MAKE-AHEAD TURKEY GRAVY
You can’t serve turkey without gravy (and if you ask us, the same goes for mashed potatoes and stuffing), but this key part of any holiday feast is often left to the last minute, frantically cobbled together once the bird emerges from the oven.
Our make-ahead gravy relieves some of the stress of holiday hosting and boasts bigger turkey flavour than your typical gravy recipe. Chicken broth, white wine and some sprigs of thyme promised flavourful, savoury complexity.
The finished gravy boasted all the body of a traditional preparation, but it was ready with time to spare and offered incredible meaty depth.
Makes: about 2 quarts (2 L)
6 turkey thighs, trimmed, or 9 wings, separated at the joints Reserved turkey giblets and neck, optional
2 medium carrots, chopped coarse
2 medium celery ribs, chopped coarse
2 medium onions, chopped coarse 1 head garlic, halved Vegetable oil spray
10 cups (2.5 L) chicken broth, plus extra as needed
2 cups (500 ml) dry white wine 12 sprigs fresh thyme Unsalted butter, as needed
1 cup (250 ml) all-purpose flour Salt and pepper Defatted turkey drippings, optional
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 F (230 C).
2. Toss thighs; giblets, if using; carrots; celery; onions and garlic together in large roasting pan and spray with vegetable oil spray. Roast, stirring occasionally, until well browned,
1/2 to 1 3/4 hours.
3. Transfer contents of roasting pan to Dutch oven. Add broth, wine and thyme sprigs and bring to boil, skimming as needed.
4. Reduce to gentle simmer and cook until broth is brown and flavourful and measures about 8 cups (2 L) when strained, about 1 1/2 hours. Strain broth through fine-mesh strainer into large container, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible; discard solids.
5. Let strained turkey broth settle (if necessary), then spoon off and reserve 1/2 cup (125 ml) of fat that has risen to top (add butter as needed if short on turkey fat).
6. Heat fat in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until bubbling. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking constantly, until well browned, 3-7 minutes.
7. Slowly whisk in turkey broth and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until gravy is very thick, 10-15 minutes. Add defatted drippings, if using, to taste, then season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve.