32 thickening gravy Recipes

red kidney beans, onion chopped, bell pepper chopped, jalapeno peppers chopped (optional), garlic minced, smoked sausage cut in 1/2 inch pieces, bay leaf, pork hambone, salt to taste, red pepper or cayenne to taste, black pepper to taste, water to cover beans cooked rice, wash beans. add in the crock-pot , the washed beans, onions, bell pepper, garlic, hambone, and bay leaf. pour enough water in the crock-pot so that the water is 2 to 3 inches above the beans. turn the crock-pot on low and cook overnight or 10 hours or during the day while at work. do not peak or uncover., early the next morning or returning from work, check and see if the water has been reduced. if further reduction of water is needed and generally it is needed, turn the cooker on high. smash some of the beans to thicken and cook 1 or two more hours; adding the smoked sausage in the last half hour of cooking. remove bay leaf and season to taste with salt and pepper., pour the entire mixture from the crock pot to a large heavy duty pot or black cast iron pot. smash some of the beans to thicken the gravy. cook to reduce the water and thicken the gravy. when the gravy is almost the consistency you want, add the smoked sausage, salt and pepper and remove the bay leaf. cook for 30 minutes. serve over rice and enjoy., scale this recipe to servings.

ham (either pre-cooked or bone in), dark brown sugar, ground mustard, orange juice, cornstarch (for thickening to make gravy), water (for thickening to make gravy)

pork chops, vegetable oil (small amount for browning chops), onion, chopped, vinegar, chili powder, pepper, maple syrup, water, worcestershire sauce, salt, flour (as needed to thicken the gravy)

pork roast, olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic cloves, chopped, onion, chopped, water, thyme, sage, dry red wine, flour , and enough water to make a paste to thicken the gravy

any liquid can be reduced just by heating it - but why would you want to do that, answer comes back to two of our old friends, flavor and consistency (texture)., by reducing any flavored liquid you intensify its flavor and at the same time thicken it. you can continue this process until what you have left is a syrup if it contains sugar, or a sauce if it does not., this is 1 of the most important tools in the kitchen , believe it or not, because a great sauce can rescue an indifferent meal., literally any liquid can be reduced ., a few uses, wine is frequently used in cooking , both as a marinade and as an addition to sauces for meat., there are some problems with it though, 1 of which is that you need a really good wine and quite a lot of it to produce a reasonable sauce for, say, six people., on the other hand , if you use pure grape juice and reduce it to a syrup, that syrup, added to any sauce (or gravy if you prefer) will lift it into the realms of gourmet ., more , you don tsp have to make your reduction on the night you prepare your meal. you can reduce a liter of grape juice at any time to the consistency and flavor you want; then just store it in the fridge., you can do the same thing with any fruit juice - prune is sensational - and store it until needed. just about all of them will do things for ice cream, pies or tarts that will have your guests demanding the recipe, pork with apple sauce use a carton of fresh apple juice from the supermarket and reduce it. and if you want a real sensation add in a glass of apple brandy during the reduction process., are you getting an idea of how simple this is, take any carton of fresh stock straight of the shelf and reduce it. you will transform it into something even the manufacturer won tsp recognize. but beware, you need to start out with good quality in the first place, because when you reduce a liquid you intensify all the flavors, and not just the good ones., if it s salty to start with, for example, it will be salty beyond belief by the time you ve reduced it even by half. so if you are going to use a supermarket stock, make sure it s an extremely good 1., believe me when i tell you that stock cubes should not be used for reduction sauces., thickeners, because you will be tasting as you go (won tsp you ), you may find that you get the flavor you want before the desired consistency is reached., a couple of hints right now for your sauces., sweet ones can be thickened successfully without loss of color by adding in liquid glucose early on in the reduction process. surprisingly, this will add little in the way of sweetness and produces a beautiful velvety sauce when whisked., if you get it wrong and add too much, no problem. stir in a little extra water to thin it., reduction pans, reductions need to happen rapidly in serving to preserve flavors. and the greater the surface area of the liquid the faster the water will evaporate., however you may want to whisk something into the sauce while its cooking - such as butter or olive oil for example - and for that i find a small wok is best; 1 with a handle., a wok is less likely to reduce so fast that the sauce is burnt while your back is turned. but try both methods and see which you prefer. you may even end up using something totally different., no magic to this. whatever works for you, that s what you should use, in this and everything else to do with cooking., just bear in mind that what you re after is speed and ease of use. as well as a great tasting result, of course. :>), keeping, if they should dry out , simply add a little water and heat through., sauces containing meat juices of any kind must be frozen if you re going to keep them, and should be brought to boiling point before being used again. there is no need to thaw them out to do this, in fact it s better not to. simply drop the frozen cubes into a saucepan, melt them over a gentle heat, and then bring swiftly to the boil., why do you do this to avoid food poisoning, that s why. you are making sure that any bugs introduced into the sauce during the preparation process are killed off., worry , this will not be because of anything you have done wrong (i hope!), but because bacteria are part of our everyday lives and they exist in every kitchen, however clean., in fact your food , and especially your meat, is crawling with wildlife that you will never see. don tsp worry about them. careful handling and simple precautions will ensure that these miniature monsters can never multiply enough to harm either you or your guests.

chicken thighs , excess fat and skin removed, oil, oil, i small rib celery, chopped small, leek, sliced, onion, halved and sliced, chestnut mushrooms, sliced, carrots, sliced, baby potatoes, skins on, halved, pack cubetti di pancetta (200g, just over 7 oz.), or use thick cut unsmoked bacon cut in small pieces, garlic minced, italian style herbs, hot stock, any kind (see below ), mixed dried mushrooms (porcini, chanterelle, shiitake etc), i cheated and used some chicken gravy granules (bisto best roast chicken gravy), about 4 rounded tsp. (to thicken and season).

hamburger patty, hamburger (not lean), chopped green onion (optional), salt or pepper, gravy, beef broth, flour , for thickening, butter, eggs, rice, white rice, spam, oyster sauce, chopped green onion, garlic clove, minced

stew meat (trimmed ), italian dressing (1 large bottle), au jus gravy (if using packets-add water as instructed on packet), rice (i use uncle bens long grain), cornstarch ( & water to thicken), oil (to brown beef)

stew meat, dry onion soup mix, mushroom gravy, potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, baby carrots, peas, drained, mushrooms, drained, dry white wine, black pepper, flour , for thickening if desired

potatoes, peeled and chopped, big fat sausage links, onions, peeled and cut into chunks, ale or stout beer (not beer!), sugar (if desired to balance the ale if it tastes bitter), cornflour or bisto, to thicken the gravy