you can make it, one with tomatoes and one with mushrooms.  When I was a kid my mom made it with tomatoes because mushrooms were expensive.  Yeah, that was a long time ago, so what?

1 pound marrow bones or 2 cups canned beef broth

If you use marrow bones, put them in your saucepan, cover with water, chop in 1/3 cup onion and half a stalk of celery plus half a carrot.  What are we making?  A Mirepoix!  So you know you have to bring this to a boil and then turn the heat to 2 1/2 and simmer at least an hour.  You can make this in advance.

You can also cook your rice in advance.  1 cup rice in 1 1/2 cups boiling water, cover and reduce heat for at least 15 minutes to cook through.

1 pound low fat ground beef, 1/3 cup finely chopped onion, couple dashes black pepper; mix together with rice and shape into 4 patties.

BROWN the patties, then add a TABLESPOON of oil and 1 cup sliced mushroom caps.  SAUTE 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups broth, either what you made with the marrow bones and vegetables (leave the veggies in) or what you get out of the can, PLUS 1 TABLESPOON Worcestershire sauce and then another dash of that.  Simmer on 2 1/2  covered.

While the meat simmers, mix 1 TABLESPOON plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch with 2 TABLESPOONS COLD water.  If you use hot water, you'll get glue immediately.  It has to be cold water. 

Then put your veggies into a small amount of boiling water -- use anything frozen.

Now put the cornstarch mix in the pan with your meat and stir thoroughly.  Cover and let simmer at least 10 minutes while your vegetables cook; the broth should thicken up.

You can use red wine instead of Worcestershire sauce, but should add a dash more black pepper.

So the list of ingredients is: 1 pound low fat ground beef; 1 cup rice; 1 onion; Worcestershire sauce; 1 pound marrow bones or 16 ounces canned beef broth; 8 ounces mushrooms; a box of cornstarch; your favorite frozen vegetables.

I highly recommend learning to make your own marrow bone Mirepoix because next we are going to learn to make gravy base, a roux.  Also canned things have way too much salt in them.

© Patricia Jo Heil, 2013-2018 All Rights Reserved