Our series on basic cooking skills continues with this recipe for gravy: and there's no need for granules. Meat or onion, it's really straightforward ...
If you ever have me round to your house for lunch, please put me to work. I'm not very good at small talk, but I am handy in the kitchen (and I'm tidier than I used to be). I'll do anything: peel spuds, look after the veg, make an impromptu pud. But most of my friends get me to make the gravy.
Gravy is a very easy thing to get right, yet it seems to put the jitters up many people. Partly, it's the awkward timing – just when everything else is cooked and ready to serve, you have to put your pinny on and get back to the hob – and partly it's uncertainty about the proper components. Should you use flour? Wine? Gravy browning? Even (bring me the smelling salts!) Bisto?
Relax. Here's how to make gravy so good people will be drinking it from the gravy boat.
**Chicken or pork**
These meats give off lots of juice while cooking, providing the base for a fabulous gravy. Don't use flour: your gravy will be runnier, but much tastier for it.
To get maximum flavour into your gravy, cook the meat on a bed of peeled, diced vegetables. (Finely diced is too difficult for a beginner cook – it takes ages.) You can't go wrong with a carrot, an onion, and a few cloves of garlic (all of which add sweetness) – but do experiment. Fennel is good. Swede, perhaps surprisingly, gives off the most delicious juice.
Halfway through cooking, pour half a bottle of dry vermouth or white wine into the pan (this saves time later). Want more gravy? Add more booze – up to a bottle. The alcoholic content will be long evaporated by the time you eat it. Or you can use stock (from a cube will do – vegetable or chicken), instead to save money. You will need to add more lemon juice at the end if you do this.
When the meat is done, remove it from the roasting tin, cover it in tin foil and set it aside to rest. Put the roasting tin on the hob and get it simmering. Scrape the bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon. Depending on how daintily diced your vegetables are, you can either leave them in the gravy, or mash them up a bit with a potato masher and then sieve the gravy into a saucepan for the rest of the cooking.
Now for the flavour. This is the point at which your gravy goes from good to great. Boil it down until you have the volume you require. Skim most of the fat off the top with a large spoon. Season with salt. Take it off the heat. Taste it. For more "belly" you can now whisk in a knob of butter, a little cream or mustard (dijon or powdered English), or a combination. Taste. Repeat. Squeeze in some lemon juice to add a top note and cut the grease. Stir in some finely chopped herbs – chives, tarragon, or parsley will all be good choices. Serve.
*Beef or lamb*
I always find gravy made from the beef or lamb pan a bit disappointing. Lamb juices mostly consist of tongue-clagging fat; and beef – especially when cooked rare – hardly gives off any juice at all.
I tend to either cook lamb in plenty of liquid (such as wine, stock or tinned tomatoes), thus doing away with the need for gravy, or to serve it with a sauce on the side. My favourites are yoghurt mixed with chopped garlic and mint, mint sauce, or a salsa verde.
The best sauces for beef are: a good horseradish, chimichurri, salsa verde again, or bearnaise (if you're showing off).
Alternatively, you can make an onion gravy in advance of the meal. This removes the need for last minute faffing with roasting pans. It's also suitable for vegetarians.
*Onion gravy*
*Prep time:* 10 mins
*Cooking time:* just over an hour
Serves 6
*25g butter *
*1 tbsp olive oil*
*4 large onions, peeled, cut in half and chopped into long slices*
*1 tsp sugar*
*2 tsp flour*
*200ml red wine*
*500ml chicken stock (or beef or vegetable or a stock cube of any of those)*
*Salt and black pepper*
*1* Heat the butter and oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the onions.
*2* Add a pinch of salt, turn up the heat and stir well for a few minutes. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan and allow to cook the onions gently for about 40 minutes, checking and stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until . The onions should be very soft and translucent.
*
3* Remove the lid, turn up the heat and sprinkle the onions with sugar. Stir and allow the onions to caramelise for 2 minutes until lightly browned. Turn the heat to low, stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
*
4* Pour in the red wine and stir to combine. Turn up the heat and simmer for 10 minutes before adding the stock and cooking for a further 20 minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce. You have gravy!
Recipe by Jane Baxter
*The next level*
Before putting it on the table you can add extra seasonings to taste. You can experiment, starting with very small quantities. Mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Marmite, soy sauce and horseradish sauce all work well.
**For showing off**
Add some rosemary and garlic in step 2 (and 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly if you're serving the gravy with lamb). Throw in 2 tbsp homemade tomato sauce (but jars work too) and 100ml chicken stock and simmer for about 15 minutes till it reduces.
This gravy can be frozen in batches; just put it in a freezer bag, squeeze out the air, seal and label. You can defrost any time by warming it through in a saucepan. Eat with a little leftover roast meat and veg to make a quick and delicious meal.
Henry Dimbleby is co-founder of the natural fast-food restaurant chain Leon (@henry_leon). Get your kids cooking at cook5.co.uk Reported by guardian.co.uk 15 hours ago.
