Nobody has time for lumpy gravy to ruin your Thanksgiving! If your whisk isn’t doing the trick, try this foolproof blender technique!
Wolf Gourmet sent me this blender in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are, as always, my own and 100% truthful. Enjoy!
Right now, you’re probably planning out a massive to-do list for the rest of the week because we’re currently T-2 days away from Thanksgiving! This is my first year getting to make the turkey and I am beyond excited. I’ll be making a whole turkey breast, along with two thighs and two drumsticks. So, basically the whole bird, only slightly deconstructed. My plan is to brine the turkey on Wednesday morning for about 12 hours. Then, I’m going to dry it off and slather it in a ton of butter and herbs before roasting the next morning. I’m still toying with the idea of popping the turkey breast in the Instant Pot to cut down on some time, but I’m a little nervous about it. Let me know if you have done that with success. Today, I’m not so much bringing you a recipe, but how to fix an emergency culinary catastrophe! (Okay, that was dramatic)
We’ve all been there — You think your roux for your gravy is perfect, so you add your stock and whisk, whisk, whisk, only for stubborn lumps to remain. What’s a cook to do?
BLEND IT!
My blender of choice is Wolf Gourmet High-Performance Blender. If you want a top of the line blender that can make everything from your morning green smoothie to hollandaise, soups, and gravy, then this is the blender for you. I’ve used other high-powered blenders in the past and I can tell you that doing a side by side comparison, I much prefer the Wolf Gourmet. One of the things I love most is the simple interface that you use to control the blender. I prefer an appliance that doesn’t have a huge learning curve attached, and the Wolf Gourmet High-Performance Blender has only 5 settings to choose from, along with a handy speed knob. That’s it! I love this thing and between my husband and me, we use it at least twice a day.
Look at that smooth and dreamy gravy! No lumps to be found.
Ta-Da! Fool-proof gravy every time. Let me know if you need to use this trick on Thanksgiving, and if you have a Wolf Gourmet High-Performance Blender, let me know your favorite thing to make in it! If you don’t have one and want to pick one up (or ask Santa!), you can get them at Sur la Table!
- Pan drippings from your roasted turkey
- 1 to 2 cups chicken or turkey broth
- butter, as needed
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- Salt and pepper
- After you’ve removed the turkey from the oven and set it aside to rest, set the roasting pan over medium-high heat on the stovetop. You may need to span two burners. When the pan drippings are hot, pour in a cup of broth and begin scraping all the bits from the bottom of the pan. Alternatively, if you use a disposable roasting pan, scrape the bits and juices from the pan into a large saute pan and continue with adding stock once it’s hot.
- Pour the deglazed pan drippings into a measuring cup and place this in the refrigerator or freezer, wherever there is space. In the 30 minutes it takes to rest the turkey, the fat and drippings will separate and the fat will begin to harden. This makes it easier to skim off just the fat for making the gravy.
- Skim the fat off the top of the drippings. You should ideally end up with about 1 cup of pan drippings and 1/4 cup of fat. If you have less, you can make up the difference with broth or butter, respectively. If you have more, discard a little of the fat and use less broth in the next step.
- Place the fat in a saucepan over medium-high heat. When the fat is hot, whisk in the flour to form a thin paste. Let this cook for a few minutes until bubbly.
- Pour in the pan drippings and whisk to combine with the roux. This will form a thick, paste.
- Finish the gravy by whisking in a 1/2 cup of broth. You can add more broth for a thinner gravy or let the gravy cook a few minutes for a thicker gravy. Taste the gravy and add salt, pepper, and any extras to taste. Of course, if something happens and your gravy becomes lumpy, pop it in your blender once it’s cooled slightly to get the perfect texture.
Gravy recipe adapted from The Kitchn
