Good gravy!

I saw Jamie Oliver's post on weekend roasts (how traditional!) and they sounded very good. I don't do roasts much anymore since they are either a.) fatty or b.) expensive, or both. But I still love the taste of a great roast chicken, and the one on his site looked mighty delicious (the recipe is here.)

But when I rolled over to his recipe for gravy and saw he had out the sieve, I went uh-oh. And sure enough, he had the drippings being skimmed of fat and then flour added to the liquid. That process almost always results in lumps.

For really good gravy that has a good color and no lumps, first make a roux. For each cup of liquid you have (I'm assuming you've simmered the neck and giblets while the chicken was cooking or have some good quality stock plus the defatted part of the drippings from the pan), put 1 tablespoon of the fat you skimmed off from the drippings into a large cast-iron skillet on medium heat until it's almost smoking. Add a like amount of flour and stir the mixture constantly until it's a deep brown, turning down the heat if it's browning too fast (if it burns, you will need to throw it out and start over). When it's a very deep brown, whisk in the liquid, turn up the heat a bit and bring it to a low boil. When it thickens, remove from the heat and serve. The only lumps would be the dripping solids and some bits of vegetable, and if you want it perfectly smooth, sieve your dripping liquid before adding to the pan.

I rarely use a sieve. Bring on the full taste!

Turkey tips - what NOT to do

The photo-op turkey

These tips were published last year in Food & Wine, but they're still good advice for the coming holiday. I cook four turkeys every Wednesday before Thanksgiving to feed about 80 people at St. Paul's Memorial Church. Please join us if you can; we ask those who are planning to come to call the office at (434) 295-2156 and let us know what side dish you'd like to bring.

I've taken the liberty to add some of my own hints to Alessandra Bulow's excellent ones.


5 Easy Ways to Ruin the Thanksgiving Turkey
BY ALESSANDRA BULOW | POSTED NOVEMBER 10, 2011 

You’ve reserved a beautiful bird, found a big enough pan (that fits in your oven!) and purchased an instant-read thermometer to roast your Thanksgiving turkey to a perfectly moist 160–165°F—but there's still room to go wrong. Here, F&W’s Senior Recipe Developer Grace Parisi reveals the biggest turkey mistakes made by home cooks.

For a better-tasting bird, divide and conquer

1. Overstuff the cavity. By the time the stuffing reaches a safe temperature (165 °F) in an overstuffed bird, the white meat will be totally dried out. Parisi’s rule of thumb: Cook no more than five cups of stuffing in a 15-pound bird and bake the rest in a separate dish. She also stuffs the neck, which won't increase overall cooking time.
My advice: Cook the stuffing, made with the broth from the giblets, in a casserole, and make a good gravy from the drippings to go over it.

2. Crowd the oven. Like a teenager, a roasting turkey likes privacy and space. Baking casseroles and other foods with the bird disrupts oven temperature and alters your turkey’s expected cooking time. Also, if the bird is placed too close to the top of the oven, the breast will dry out and the skin will burn; you should remove some of the higher oven racks to make room.
My advice: If your sides don't involve Parmesan or bread products, cook them ahead of time and warm up in the microwave. If they have a topping that needs to be crispy, cook them to almost done and cool.  Cook the turkey, take it out and cover it loosely, then turn up the heat. Take out the dishes that need oven time and cook 15 minutes or until bubbly.

3. Check the bird obsessively. Opening the oven door cools down the oven so much that you’ll end up increasing the cooking time by a lot.
My advice: Forget about basting. Brine or season well, make sure the skin is dry then well oiled, and don't overcook. Take it out when the instant read thermometer hits 160 degrees - it will gain another 5 degrees as it rests. If you really want the breast moist and the legs done, and don't need the bird for a photo op, separate them and cook the legs long and slow on the stove or in a crock pot, the breast in the oven. This also cuts down on the cooking time.

4. Carve the turkey immediately. Turkey needs to rest for at least 30 minutes to keep the juices from flowing out of the bird and drying out your meat. Resist the urge to carve right away and go freshen up. If guests aren't already waiting for you, they'll certainly be there soon.
My advice: That half hour is also a good time to finish the side dishes you've partially prepared in advance.

5. Brine a kosher turkey. Since a kosher turkey has already been treated with salt, brining it will yield an overly salty turkey.
My advice: Don't brine any turkey that says it has up to 15 percent saline solution added.

Countdown to turkey day

In case you are new to this blog, there was a posting last month on how to do-ahead much of your Thanksgiving dinner so the cook can enjoy the day, too. Recipes for most of these dishes can be found here. To recap, here is the timetable:

Start cooking Sunday; buy bird Wednesday.

Sunday: Make the apple cake and/or the pumpkin ice cream pie and freeze (the sauces can be refrigerated).

Monday: Make the Gulliver's Corn. Refrigerate.

Tuesday: Make the Curried Cream of Pumpkin Soup and the Make-Ahead Mashed Potatoes. Blanch the green beans and make the sauce for that dish. Refrigerate.

Wednesday: Pick up a fresh turkey, allowing 3/4 to 1 pound per person. Make stock from the neck and giblets. Make stuffing and gravy; refrigerate. Wash turkey in cold water and dry well; cover and refrigerate. Set the table and cover with a sheet. Take the cake out of the freezer and thaw overnight in the fridge.

Thursday: Determine when you would like to eat. Calculate the cooking time, stuff the turkey, place it on a rack in a large roasting pan and bake as directed. If you don't stuff the turkey, put the dressing into a loaf pan and cook it with the turkey for 45 minutes to an hour. Remove the turkey from the oven and let it rest for 45 minutes while you heat the soup, the gravy and vegetable sauce on the stove, and bake the potatoes and corn in the 350-degree oven. Take out the green beans from the fridge. After 25-30 minutes, take out the potatoes and corn and crank up the oven to 400 degrees. Meanwhile, serve the soup and urge everyone to start without you. Carve the turkey. Remove the stuffing to a serving dish, or slice it from the loaf pans. Toss the green beans with the sauce. Turn down the oven to 350 degrees. Serve and enjoy!

For dessert, put the apple cake into the oven 10 minutes before you're ready to serve. Heat up the sauce. Serve up the cake and top with sauce. Or soften the ice-cream pie a bit by putting it in the refrigerator before sitting down to eat, then serve it with its sauce after the meal.