A Reliable Way to Add Rich Color to Your Turkey
The turkey gravy should be rich and savory, thick enough to cover the turkey chunk, and brown. Color doesn’t always indicate flavor, but there is something wrong with the white sauce on white meat. I like my sauce to have a contrast, especially when served as part of a well-photographed meal – and nothing is brown like onion skins.
Onion skins are highly pigmented and are often used as a natural coloring agent . When added to broth, they impart a rich amber color, but not overly aromatic. To see how many flowers they brought to the stock bank, Illustrated Cook made too different lots of simple chicken broth: one made with skin onions, and one made with peeled onions. The stock, made from onions and peels, was much darker, which you can see by clicking on the full article . But in the case of turkey broth, which turns into turkey gravy, I prefer to go a step further by adding extra skins without onions to the pot. (The onions must be brown or brown in color – the skins of red onions will not work for our purposes.)
It’s really nothing special: every time you peel onions, set the skins aside, then put them in the freezer bag and store in the freezer until you’re ready to stock up. Place them in a saucepan along with the onions (cut off the root if dirty) and cook the broth as usual. Drain the peel along with all the bones and vegetables, then use this dark pretty liquid to make a dark and beautiful sauce.