In article
>,
Cindy Hamilton > wrote:

> On Apr 5, 12:52*pm, sf > wrote:
> > On Mon, 5 Apr 2010 09:03:59 -0700 (PDT), Nancy2
> >
> > > wrote:
> > > > > Wayne Boatwright
> >
> > > > I mentioned milk as I thought that was what my Granny used when she
> > > > made pan
> > > > gravy after frying chicken in fat.- Hide quoted text -
> >
> > > She probably did. *I think it was very common before there all kinds
> > > of pre-packaged brown gravy options. *It's still my favorite for fried
> > > chicken. *Brown gravy just doesn't do it.
> >
> > I don't fry chicken anymore, but when I did - I didn't have a clue how
> > to make milk gravy. *How is it made by dumping flour and milk into all
> > that grease? *Sounds disgusting. *I never use packaged gravy mix
> > either. *That thought is an ugh too.
>
> Are you thinking of deep-fried chicken? A lifetime ago, we made fried
> chicken by frying it in maybe a quarter-inch of... melted vegetable
> shortening? We didn't know any better, and I can't quite recall.
> There
> wasn't much grease left in the pan. A little flour to make a roux,
> although
> oftentimes enough had simply fallen off the chicken to thicken the
> gravy.
> Stir in some milk, and wait for it to thicken. Basically a milk-based
> pan sauce. Season to taste. Grandma was from Virginia, not the
> Deep South.
>
> Cindy Hamilton

Mom started her fried chicken in a dry cast iron pan. There is a lot of
fat in chicken skin and by the time she was done, there was plenty of
chicken "grease" in the pan to make the roux gravy. She told me that
chicken cooked just fine in it's own fat and no additional oil was
needed in the pan to start. It's true.

I've followed that all my life and it works if I wanted to make a
standard fat/flour roux gravy. Plus, it makes the chicken lower in fat
once it is cooked.

There is nothing that says you HAVE to do anything with the chicken fat
left over in the pan. ;-) You can pour off that fat, leave the fond and
deglaze with stock or booze, then add spices or milk according to your
taste, then thicken with corn starch if you are trying to keep the fat
content in your diet low.

There is more than one way to skin a chicken. <g>
--
Peace! Om

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