If you ever have me round to your house for lunch, please put me to work. I'm not very good at small talk, but I am handy in the kitchen (and I'm tidier than I used to be). I'll do anything: peel spuds, look after the veg, make an impromptu pud. But most of my friends get me to make the gravy.
Gravy is a very easy thing to get right, yet it seems to put the jitters up many people. Partly, it's the awkward timing – just when everything else is cooked and ready to serve, you have to put your pinny on and get back to the hob – and partly it's uncertainty about the proper components. Should you use flour? Wine? Gravy browning? Even (bring me the smelling salts!) Bisto?
Relax. Here's how to make gravy so good people will be drinking it from the gravy boat.
**Chicken or pork**
These meats give off lots of juice while cooking, providing the base for a fabulous gravy. Don't use flour: your gravy will be runnier, but much tastier for it.
To get maximum flavour into your gravy, cook the meat on a bed of peeled, diced vegetables. (Finely diced is too difficult for a beginner cook – it takes ages.) You can't go wrong with a carrot, an onion, and a few cloves of garlic (all of which add sweetness) – but do experiment. Fennel is good. Swede, perhaps surprisingly, gives off the most delicious juice.
Halfway through cooking, pour half a bottle of dry vermouth or white wine into the pan (this saves time later). Want more gravy? Add more booze – up to a bottle. The alcoholic content will be long evaporated by the time you eat it. Or you can use stock (from a cube will do – vegetable or chicken), instead to save money. You will need to add more lemon juice at the end if you do this.
When the meat is done, remove it from the roasting tin, cover it in tin foil and set it aside to rest. Put the roasting tin on the hob and get it simmering. Scrape the bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon. Depending on how daintily diced your vegetables are, you can either leave them in the gravy, or mash them up a bit with a potato masher and then sieve the gravy into a saucepan for the rest of the cooking.
Now for the flavour. This is the point at which your gravy goes from good to great. Boil it down until you have the volume you require. Skim most of the fat off the top with a large spoon. Season with salt. Take it off the heat. Taste it. For more "belly" you can now whisk in a knob of butter, a little cream or mustard (dijon or powdered English), or a combination. Taste. Repeat. Squeeze in some lemon juice to add a top note and cut the grease. Stir in some finely chopped herbs – chives, tarragon, or parsley will all be good choices. Serve.
*Beef or lamb*
I always find gravy made from the beef or lamb pan a bit disappointing. Lamb juices mostly consist of tongue-clagging fat; and beef – especially when cooked rare – hardly gives off any juice at all.
I tend to either cook lamb in plenty of liquid (such as wine, stock or tinned tomatoes), thus doing away with the need for gravy, or to serve it with a sauce on the side. My favourites are yoghurt mixed with chopped garlic and mint, mint sauce, or a salsa verde.
The best sauces for beef are: a good horseradish, chimichurri, salsa verde again, or bearnaise (if you're showing off).
Alternatively, you can make an onion gravy in advance of the meal. This removes the need for last minute faffing with roasting pans. It's also suitable for vegetarians.
*Onion gravy*
*Prep time:* 10 mins
*Cooking time:* just over an hour
Serves 6
*25g butter *
*1 tbsp olive oil*
*4 large onions, peeled, cut in half and chopped into long slices*
*1 tsp sugar*
*2 tsp flour*
*200ml red wine*
*500ml chicken stock (or beef or vegetable or a stock cube of any of those)*
*Salt and black pepper*
*1* Heat the butter and oil in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan. Add the onions.
*2* Add a pinch of salt, turn up the heat and stir well for a few minutes. Turn the heat to low, cover the pan and allow to cook the onions gently for about 40 minutes, checking and stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until . The onions should be very soft and translucent.
*
3* Remove the lid, turn up the heat and sprinkle the onions with sugar. Stir and allow the onions to caramelise for 2 minutes until lightly browned. Turn the heat to low, stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
*
4* Pour in the red wine and stir to combine. Turn up the heat and simmer for 10 minutes before adding the stock and cooking for a further 20 minutes to reduce and thicken the sauce. You have gravy!
Recipe by Jane Baxter
*The next level*
Before putting it on the table you can add extra seasonings to taste. You can experiment, starting with very small quantities. Mustard, Worcestershire sauce, Marmite, soy sauce and horseradish sauce all work well.
**For showing off**
Add some rosemary and garlic in step 2 (and 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly if you're serving the gravy with lamb). Throw in 2 tbsp homemade tomato sauce (but jars work too) and 100ml chicken stock and simmer for about 15 minutes till it reduces.
This gravy can be frozen in batches; just put it in a freezer bag, squeeze out the air, seal and label. You can defrost any time by warming it through in a saucepan. Eat with a little leftover roast meat and veg to make a quick and delicious meal.
Henry Dimbleby is co-founder of the natural fast-food restaurant chain Leon (@henry_leon). Get your kids cooking at cook5.co.uk Reported by guardian.co.uk 15 hours ago.