How To Make Amazing Turkey Gravy

Here's what you'll need:

4 cups chicken stock or turkey stock (or broth)
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter and 45 grams flour (about 5 tablespoons)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Mesh strainer
Pan drippings from a roasted turkey (optional)
3-4 tablespoons chopped carrots, celery, and/or onion

Procedure:

1.Warm the stock. Heat four cups of stock or broth in a saucepan over a low to medium heat, just until it's warm but not boiling. If you have the pan drippings from a roasted bird, add them to the stock or broth, but be sure to drain off any excessive amounts of fat first.

2.Sauté the veggies. Melt four tablespoons of butter (or the fat from Step 1 above) in another saucepan over medium heat. If you have carrots, celery, and/or Onions: Chop them up (about a tablespoon of each for every cup of broth you're using) and cook them in the hot butter or fat until slightly browned but not burnt.

3.Make the roux. Stir the flour into the pan with the hot butter (with or without the veggies) to make a paste called a roux. Cook for a minute or two, until the roux is a golden brown color, then let it cool until it's warm but not cold.

4.Whisk in the liquid. Slowly pour the warm stock or broth into the pan with the warm roux, whisking the mixture as you add it. Return to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer and reduce the sauce by about a third.

5.Season and serve. Strain the gravy through a mesh strainer. Season to taste with Kosher salt and black pepper and serve.

Tips:

A bay leaf will add flavor and aroma to the gravy. You can add a bay leaf to the stock or broth while you are first heating it up, or add it to the gravy in Step 5 before reducing it.
Add a finely minced clove of garlic to the carrot-celery-onion mixture in Step 2.
You can hold the gravy on the stove for a while, but it may continue to thicken. If this happens, just thin it out with some more hot stock, broth or water.