We’re three weeks away from the biggest food holiday of the year, and that’s just the right amount of time to start thinking about your perfect meal preparation. Over the next three weeks, I’m going to give you tips on how to be more prepared than you’ve ever been for Thanksgiving so you can pull of the biggest meal of the year without a hitch! Here’s step #1.
When I was teaching Thanksgiving Dinner classes in San Francisco (yes, there are cooking classes for just this one important meal!), I learned that the number one Thanksgiving dinner fear was making the gravy. Gravy always stressed cooks out because they didn’t know how to make it, it was messy to make in a roasting pan, they worried about lumps, about it not being seasoned properly or tasting good, and not having the time and headspace to make it successfully. I’m hear to tell you (as I told my students years ago) that you can save yourself this stress and make a delicious gravy ahead of time… WAY ahead of time. Here’s how…
Traditionally, gravy is made at the end of the meal preparation because you need the turkey drippings in order to make the gravy, right? Well, truthfully, there are never enough drippings from a roast turkey to make as much gravy as you want or need, so why wait? If you can somehow get great tasting turkey drippings or stock ahead of time, then you can make gravy ahead of time too. If you’re cooking your turkey with an appliance other than an oven - like an air fryer or deep fryer - you’re going to have to somehow get your hands on some turkey stock ahead of time anyway. So, you have two options. You can get a pre-made turkey stock from your butcher or from the grocery store shelf (I’m very partial to Kitchen Basics Stock), OR you can make your own turkey stock.
Making a turkey stock is easy. Super easy and usually much tastier than store bought stocks. First you’ll need some turkey bones from the butcher or some turkey necks, backs and wings. Put the bones in a roasting pan and roast at a high temperature (425º or 450ºF) for about 20 to 30 minutes. The bones should be brown and sizzling. Transfer the bones to a large stockpot. Chop up some mirepoix: cut 3 onions in quarters, chop 3 carrots into large 2-inch chunks, chop 3 ribs of celery into similar 2-inch chunks. Add these veg to the roasting pan and send them into the oven for another 20 minutes or so. Transfer the veg to the stockpot with the turkey bones. At this point, there is probably some tasty brown stuff on the bottom of the roasting pan. Pour in some water (or white wine if you’re so inclined) and set the roasting pan on the stovetop. Bring the liquid to a simmer and scrape up the stuff from the bottom of the roasting pan. (This will also help you clean the pan!) Pour this deglazing liquid into the stockpot with the turkey bones and vegetables. Add a bay leaf, some peppercorns, some parsley stems, fresh thyme sprigs, anything you really like the flavor of (sage, dried chili pepper, etc…) to the stockpot and fill with cold water. Bring this liquid to a simmer and skim off any foam from the surface. Let it simmer (not boil) for 2 to 3 hours. Then, let it cool. Strain the liquid into a large vessel and your delicious turkey stock is ready to use. You can use it right away, store it in the refrigerator for 4 days or so, or freeze it at this point. (Now, if you have a large pressure cooker, you can do the simmering step in a pressure cooker for about 1 hour.)
…OR you can buy some good quality turkey stock. You pick. 😉
Once you have the drippings, make the gravy in your peaceful and quiet kitchen, well ahead of the big day. You can check out a recipe for a Basic Gravy here. The only trick to making it ahead of time is to NOT add all the liquid. Make a thick gravy and season it to your liking (knowing the you are going to dilute it later on). Check it for lumps. If there are lumps in your gravy, then strain it through a strainer (no-one needs to know!). Then let it cool. If you are doing this just a few days before Thanksgiving, you can store this thick gravy in the refrigerator. Otherwise, you can freeze it and remember to defrost it the day before Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day, bring your gravy to a simmer on the stovetop. When the turkey comes out of the oven, let it rest on the carving board and pour the drippings into a fat separator. Once the fat has risen to the surface, pour the tasty drippings from the bottom of the separator into your thick gravy and dilute it to your liking. If you need more liquid to dilute it, add more of your turkey stock, or if you want to be fancy, add some heavy cream to enrich it. Season it to taste with salt and pepper and the gravy is finished. Easily. No stress. No lumps. Just delicious. You’ll look like a pro and can focus on the other dishes in the meal.
So, in a perfect world, this week:
- Make turkey stock (make as many cups as you think you want gravy).
- Make a thick gravy. Season it and strain it. Then freeze it.
That’s step one of Thanksgiving preparation done. Don’t you feel ahead of yourself already? 🙂
