"Christine" > wrote in message
news
>
> "Marge" > wrote in message
> ups.com...
> > I'm a gravy making novice, and I'm cooking a turkey breast this
year.
> > Should I throw in carrots and celery in the pot and make the gravy
> > straight in the roasting pan? Any tips or special ingredients you
like
> > in your gravy? Thanks.
> >
>
> Here's a recipe that a friend uses... We're going my son's house
for
> Thanksgiving, but doing our own later that weekend. Leftovers you
know!
> Think this is the method I'll use this year.
>
> Friend's recipe for Turkey gravy:
>
> This is the way I make my turkey gravy ahead of time and it's
AWESOME.
>
> You don't even want to separate the fat off until you're ready to
use it.
>
> Put some turkey pieces, I often buy wings for this purpose sometimes
you'll
> find necks and backs at the market. Put them in a roasting pan with
some
> carrot, celery, and onion. . Stick that in the oven at 450F.
>
> Toss this stuff with a bit of oil and roast for about an hour
turning once
> in awhile till browned. Then put the pan, after it's cooled down a
bit, on
> top of the stove add some chicken stock and boil scraping all the
fond off
> the bottom and sides. Add 5 or so cups of water and maybe some wine
and
> boil; then reduce the heat and simmer until it's reduced probably by
half.
>
> Strain this into a container and refrigerate overnight.
>
> Next day take the fat off the top and that's what you use to melt in
your
> pan for the roux. Add the stock and you're good to go. You've done
good
> gravy the day or two or three before the main event and it's
wonderful. Just
> remember to season salt pepper and the like to your taste.
>
> Easy good and best of all it takes care of the last minute stuff.
You can
> always save the pan your roast the turkey in for more gravy later.

This is very good gravy making advice, especially since it is doubtful
that roasting just a turkey breast would give off enough pan drippings
to make gravy. I make turkey gravy using two turkey wings in the same
way as you described and it not only turns out great every time but it
also eliminates last minute stress when the turkey dinner is all
coming together.

I start with more water, about 2 1/2 quarts. One additional thing I do
is to remove the wings after about 45 minutes of simmering. I strip
off the usable meat and then throw all the skin and bones back into
the pot for a couple more hours. Otherwise the meat turns to mush.
Some of the meat can be later be added to the gravy or used for
another purpose. Also, the amount of fat skimmed off the top of the
refrigerated stock may not be entirely enough for the roux, in which
case some cooking oil or butter can be added.