Borough Kitchen Basics: Gravy

A great gravy is an essential finishing touch to any roast, particularly turkey. See below for the basic steps to making a great gravy, with the two key ingredients being stock mixed with cider, wine or sherry.

Ingredients

Method:

1. We usually set our roast on a bed of chopped onions. This adds flavour to the roast as well as the gravy
2. About 30 minutes before the roast is finished cooking, start reducing the alcohol and stock separately over a medium heat. Reduce the liquid by about 1/2 and then mix together
3. Remove the roast from the pan and set aside on a carving board covered with foil
4. Separate the roast juices from the fat with a gravy separator (we love this tool!) or use a spoon to remove the fat
5. Pour the reduced alcohol and stock into the pan to deglaze it (simply by stirring the juices around with a fork or spoon)
6. You can strain the liquid using a sieve if you like but we prefer to leave in the bits of onions
7. If your roasting pan fits/works on the hob, simply continue to heat the liquid and add the roux or cornflour mix until nearly thick enough (when removed from the hob, it will thicken as it cools)
8. Pour into a serving jug or bowl, reserving a small amount to pour onto the carved roast just before serving

BK Tips

• You can use some of the fat from your roast potatoes to mix with the juice from your roast
• For pork, chicken or turkey, we like cider (or white wine) and chicken stock
• For beef, we prefer red wine or sherry and beef stock
• For lamb, we're fans of red wine and vegetable stock
• If your roast is already sitting in a layer of stock, you don't need to add any more stock to the pan (use what's already in there, which has already reduced)
• To make a roux, melt 25g of butter over a low heat and gradually stir in 25g of plain flour.