The Best (Do-Ahead) Turkey Gravy

From: Marianne5

On Mar 9, 2009

I read all of the reviews of this recipe and decided to use it for a Birthday Turkey dinner that I am making this weekend for my husband's birthday. I usually have homemade turkey stock in the freezer, but found that I was running low (that's another reason to have a turkey dinner..to make more stock!) Anyway, I usually make stock with the whole carcass, but went with the turkey wings. I threw the 4 wings, 2 carrots unpeeled but with the tops trimmed off, the 2 celery, the 2 onions cut in wedges with the skins on, and several cloves of garlic. I put everything in a roaster with enough water to generously cover. Then I roasted it at 300 degrees all day. I took it out broke up the veggies and meat alittle. Allowed it to cool then put it in the fridge, roaster and all. I had things to do the next day so I just let it sit in the fridge "coolin' its wings." The following day, I returned it to the oven at 300 degrees added water as needed and cooked all day again. I then removed the veggies, meat, bones and bay leaves. I found that they didn't have much flavor left and I was too afraid of giving the dog the scraps because of the shards of bones, so I just threw the "Remains" out. I allowed it to cool and skim the top of some (not all) the fat. then ran it through a fine strainer ( you could use a cheesecloth, but I didn't have one). I then laddled it into plastic tubs to make 2 cup servings each. Into the freezer they went. I ended up with 14 cups of stock. When I made this recipe, I used 4 cups stock, 1/2 cup dry Sherry (didn't have Chardonney), 1/4 tsp. of Thyme, cracked pepper, and a little grey sea salt. Instead of flour, I used 4 TBSP of corn starch shaken in a jelly jar with 4 TBSP of cold water. Cooked until thicken. I estimate that it made 3 cups of gravy.I will have to post how it tasted after our dinner (I am alittle bias, so I will let you know what my picky in-laws think), but for now here's a picture. My gravy appears darker than the other pictures. That may be due to the fact that I roasted the stock longer.

From: KitchenWitchWay

On Feb 16, 2009

This ended up being a real lifesaver for me while trying to get my holiday dinner together. I made this up ahead of time, so I just had to stick it in the microwave a few minutes before serving time. It was great and I will be using it from now on!

From: Chippie

On Nov 26, 2004

UPDATED: Freezing this gravy is a wonderful idea and defrosted just wonderfully on the stovetop! Family raved on how good it was and were shocked when I told them I had made this 2 weeks prior to Thanksgiving! Thanks Dee.*** Dee, you've definately made my preparation for Thanksgiving dinner so much easier. Followed the recipe to a "T" except for substituting cornstarch for the flour. This is just a personal preference for thickening up things as I usually don't have very good luck when trying to use the flour. Took a couple of pics before freezing. Oh yeah, forgot to mention the taste, it was WONDERFUL!! Tasted as if you slaved for hours and hours making the perfect gravy. Your recipe even made our Lab happy as there was some nicely cooked carrots and meat from the turkey wings for him to munch on for dinner. Thanks again for a definate keeper recipe, will never make gravy any other way.

From: Hey Jude

On Nov 16, 2003

This is wonderful gravy for people who have time constraint issues and very small kitchens (me!). I originally came in here to post this and found that Dee had already, considerately, posted it so now I'm doing a review. This is the second year I'm using this recipe for Thanksgiving gravy and, boy does it save my life on THE DAY. I do this pretty much as posted except that I slash the turkey wings 2-3 times on each piece in order to get more of the full essence of the turkey flavor. Also, I use my own homemade chicken broth, rather than canned. When I roast the turkey on THE DAY, I degrease the pan drippings and add them to the gravy while reheating in the microwave. I save (freeze) the neck and giblets from the turkey to use for my next batch of broth. My guests are very impressed with my gravy and nobody guesses it was made two weeks before Thanksgiving, frozen and then reheated Thanks Dee!