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Post by User Unavailable on Aug 23, 2013 3:48:56 GMT
Actually there is no "one" proper white gravy or sausage gravy. It's really just what one grew up with or learned (or didnt learn) to make from scratch. White gravy or sausage gravy, to be as "simple" as they are, ingredients wise, are not easy to make. My wife never learned to make it without it being all lumpy, my daughter makes it to thin. My mother in law usually makes it good, but does have the occasional batch that comes out wrong. My mother always makes good gravy, as she also has the knowledge and experience of how to "fix it" when something goes wrong. The differences being, my mother grew up when fixing gravy was an everyday thing and she carried this on through to this present day. My mother in law is 20 years younger than my mother, while she did lots of cooking when young, she went to work and didnt cook gravy very much for years, so gravy became kind of a "special treat" for when family was visiting. My wife and daughter grew up with gravy being a "special treat", so have not really had much practice at it. When I want good gravy, I have to go to Momma's house, though my mother in laws is a close second. I let my wife make gravy all of once. tonight's dinner was mashed potatoes and gravy - worked up a craving. Where I live, Brown Gravy is for mashed taters.
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Post by the light works on Aug 23, 2013 13:42:08 GMT
I let my wife make gravy all of once. tonight's dinner was mashed potatoes and gravy - worked up a craving. Where I live, Brown Gravy is for mashed taters. and where I live, brown gravy is for people who can't afford milk.
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Post by User Unavailable on Aug 23, 2013 13:55:59 GMT
Where I live, Brown Gravy is for mashed taters. and where I live, brown gravy is for people who can't afford milk. Ah, so what you're saying is, you all are narrow minded and don't have different gravies for different foods. I guess y'all don't do Giblet Gravy or Redeye Gravy either.
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Post by the light works on Aug 23, 2013 14:40:43 GMT
and where I live, brown gravy is for people who can't afford milk. Ah, so what you're saying is, you all are narrow minded and don't have different gravies for different foods. I guess y'all don't do Giblet Gravy or Redeye Gravy either. sure we do. there's chikkin gravy for country fried chikkin with mashed taters & gravy; sausage gravy for biscuits & gravy, hamburger gravy for regular mashed taters & gravy, and butter gravy for creamed eggs. oh, and roast beef gravy and turkey gravy for serving with roast beef and turkey, respectively.
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Post by the light works on Aug 23, 2013 14:42:13 GMT
and we listen to BOTH kinds of music, here - country AND western
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Post by craighudson on Aug 23, 2013 15:21:48 GMT
Spot the Blues Brothers fan.
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Post by the light works on Aug 23, 2013 15:24:03 GMT
Spot the Blues Brothers fan. or the guy with a head full of movie quotes.
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Post by User Unavailable on Aug 23, 2013 15:43:53 GMT
Ah, so what you're saying is, you all are narrow minded and don't have different gravies for different foods. I guess y'all don't do Giblet Gravy or Redeye Gravy either. sure we do. there's chikkin gravy for country fried chikkin with mashed taters & gravy; sausage gravy for biscuits & gravy, hamburger gravy for regular mashed taters & gravy, and butter gravy for creamed eggs. oh, and roast beef gravy and turkey gravy for serving with roast beef and turkey, respectively.
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Post by the light works on Sept 9, 2013 4:28:29 GMT
gravy = redneck tofu.
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Post by silverdragon on Sept 15, 2013 10:38:47 GMT
Gravy.. I cant give any recipe out that is a cure-all, because I could write books on it, yet still not get the perfect answer for everyone....
Gravy.... UK, its a very fought over subject. Bisto or OXO, do you put Marmite in, and how do you start.
For me, the easiest answer, is what are you cooking, 'cos I just cant understand those people who would think its perfectly OK to server Beef gravy with Chicken?....
If I am roasting a chicken, you get meat juices in the bottom of the pan, what you going to do, chuck em?... No, you mix a little cornflour with water, add it to those meat juices, and instant gravy...... of course, that is after you have drained them off and removed the floating fat from the top.. I dont like gravy that has a layer of fat on it?... But that makes Gravy... CHICKEN gravy.....
So do you do the same with Pork, Beef, whatever?.... Yes. Why not?
