How to Make a Damn Good Sauce

Thanksgiving has a reputation for endless pickling techniques, divisive side dishes, and contentious relatives. It’s no surprise that hosting can be stressful. If you don’t have the “Right Stuffing” , that is. This series is all about the Thanksgiving meal, and will help you create dishes that will show up on your table year after year, even if it doesn’t help you cope with the in-laws.

The sauce is not pretty. It’s hardly the main event of Thanksgiving and it’s not a runner-up. It can’t be called a side dish, and it can’t even be eaten on its own (well, people tell me I should stop). But this spicy sauce is undoubtedly necessary at the table. After all, it’s often the only savory sauce, so it requires a lot of pressure to be perfect, flavorful, and in some cases the savior of dry turkey or bland potatoes.

Gravy can also be a real pain in the ass, so the best way to make it smooth and flavorful is to keep it simple. Sure, you can get fancy by adding caramelized onions or chopped meat, but if making gravy every November gives you a cold sweat, start with a simple gravy. You can always do this later. The silky, savory brown sauce is made with just a few ingredients—butter, flour, stock, and salt—and a simple process.

Preheat the liquid

Flour clumps are the biggest enemy of gravy boats, and the only thing separating the flour from the broth is the butter. You want the butter to be happy. One of the most important parts of making sauce is to heat the liquid before you start cooking. The flour and butter form a paste (more on this in a moment) that thickens the liquid ingredient. (This is all gravy is—a thickened stock or stock.) Butter becomes solid at room temperature and below. Adding refrigerator-chilled turkey broth will cause the fat to turn into a solid form, which means lumps. Even if you have to whisk it on the stove and reheat the fats, you may find that you can’t keep the lumps under control.

Instead, keep the butter melted the entire time using hot liquid. This can be hot turkey broth, fat-free pan scraps, vegetable broth, or bouillon cubes dissolved in water. Whatever liquid your ingredient is, either heat it in a separate saucepan (ideally with a spout for easy pouring) until it begins to smoke, or pour it into a large measuring cup and heat in the microwave. Keep it at arm’s length. Once the whisking starts, it is difficult to stop.

Focus on ru

Start with a simple sauce. Roux is a paste made from flour and ghee in approximately equal parts. This mixture is the basis for many thick sauces, including cheese sauces, béchamel and all types of gravies. You can cook it in the microwave or oven , but I do it on the stove.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add flour and mix them. The mixture will bubble and smell like butter at first. Continue whisking and cooking the paste for one to five minutes.

The longer you cook it, the more the flavor will develop due to the gentle browning of the butter and flour. The change is subtle, but you will notice that the smell becomes toastier and the color of the mixture changes from yellow to golden brown. However, don’t cook it for more than five minutes unless you have plenty of practice because it may burn.

Add liquid in parts.

Once the sauce is smooth and you have cooked it for at least a minute, start adding the hot liquid. Don’t pour it all out at once; it’s a fast track to lumps. Instead, add liquid in about four additions. If you can multi-task, pour in a quarter of the liquid with your non-dominant hand while whisking with your dominant hand. It’s harder than it looks, and you don’t have to do it this way if it’s too hard. However, failure to do so is an even greater reason to add liquid little by little.

Slowly adding liquid allows the sauce to be completely smooth as the starches absorb the water. If you add all the liquid at once, the sauce clusters will come off, the outside of the clusters will become hydrated while the inside will remain dry, and those clumps will slide along the wires of your whisk rather than breaking apart.

You’ll see a little example of this when you add the first portion of liquid. The dressing and heat will initially thicken the broth dramatically to the point where you might start to worry. Not. This is normal and is not actually a lump. Whisk the mixture thoroughly and do not add the next portion of broth until it is completely smooth. Add another quarter of the liquid and whisk the mixture again until smooth. Repeat this process until you have used up all the liquid.

Add seasonings last

The gravy should look smooth and have a runny consistency, but still have enough consistency to coat a metal spoon in a thin layer, as if you were dipping the spoon in heavy cream. If it’s still too thick, add more base liquid, a quarter cup at a time, until you’re happy with the consistency. (If it seems too thin, keep in mind that it will thicken as it sits.) Whether you used stock, turkey pan drippings, bone broth, or a combination of the three, you’ll need some seasonings to make the gravy. Now is the time to add salt, soy sauce, onion or garlic powder, white or black pepper, meat chips, or any secret family ingredients ( like MSG ).

And voila: you have a lump-free sauce. Pour into a gravy boat using a very small ladle or place in a freezer-safe ziplock bag to freeze ahead of time. Reheat it on the stove over Thanksgiving and store it in a thermos until you’re ready to serve.

Simple sauce recipe

Ingredients:

• 2-3 cups turkey broth (or bouillon, or one of the above substitutes)

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• ⅛ teaspoon onion powder

• ¼ teaspoon salt (optional)

• 2 or 3 grinds fresh black pepper

Add broth to a microwave-safe measuring cup large enough to contain all the liquid. Heat it in the microwave until it steams. Alternatively, heat the broth in a large saucepan until steaming.

Make a roux. In a medium to large saucepan, melt the butter and add the flour. Whisk these two ingredients together for one to five minutes. The roux should be bubbly, thick and smooth.

Pour a quarter of the hot liquid into the sauce pan and stir quickly. The mixture will thicken quickly. Continue whisking until the mixture is completely smooth. Add another quarter of the liquid and beat again until smooth. Continue repeating this process until the sauce is smooth and the consistency is slightly thinner than ideal. You may not use all the liquid, or you may need a little more if you prefer your sauce to be quite thin. Add seasonings and serve.

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