Gravy

I’m traditionally a bistro/meat juices/veg water kind of person but I noticed that granules come in different animal flavours.....so I tried making lamb gravy from beef and chicken granules.

My reasoning (?) was lamb wasn’t such a red meat as beef so I did 3tsp beef, 1tsp chicken. My SiL, poker faced, asked me how I made pork gravy - easy, Pork is paler than lamb and beef but darker than chicken. So three parts chicken granules to one part beef.

Their tears told me all I needed to know so I had another small sherry.....?

the meat juices and Bisto in this house , DDs were horrified at this one C......s , but Sons in law lapped it up , literally !
My lot hadn't taken any interest in my cooking when the lived here so watched fancy TV Chefs and couldn't make gravy

Meat juices plus veg water plus, occasionally, a Kallo low-salt stock cube and maybe a slosh of red wine.

I drink the red while I'm making the gravy.

Sometimes I slosh some into the pan, sometimes not.

I like a thick dark gravy made with flour, meat juices and stock from giblets and onions plus Oxo.

This thread puts me in mind of one of Tony Hancock's sayings. It was something like 'I thought my mother was a bad cook, but at least her gravy used to move about'

Meat juices, vegetable water, maybe a knorr stock cube, cornflour, possibly a glass of red wine and something nobody else seems to have mentioned (no wonder it's getting increasingly difficult to find in supermarkets) - gravy browning! Not always needed, but just makes the gravy look a better colour if you don't use gravy granules or bisto, and doesn't have any flavour, so doesn't make gravy overly salty (which I find bisto and granules do).

I remember seeing Burdall’s Gravy Salt on our pantry shelf, Ann, so I presume my mother used it, but I mostly remember the bottles of gravy browning. I smiled at your Hancock quote! Very fitting for my gravy sometimes!

Definitely a traditional gravy household. Can't stand all these new fangled fussy sauces. Don't get me started in foam!!!

Meat juices, wine, stock then thicken with cornflour

Annsixty the Aldi gravy granules are nice are they? I normally get the Bisto one but I’ve been looking at the Aldi one wondering if to try!

I read every post waiting for someone to mention 'gravy browning' so thank you GrandmaKT for mentioning it! My mother worked all week and on Sunday mornings so I was the one who prepared and cooked the traditional Sunday roast dinner. However, after much trial and error - more error than I care to admit to - I used to wait for my mother to make the gravy when she came home as she made the best gravy I have ever tasted and it was made with meat juices, plain flour, veg water and gravy browning (depending on which meat was cooked, depended how much gravy browning was used). I did get better over the years at making gravy but nowadays use the granules as it is much more convenient.

Beloved puts HP Fruity Sauce in hers, AFTER mine's been poured.

She also uses juices, Oxo, water and Cornflour.

I rarely boil veg apart from potatoes so don't have veg liquid.

Separate the fat from the meat juices left in your roast meat dish; make a roux with some of the fat and plain flour; cook for a couple of mins, then add veg water and the meat juices, crumble in a chicken oxo (must be a chicken oxo, no matter what meat you are serving - as a rule I don't use stock cubes, but gravy is the exception). Add a drop of gravy browning, then cook the lot for a few minutes to make sure the flour taste cooks out. If there's and red wine about, I add a splash of that too. Loads of people ask me how it's made, and want the recipe and whenever we eat out, the family always say "lovely meal, but the gravy's not a patch on yours Mum!"

My mother taught me to use the meat juices, and Bisto with water strained from the vegetables. My friend’s mother used to use gravy browning instead of Bisto and her gravy was always very watery. I think in the war girls used gravy browning on their legs because nylon stockings were so scarce. Imagine when it rained!

Jalima you are a woman after my own heart! I have a fridge magnet that says "I like to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put some in the food!"
My excuse - I like to keep both hands busy and it only takes one to stir a risotto.

Bistro granules and water has worked well for me over the ages.

Kittylester Bisto Best doesn't contain gluten, but they can't market it as GF because it is produced in a factory where gluten is present. My DH is gluten free and he uses this.

I use meat juices, couple of Knorr stock cubes, dash of Worcester sauce, seasoning, chopped onions, mushrooms, and a dash of wine or beer. Thicken with Bisto. Delicious.

Meat juices, 2 tsps of Marigold stock powder, and half a pint of boiling water, all simmered together for a few minutes. We don't like thick gravies in my family. At Christmas I add some stock made from the turkey giblets.

Praise the Lord for Bisto granules......

If I’m making Yorkshire puddings with a roast I save about a tablespoon of batter, add meat juices, gravy salt and boiling water then whisk over a low flame in the cast iron dish the meat has been roasted in.
Morrison’s sell compton’s gravy salt which is the nearest I have found to burdall’s.

Amen . I love Ah Bisto ! Meat and veg juices then Bisto - newly converted to the granules !

Meat juices, water, 100 mls or so of white wine (or red if I need a dark gravy), a drizzle of soy sauce, a tsp or so of balsamic vinegar. I reduce the gravy until it’s shiny and unctuous - the balsamic vinegar adds the sugar necessary to make that happen, This is usually enough to make a good gravy for a roast, but if I’m frying the meat I do it in Normandy butter, which doesn’t burn, but goes a lovely nutty brown, so the resulting gravy has even more flavour. I do occasionally add a spot of cornflour, and a stockpot or som Marigold to gravy but only if the meat is very lean with watery juices - all the flavour is in the fat, which also helps with the thickening process.

I do similar to kitty, in that I roast the meat sitting on top of an onion, adding relevant herbs and pepper. Then when the meat is cooked, rest it and use the juices in the pan, scraping off all the goodies that have stuck to it, add a drop of water and/or red wine, thickening with a little flour mixed in water, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Sometimes add a stockpot or red currant jelly
if an extra bit of colour required.
Mum always made bistro gravy!