This year, I found a make-ahead recipe and tweaked it to perfection. Preparing it in advance lets me work relaxed, taste and season perfectly, then freeze it until the night before. On serving day, a quick stovetop simmer is all it takes.
If you're serving turkey for Thanksgiving or Christmas (or any other time of the year for that matter, because there is no hard and fast rule that turkey can only be consumed on these two holidays), try this—you'll never make gravy another way.
Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy
6 turkey wings
2 medium onions, peeled and quartered
¾ c. flour
¾ c. chopped carrots
½ t. dried thyme
Pinch of rubbed sage
Pinch of poultry seasoning
Salt, to taste
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ c. heavy creamPreheat oven to 400°F. Arrange turkey wings in a single layer in a large roasting pan. Scatter onions over the top. Roast for 1¼ hours or until browned.
Transfer browned wings and onions to a 5-quart stockpot. Place roasting pan over medium heat; sprinkle flour over the surface. Whisk continually until a roux forms. Add 1–2 cups broth and whisk, scraping up browned bits. Pour into stockpot.
Stir in remaining broth, carrots, celery, and seasonings. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 1½ hours.
Remove wings to a cutting board; cool. Pull off skin and meat (discard skin; reserve meat for another use). Strain stockpot contents through a large strainer into a 3-quart saucepan. Press vegetables to extract liquid; discard solids.
Bring to a gentle boil. Stir in the cream; season to taste if needed. Serve immediately, or cool and refrigerate/freeze in containers.
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7 comments:
Oh yum - I bet the cream makes it silky smooth. I cannot believe we are three weeks away from Thanksgiving and that there's Christmas less than a month after that. WHAT. And I love turkey so I am sure I will make more than one before spring gets here.
The way you described the last minute gravy is exactly what happens with me. I'm roasting two turkey breasts instead of a turkey. Last year I bought turkey gravy - no one seemed to notice a difference, but I do. So if this reheats from freezing successfully, I'm trying it.
Get it out of the freezer the night before and let it thaw in the fridge. Then just gently reheat. It is a time saver for sure.
Love this! Great to have made ahead for sure!
A make ahead recipe is genius.! Anything you can do to reduce the stress day of works!! hope it's good.
I have gone a bit of a different route a few times and it has worked great for me.
I actually cook my holiday turkey dinner, except for the vegetables, the day before. It is simple with no guests there and everything gets cleaned up.
The turkey is carved and put into big foil pans and covered tightly. The potatoes are mashed with milk, butter and even cream cheese sometimes, along with some parsley, and they are put into the slow cooker insert and refrigerated.
The gravy is made and put into the fridge.
Day of, I will put the potatoes in the slow cooker with a bit more milk, reheat the covered turkey slowly in the oven, with a bit of turkey or chicken broth in the bottom of the pan, and simmer the gravy in a pot on the stove. All I need to do when company is there is to steam the vegetables.
Dinners like this have turned out wonderful.
Lori, I have done that same thing in the past and it has worked out beautifully! I don’t know if you’re familiar with who Natalie Dupree was, but she used to do that same thing. Then, on the day of Thanksgiving, in order to get the house smelling like turkey, she would put a turkey breast in her slow cooker and let it go all day. She said that made Thanksgiving so much easier.
For whatever reason, I am not good at making mashed potatoes, so I buy Bob Evans and put them in my 2 quart slow cooker. I have had people ask me for the recipe for the mashed potatoes doing that.
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