Freeze Thanksgiving Gravy Now, Add Drippings Later
Thanksgiving gravy is a must on the holiday table. This delicious and versatile sauce is designed to highlight everything it touches on the plate and capture the savory flavor of a perfectly roasted turkey that has just made its debut on the table. Obviously this means you’ll be using fresh drippings from the pan, right? As if the owner wasn’t diligent enough in cooking, heating, plating and serving; Now they have to make the sauce at the last minute. Pass. You can save yourself the hassle and still get the rich turkey flavor by freezing the gravy now and adding pan drippings later.
For the last two years I’ve been hosting parties for friends. This means throwing a feast in the kitchen of my small New York City apartment. I like a challenge. I usually make the gravy with a mixture of store-bought turkey broth and fresh pan drippings after the bird comes out of the oven. It’s delicious but hectic (some might say chaos is a better word?). Call me smart or old, but I decided that this year I would have it all – low-stress gravy and rich flavor from the pan drippings. This involves making a brown gravy base, freezing it, and reheating it on the big day with flavorful turkey drippings.
How it works
Brown sauce consists of a few basic ingredients: butter, flour, and a brown liquid—usually stock or stock. All this freezes and thaws well. (White sauce is made with milk or cream, and these can break down when thawed.) While freezing the butter and flour roux base is itself a gravy, you can take it a step further and make a freezeable full-fledged gravy . Prepare the sauce and add enough broth to make the sauce a little thicker than usual. This explains the turkey droplets that will dilute them later. Season the sauce and let it cool to room temperature. Pour the cool sauce into a freezer-safe ziploc bag and freeze flat or portion using a pencil .
On Thanksgiving, break up the frozen gravy (you can defrost it slightly by placing the bag in a bowl of warm water), add to the pan, and reheat over low heat. Beat it smoothly. Store warm gravy in a thermos to keep it hot all day. When the bird finally comes out of the oven, the gravy is ready and waiting for the concentrated turkey juices. Strain and degrease the hot drops. Pour the sauce from the thermos into the pan. Gradually stir in turkey drippings. When you are happy with the consistency, stop pouring.
Pour sauce into serving vessel; excess may remain on the stove. Or may I suggest pouring it back into the thermos? This makes it easy to top up the sauce during dinner.
Freeze ready sauce recipe
Ingredients:
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4 tablespoons butter
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4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
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1 ¾ cups broth or turkey stock
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1 teaspoon beef broth base
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⅛ teaspoon onion powder
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1 teaspoon soy sauce
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2 or 3 grinds fresh black pepper
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½ cup to 1 cup nonfat turkey sweat (stir after reheating)
1. Add turkey stock and beef stock to a large measuring cup. Microwave the liquid until it begins to smoke, about two minutes. Stir to dissolve the broth.
2. In a medium saucepan, brown the butter and flour over medium-low heat. Whisk them together until you form a smooth paste and cook for one to five minutes or until the mixture turns golden brown and smells toasty.
3. Slowly add the hot liquid in four additions, whisking constantly. Whisk the mixture until smooth before adding the next amount of liquid. Once all the stock is in the sauce, turn off the heat and add the onion powder, soy sauce and black pepper. Let the sauce cool to room temperature.
4. Transfer the cooled sauce into a freezer-safe ziploc bag. Freeze it.
5. If necessary, remove the gravy from the freezer. You can defrost it slightly by leaving it on the counter for 30 minutes or running warm water over the bag. Break the sauce into pieces and add to the pan. Heat the sauce over low heat. Whisk frequently if possible to break it up and smooth it out. Add as many turkey drops as you need to thin the gravy to your desired consistency.