Simple and cheap gravy mix.

Beings it that time of year when here at the house we’ll be eating more potatoes and cold weather food heres what I use for a quick gravy mix. When we fry any meat I use the drippings for a starter then add a little milk, onions and a can of mushroom soup and a can of mushrooms. I heat the milk up in the pan then put in a can of mushroom soup, then add a can of sliced mushrooms and some dried celery flakes. I cook it for about 10 minutes and its pretty fair tasteing gravy and fast to make. Whats your simple and fast gravy mixes?

Fry tenderloins or back strap medalions in garlic butter. Cook until the juices flow out of the meat, and set meat aside. Take a cup of milk, and add it to the drippings. heat it up, and add corn starch in small quantities until it thickens. Salt and pepper to taste. Then add meat back in, or add stew veggies that have been steamed. Sliced potatoes (Cooked) or white or wild rice and shrooms round it out.

Mossy: That’s how I started before life in the restaurant biz.

Tuck: That sounds fabulous!!! Garlic butter is always a great start!!!

I just mix the butter and flour together in the micro for the fast thickening agent. Using this method you can add all sorts of flavors. Here’s a little more detailed account:

Using some type of fat is critical for your gravy mix. Be it the fat in the drippings or blending fat into the mix some other way.

Then flour is the next step. In a lot of cases, I will melt 2-4 tablespoons of butter in the micro, then blend in flour to make a thick paste. This is called a roux, and I cheated making it this way. If you can cook it in the pan, you can add some flavor to the flour by cooking it a little longer or take it to a dark consistency and make a gumbo!!!

Sorry back to the gravy, if you have enough fluid in your pot, just add to while turning up the heat to make the fluid simmer. This will thicken the liquid contents to make the sauce. If you do not use all of the roux, throw it back in the frig and use it the next time.

If you need some liquid, then add some type of stock/broth from the can from the store, unless you want to make some of your own (this is another story). Chicken, beef, fish stock/broth will all work, you may need a little more roux and/or more heat to get the sauce to thicken. You can add all sorts of flavors this way.

Mark

Ya MB I’ve got some beef and chicken stock on the shelf right now. Chris I add garlic to just about anything I can, its good for the ticker. I add extra flour to the meat im frying to get the crispy leftovers in the pan for the gravy. One way I found out how to get a thicker crust is flour, lets say pork steak, let it sit awhile until all the flour on the steak is now semi wet again. Redip into the flour again then you have a thick crispy coating when done frying. This extra flour is knockout to make a thicker coating and gives you enough crispys for the gravy. When frying I always use a lid then the crust gets thicker and fries up really crisp. When done with the frying take your meat out and then add whatever stock to the drippings, mix in flour or corn starch for a clearer gravy AND put that over your potatoes or some baked buns. Good gravy is dynamite over leftovers and you can make it out of just about anything. Man im hungry now and I have to go to work. Beef gravy over boiled and buttered sweet potatoes with a side of cottage cheese and home made buns anybody?