4 winning gravy recipes
Christmas lunch isn’t complete without the perfect Christmas Day gravy so here are 4 to choose between.
I’m not a fan of reinventing the wheel unnecessarily.
So I’m re-posting last year’s 4 recipes and including a lovely Jamie Oliver turkey gravy.
Now, you’re spoilt for choice!
- NEW! Jamie Oliver’s Christmas Day gravy
- Grandma Gunstones’ Bread Sauce
- Tim’s Super Fast Apple Sauce
- Lou’s Basic Homemade Gravy
It’s fun, right?
Christmas is supposed to be happy and joyful and all that jazz…
But it can also be stressful and a complete disaster.
The main stress usually comes from the big day’s meal.
We hang all our happiness and success of the day on this Christmas feast. Get that wrong and it’s all over.
What’s worse is everyone has different ideas on what makes a cracking Christmas meal.
Stick to the basics
But from my experience, it’s almost always best to stick to the basics, do them well, and only divert if you want to make something extra.
What I’m saying here is, don’t upset your mother-in-law or father-in-law by trying to ‘upgrade’ the traditional Christmas dinner with a fancy flourish of something.
Been there. Done that. Don’t advise it.
What people also seem to forget is, that Christmas dinner is just a Sunday roast.
So, there is no need to get all hot and bothered about something you do throughout the year but suddenly lose your marbles when it has the word ‘Christmas’ attached.
Words of wisdom
I listened to Nigella Lawson on the radio one Christmas and these were her 3 ‘words’ of wisdom, which I loved.
- Don’t worry about making sure everything is hot.
- It’s near impossible unless you have a commercial kitchen!
- So, make sure your roast tatties and your gravy are lovely and hot and that’s it.
- Rest your meat. It will make it lovely and moist.
- Invite a guest to Christmas Day… then your family will have to behave! Lol. Love that one 😊
So here are a few basics that are worth knowing when it comes to making a nice hot gravy to enhance your feast and keep the in-laws happy…
- Grandma Gunstones Bread Sauce
- Tim’s Super Fast Apple Sauce
- Lou’s Basic Homemade Gravy
Know any other great simple gravies or sauces? Drop me a line…
Jamie Oliver’s Christmas gravy
Ingredients
- 1 veg trivet (see below for explanation)
- 2 tbsp (heaped tbsp) plain flour
- 1.5 ltr chicken stock (best you can get)
- 1 splash of red wine, vin santo, sherry or port (optional)
- 1 tbsp cranberry or redcurrant jelly
Instructions
- The first step you would have done by cooking the turkey but here’s a tip to enhance the gravy…
- When you start with the turkey, roughly chop approx. 2 x carrots, onions, celery (no need to peel).
- And throw them into the tray with the giblets to make your trivet i.e. a bed for the turkey to sit on and impart flavours.
- Now, back to the gravy.Your turkey is cooked and resting on a plate.Angle the roasting tray and using a spoon, skim away about 3/4 of the excess fat.Place the tray on a medium heat on the hob and stir in the flour with a wooden spoon, scraping up all the sticky bits from the base and sides of the tray.Once combined, pour in the stock, (or the cooking water from your veggies) and bring to the boil.Then leave to simmer gently for about 30 minutes, or as long as it needs to get to the thickness you like for your gravy. As it simmers, if any fat or foam rises to the surface, simply skim it away.
- To add extra flavour, a splash of red wine, Vin Santo, sherry or port and a spoonful of jam or jelly for a bit of sweetness.
- When you’re happy with the consistency, pour the gravy through a coarse sieve into a saucepan, pushing it through with the back of a ladle, then keep warm over low heat until you’re ready to serve.
Notes
Grandma Gunstones Bread Sauce
Ingredients
- 150 g white bread (don't use sour dough)
- 500 ml milk
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves
- 1/4 grated nutmeg
- salt to season
Optional extras
- 2 bay leaves use the cloves to stud these to the onion
- 4 crushed juniper berries add to the milk infusion
- 8 crushed peppercorns add to the milk infusion
Instructions
- Take the onion and stud it with 4 cloves.In a pan, bring to the boil the milk, butter, nutmeg and onion. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for a little the cloves, onion and nutmeg can infuse into the milk.
- In a bowl break up your bread (cut the crusts off) and then slowly pour your infused milk through a sieve over the bread.Mix well and simmer on a low heat mixing every few min until smooth.The texture shouldn't be super smoother, nor really lumpy (somewhere in between).Use a whisk to help get the correct texture. If too dry and lump add more milk and vice versa.
Notes
Tim’s Super Fast Apple Sauce
Ingredients
- 6 apples, peeled, cored and quartered (Golden delicious are our favourite)
- 240 ml apple juice (unfiltered is best)
- 30 ml brandy or cognac
- 60 g honey
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine your apples with all the ingredients.Place a lid on (slightly ajar) to allow steam to escape. and give the occasional stir as the apples soften.
- Once cooked, use a hand blender (or potato masher) and blend to your desired consistency.
- Serve!
Lou’s Basic Homemade Gravy
Ingredients
- Drippings from the roast turkey
- 1 – 2 cups chicken stock (homemade if you have some)
- 1/4 cup plain flour
- 1/4 cup milk
Instructions
- Once you've removed your turkey (and are resting it), simply use the same pan with all the juices and drippings and leave on the stove top. Using a ladle, try and skim off us much fat as you can first.
- In a cup, mix you milk and flour (this is to thicken your gravy and by mixing the flour with milk first, you avoid those horrible lumps of flour if you added it straight in dry)
- On a medium heat, add in the chicken stock and milk-flour mix gradually, stirring it in to the leftover drippings.Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. (It will be your personal judgement on how thick you would like your gravy so it's important to add the milk-flour mix and stock slowly so you can gauge it.
- Season with salt and white pepper to taste.
- Serve!
