Beef Gravy

My mom and I have an agreement. When a meal calls for it, she makes the gravy. It doesn’t matter what the function may be, or if some one wants to make it because they claim to make the best gravy. If my mother is involved with making dinner, she makes the gravy. From turkey gravy to gravy for roast beast and Yorkshire pudding, it is always perfectly flavorful, perfectly spiced and perfectly velvety. It doesn’t matter. My mom makes the gravy.

So why in the world would I post a gravy recipe to a blog in which my mother not only reads but also contributes to? The simple answer is that I want to teach you to make gravy so that I can post a number of my favorite wintertime comfort meals that would be lost without gravy. But let’s be clear. Although I make my gravy using the same ingredients she does. And although I have spent the last 26 years dutifully watching her make gravy, my gravy really does not compare. But it will get you to where you need to go, a winter of comfort food, slathered in the wonderfulness that is GRAVY.

Inspiration: Cold and rainy nights
Time: 20 minutes
Difficulty: Moderate (only because gravy can be tricky until you get the hang of it)
Special equipment: Heavy bottomed, mid sized pot
Servings: 8 hungry people

Ingredients:
4 Tbs. Flour
4 Tbs. Bacon fat (What? You don’t keep a jar in your fridge? Then fry up 1 lb of bacon and reserve the juices…I mean fat)
2-3 cups Beef Broth
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
¼ cup red wine
Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Over medium heat, brown the flour in a heavy bottomed, medium sized pot, stirring constantly with a gravy whisk. Once flour is a golden brown, remove to a bowl or a plate (Note: you can do this ahead of time and store in your pantry).
2. Melt bacon fat in same pot, turning heat down to medium low. When liquefied, stir in flour with gravy whisk until flour has dissolved and made a paste.
3. Add ¼-½ cup of beef stock and stir rigorously. Paste will separate and come back together as you stir. Once it has come back together, continue adding the stock in ½ cup intervals, continually stirring and working out any lumps. Add enough of the stock so that you have the consistency you would like.
4. Reduce heat to it’s lowest setting. Add in onion powder, garlic powder, and wine. Salt and pepper to taste. As the gravy continues to cook, it will thicken further. You can always add more stock to thin it back out to desired consistency.

Note: You make poultry gravy the same way, but substitute rendered chicken fat for the bacon fat, and turkey or chicken stock for the beef stock.