Thanksgiving 2014: How To Make Gravy

There’s an art to making turkey gravy, and on Thanksgiving Day -- when you are wrestling the bird and trying to remember what has been prepared in advance and is still sitting in the fridge -- it can get a bit tricky. Not to worry. There are ways.

Heavy.com advised that after removing the turkey from the roaster, you should first skim off the fat and then add chicken stock and store-bought gravy. Boil for five minutes, being sure to scrape the bottom of the pan, and add herbs: parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, perhaps?

Purists skip the store-bought gravy. While the turkey was roasting, you could have made some stock using the giblets, carrots, celery and onions -- as well as wings, should you have a spare pair. Too late? There’s always chicken stock to stretch out the pan drippings (again, skim off the fat). Take four tablespoons of flour and brown the ingredients in a tablespoon or two of oil. Add the stock and drippings, about three cups in all, slowly to avoid lumps and simmer for five minutes before adding herbs. If there are a few lumps, you can always run the concoction through a blender.

Here are a few other tricks of the gravy-making trade:

• TWC News suggested putting the flour in a jar with a cup of chicken stock and shaking until dissolved to get around the lumping problem.
• MyRecipes.com suggested making the gravy with 1/3 cup of butter and two tablespoons of vegetable oil.
• Martha Stewart suggested adding 1 1/2 cups of Madeira wine to the pan drippings instead of stock.

Once the gravy has thickened, pour it into a gravy boat and enjoy.