Teri wrote:

> Slurry question: I assume this is a mixture where the flour gets mixed with
> the water - what's the ratio? equal amounts? - do you need a certain amount
> of slurry to thicken a certain amount of liquid? (i know most people do
> this by feel or sight, but I can never seem to get it right)

Probably about three parts cold water to one part flour. The idea is to mix it
cold and then pop it into the hot liquid so that it won't get lumpy. If you add
flour directly to hot liquid, or if you add a thick slurry, it is likely to be
go lumpy.

> When you add flour to pan juices - do you need to bring it to a boil? If
> you stir long enough, will it definitely thicken (sometimes - i wonder if i
> didn't give it enough time to thicken up) if you've added flour.

What you should so is to poor off the juices leaving enough fat to mix with the
flour to make the roux. Then return the pan juices.... minus the extra fat....
and add liquid as required. You can use vegetable water, broth, wine....

It depends on the type and cut of the meat, the type of pan. My sister in law
taught me to make gravy by pouring off most of the fat, let the pan cool, add
the flour and stirring it in and then heating it up. I found that if the there
were lots of nice little brown bits stuck to the pan it was better to deglace
with wine, and then use the slurry.