How to Make Homemade Brown Gravy from Scratch

This is the traditional English way of making gravy, and you are going to be surprised at how eco-friendly this recipe is. The old adage "waste not, want not," definitely comes into play because we are not going to waste the things most people waste when cooking Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner.

This is the recipe I used on Christmas this year, and it results in the best gravy recipe ever. Please try this way of making gravy - it may sound odd at first, or at least old fashioned - but - give it a go and let me know what you think after wards. It takes a little while to do, but is a really easy recipe.

These ingredients are going to sound odd, but this is the basis for a traditional, waste-free English gravy:

• Neck of Turkey
• 1 large onion chopped in quarters - skin included
• Peelings from 6 large potatoes
• Peelings from 12 carrots
• Peelings from any other vegetables you are using - EXCEPT SWEET POTATOES
  
• 4 pints of water
• Big dollop of butter
• Salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce to taste
• 4 table spoons flour

So - as you can see, we are going to use all the waste that usually goes in the trash can.

Take a large, heavy saucepan and melt a big dollop of butter in it. Add the neck of the turkey and fry - in the past, I would have used the giblets as well, but I no longer trust the farming industry. If you are cooking a wild turkey or are certain it was not fed any chemicals - by all means, throw the giblets in at this point as well. I alway discard the lungs though.

While the neck is frying, peel all your vegetables and throw the peelings in the pot. Chop an onion into quarters and throw that in as well - skin too. The only vegetable you should not use is sweet potato - not because the skin is poisonous - it is not - but they cause an extremely bitter taste for some reason.

Stir the vegetables for a few minutes to coat them all in butter and fry for a couple of minutes longer. Now add the water and bring to the boil. Add a lid to cover the pot and place on a low heat and simmer for about 4 hours. This can be cooking while you prepare and cook the turkey (or chicken). In this case, I served this gravy with roasted potatoes and roast turkey.

This is not to be confused with the sort of gravy you might make for a biscuits and gravy recipe. This is going to be a brown gravy - the technique works well for making a beef gravy also - but as this one was for Christmas - it was with turkey.

When the gravy has cooked for about 4 hours - and presumably all your vegetables are now cooked and your turkey is now sitting waiting to be carved - take a large bowl, and sieve the gravy into it. Use a strong sieve and push all the liquid through the sieve with the back of a spoon. Throw away the vegetable peelings, rinse out the pot with water and return the liquid to the pot.

Bring back to the boil and season with salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. If the gravy is a little thin, use a mixture of flour and water to thicken it up - or corn flour if you prefer until you get the desired consistency. Keep an eye on the liquid level during cooking - you may need to top it up with more water if your lid is not sealed well.

This may sound a little complex, but a lot of the vitamins and minerals in vegetables are in the skin - and we often throw them away without thinking. You do need to cook them for a while to get these out, but - trust me - this is well worth the effort and, if you are going to be in the kitchen for a few hours preparing and cooking Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner - you may as well do this.

You will need to add a little seasoning to your taste and I know this is very different to cooking a milk based gravy, which is popular in the USA, but this is a great way of getting as many nutrients from your food as possible. It tastes fantastic as well.

You do need to watch it as it cooks, especially if you do not have a good lid on the pot, but6 apart from that - it is actually a really simple homemade gravy recipe. Watch out for my brined turkey recipe soon.

Bon Apetit!