Make-Ahead Turkey Gravy That REALLY Works!

You know how it goes: you have pulled your turkey out of the oven or roaster or oil-free fryer or whatever and it is resting until carving time. Now it's time to put the rolls in the oven, steam some veggies, finish up getting the feast plated up and ready to serve. Who has time to stand there, stirring gravy???? Yeah, nobody. So you end up with lumpy gravy, raw gravy, burned gravy or some other disappointment.

Instead of trying to cram one more thing into crunch time, make your gravy ahead, and trust me: this is delicious! It makes a lot of gravy, and all you have to do is warm it up. You probably have all these items in your pantry already. Plus, if you are making a small dinner of just a turkey breast or capon, you can totally fake it with this gravy.

1 carrot, scrubbed or peeled, trimmed
1 rib of celery, scrubbed (include leaves!)
1 small onion, trimmed but keep the peel
1/2 cup of butter (one stick) divided
1/4 cup all purpose unbleached flour
**2 cups of chicken stock (not broth)
**2 cups of beef stock (not broth)
     (**or 4 cups of turkey stock if you have it**)
1/2 cup good white wine or sherry, if you like
1 bay leaf
8 whole peppercorns
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste

Chop your veggies either by hand or in the food processor. In the food processor, chop the carrots first, then add the celery and finally the onion. By hand, chop in whatever order suits you.

In a heavy-bottom Dutch oven, melt 1/4 cup butter. Then add the veggies and saute until they are starting to soften. Add the bay leaf, thyme and peppercorns and saute until their aroma makes you smile. Add the wine or sherry and let that reduce and thicken, then add HALF of the stock. Bring this up to a simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, and then you can turn the heat down to the lowest setting and simmer for about half an hour or so.

Remove the mixture from the heat and remove the bay leaf. When it is cool enough to not hurt your blender, blend it until very smooth. Meanwhile, melt the rest of the butter in your dutch oven. When the butter is melted, add the flour and cook, stirring constantly until it goes from golden brown to something just a bit darker. Add the other half of your stock, stirring constantly, and then your pureed stock and veggie mix.

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring, until the gravy thickens. Season with salt and pepper to your taste.

Refrigerate it until turkey time, or even freeze it. If you are giblets person, then cook them and chop them the day of your feast and add them shortly before serving.