If I want a LOT of gravy, I add some of the water that I boiled the vegetables in as well.... And maybe a stock cube.... but only when necessary... the meat should be enough to supply its own stock?...
How strong should it be?... That depends on who is doing the eating. Now my Dad, who did the sauces when I was a kid, had the straw test... as in, if you could suck it through a straw, it was bad gravy... he liked his thick. I dont perhaps like it that thick, it has to pour out of the pan for me, but thin gravy that has the consistency of water?... that too thin. Taste is up to the person.
I do not add salt or pepper to any sauce... its on the table, everyone has salt and pepper pots, if you want it, there it is.
Nor do I start the gravy with an Oxo.
I may coat the meat to be roasted with a mix of fat and Oxo to aid in cooking, and that is done knowing that the meat juices will flow to make a good gravy, but for me, if the meat juices alone are not enough stock to make a gravy, I went wrong... Except... As stated, if I need a LOT of gravy. I do have relatives who take their sunday roast in a pasta dish, as they tend to float their meal in GALLONS of gravy.... If I know they are coming, I get a stock pot on the go and boil some gravy bones the day before to get that extra stock?.. or throw extra stock cubes into the gravy pan to add enough water to make enough to go round.... I have also been known to use an ice-cube tray to freeze surplus cooked meat juice to make stock.
And chicken soup made from the boiled carcase of the remainder of a sunday roast chicken is the best chicken soup you can get.....
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Post by the light works on Sept 15, 2013 13:57:25 GMT
Gravy should be thick enough to not all run off the potatoes, but no so thick you need a knife.
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 16, 2013 0:09:42 GMT
Thickness or thinness of gravy is dependent on the type of gravy, its intended use and of course, personal preference, when you're the one making the gravy.
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Post by silverdragon on Sept 25, 2013 8:05:38 GMT
I still think its should be thick enough so that you can see it stuck to the food when its on the fork.
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Post by the light works on Sept 25, 2013 14:13:11 GMT
I still think its should be thick enough so that you can see it stuck to the food when its on the fork. that's just a question of color. it should be thick enough that it doesn't waterlog the 'taters.
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 25, 2013 15:39:22 GMT
I still think its should be thick enough so that you can see it stuck to the food when its on the fork. That's the personal preference, I mentioned. I like my white and sausage gravy fairly thick, so it sticks to my eggs and biscuits when I'm eating them. Brown gravy, I like a little thinner, but still thick enough to cling to the mashed taters. Giblet gravy I prefer medium thick, so it is thin enough to soak into stuffing/dressing* to mingle flavor throughout the stuffing/dressing. Red Eye Gravy, down here in my neck of the country, is always thin as thin can get. Red Eye Gravy while adding flavor to the food is also meant to be "sopped up" with you corn bread or biscuit. * we don't call it Stuffing where I live (and in a large chunk of the US), as we rarely prepare it, "stuffed" inside a turkey or chicken. (I think I've had that one time in 47 years and that was in another state at a friends house) We calling it Dressing and we make it in large pans or casserole dishes, so that more than enough can be made for the typical holiday, family gatherings.
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Post by the light works on Sept 25, 2013 15:49:27 GMT
I still think its should be thick enough so that you can see it stuck to the food when its on the fork. That's the personal preference, I mentioned. I like my white and sausage gravy fairly thick, so it sticks to my eggs and biscuits when I'm eating them. Brown gravy, I like a little thinner, but still thick enough to cling to the mashed taters. Giblet gravy I prefer medium thick, so it is thin enough to soak into stuffing/dressing* to mingle flavor throughout the stuffing/dressing. Red Eye Gravy, down here in my neck of the country, is always thin as thin can get. Red Eye Gravy while adding flavor to the food is also meant to be "sopped up" with you corn bread or biscuit. * we don't call it Stuffing where I live (and in a large chunk of the US), as we rarely prepare it, "stuffed" inside a turkey or chicken. (I think I've had that one time in 47 years and that was in another state at a friends house) We calling it Dressing and we make it in large pans or casserole dishes, so that more than enough can be made for the typical holiday, family gatherings. for me, you could make it in a thimble and still have more than enough.
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 25, 2013 16:16:26 GMT
That's the personal preference, I mentioned. I like my white and sausage gravy fairly thick, so it sticks to my eggs and biscuits when I'm eating them. Brown gravy, I like a little thinner, but still thick enough to cling to the mashed taters. Giblet gravy I prefer medium thick, so it is thin enough to soak into stuffing/dressing* to mingle flavor throughout the stuffing/dressing. Red Eye Gravy, down here in my neck of the country, is always thin as thin can get. Red Eye Gravy while adding flavor to the food is also meant to be "sopped up" with you corn bread or biscuit. * we don't call it Stuffing where I live (and in a large chunk of the US), as we rarely prepare it, "stuffed" inside a turkey or chicken. (I think I've had that one time in 47 years and that was in another state at a friends house) We calling it Dressing and we make it in large pans or casserole dishes, so that more than enough can be made for the typical holiday, family gatherings. for me, you could make it in a thimble and still have more than enough. What turned you off of dressing/stuffing? Most folks I've encountered who don't like it, attribute it to one bad experience/bad cook. Not everyone makes good dressing.
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Post by the light works on Sept 25, 2013 16:24:17 GMT
for me, you could make it in a thimble and still have more than enough. What turned you off of dressing/stuffing? Most folks I've encountered who don't like it, attribute it to one bad experience/bad cook. Not everyone makes good dressing. nah, just don't like it; and it's not sufficiently nutritious to justify eating it despite not liking it. (which is to say, I would eat it if I was hungry and it was what was available)
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Post by User Unavailable on Sept 25, 2013 22:05:28 GMT
What turned you off of dressing/stuffing? Most folks I've encountered who don't like it, attribute it to one bad experience/bad cook. Not everyone makes good dressing. nah, just don't like it; and it's not sufficiently nutritious to justify eating it despite not liking it. (which is to say, I would eat it if I was hungry and it was what was available) Ah, okay. I love it, when it is made well. Not to dry and not too much sage. Of course, when dressing/stuffing is typically prepared, it is not about nutrition, but a great tasting side to complement the meat.
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Post by silverdragon on Sept 26, 2013 8:10:17 GMT
I know, whats with that?.... "Stuffing" is now a separate dish, cooked entirely separate from the meat, in the oven, in a separate "Oven-to-table-wear" dish......
WHUT?....
Now I have my Grans secret recipe for stuffing. On a joint to be cooked long and slow.... Basically, its a fat-rich mush that ensures the meat will get succulent moist and tender whilst cooking, and then, it soaks up all the juices the meat looses, and holds them there to keep the meat moist.... its almost an internal steaming device to steam cook the meat from inside?... It has a job to do, and all the while, the herb mix is adding just that little something extra to the meat flavour....
Yet you would cook that separate from the meat?..... What a waste.
And back to the Gravy one last time.... I like a pool of gravy over the meat that I can mix in with the taters to give them some taste... This isnt a flood, its "Just enough".... I know some people who like their roast with so much gravy its more of a soup dish?... I know some people who will take just a splash, more of a dipping sauce than a gravy....
Personal taste.....
You have to cater for all.
One of my Sons will eat those chicken dipper (No special make) type chicken chunks, will eat chicken cooked off the bone, but will refuse any chicken cooked on the bone?....
We dont exactly know the full reason why.
He will also not go anywhere near any type of Gravy if its put on his plate. He will however take sauce, if he can put a small spot on his own plate and use it as a dip...
Now the Missus?... She will leave the room if Red sauce tomato ketchup comes out of the cupboard.... I cant cook anything with Tomatoes in that she will eat.
So on Pasta, she has a cheese sauce, whilst me and the kids tuck in to a good old fashioned Neapolitan style pasta with mince beef bacon salami and chilli in the mix somewhere... with a LOT of fresh tomato and basil flavour that leads you in by the nose..... Takes a whole day to cook, but the results are worth the effort. Also uses every-pan-in-the-house, and creates a dishwasher load all of its own just in the cooking stage... I make my own concentrate tomato sauce from fresh tomatoes, no tubes of anything go in this, its all fresh food, even the herbs are still growing when I start, the only processed food is the salami chunks. The chilli is a small boost thing that just adds a little zest to it, its not a red-hot-burn-your-mouth thing, its just a flavour enhancer. And its a fresh chilli that I use, mushed in with the chunks of beef that I mince by hand with the bacon chunks.
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