LurfysMa wrote:
> First of all, thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions for
> making turley gravy.
>
> The turkey gravy was good, but not great. I'd give it a B or B+. My
> main complaint was that it had a slightly bitter or harsh taste.
>
> I'd like to describe what I did and see if anyone can suggest how I
> could do better.
>
> When the turkey went into the oven, I started the stock. I heated some
> olive oil in a skillet ove medium high heat and browned the neck,
> giblets, and wing tips for about 5-6 minutes. I added an onion and
> some carrots chopped coarsely and cooked for several minutes.
>
> At this point, I may have made my first mistake. My wife had just
> finished peeling the potatoes and there were a pile of potato peelings
> in the sink. I grabbed a handful and dumped them into the skillet with
> the other veggies. I probably added a cup or so.
>
> I added a half cup of chianti and enough water to cover everything and
> brought it to a simmer. I left it to simmer partly covered for 2
> hours.
>
> I then added 3 bay leaves, 6-8 whole peppercorns, 5-6 whole allspice
> berries, and some basil. I left this to simmer for another hour.
>
> I strained the liquid into a pyrex yielding about 2 cups. I didn't
> taste it at this point. I probably should have. I let it sit. A little
> fat came to the top -- about 1/2 cup, which I spooned off.
>
> About this time, the turkey came out of the over. We set it on a
> cutting board. I poured the drippings into a pyrex bowl. I got a
> little less than a cup of liquid. This always happens. Very little
> liquid. My wife started with a cup or two of water in the bottom of
> the pan. The bird is on a rack and covered with foil. It always comes
> out tasting great, but not much liquid.
>
> Now comes what may have been mistake #2. The potatoes had just
> finished cooking and we had a boel of potato water. I added that to
> the 2 cups of stock making the 4 cups that I would need. I poured all
> of this into the roasting pan and put it over 2 burners on medium to
> deglaze.
>
> In the meantime, I heated 5-6 Tbsp of fat in the skillet and started
> whiking in the 5-6 Tbsp of flour previously measured out. This quickly
> became a very dry paste, so I kept adding more fat until I ran out
> than added butter. I probably added 10-12 Tbsp of fat altogether. I
> heated this until the flour turned brown.
>
> Meanwhile, I was stirring and scraping the roasting pan until all of
> the bits were loosened.
>
> I then strained the liquid from the roasting pan into the skillet with
> the flour and fat. This quickly became a smooth gravy that was a
> little too thin.
>
> It was at this point that I tasted it. It had a very strong bite to
> it. I first added a little salt (1-2 tsp at a time). This helped until
> I was worried that it was getting too salty.
>
> I ended up adding some milk and even cream, which made it less harsh,
> but still not what I hoped for.
>
> Any obvious errors?
>
> Thanks

Allspice and basil? Don't think I'd ever be tempted to include or
combine either of these strong flavors in a traditional turkey gravy.
Thyme or sage maybe, but not allspice and/or basil.

Potato peelings? What did you feel they would add to the flavor of
your stock? You were good to go with onion and carrot (I would have
added some celery w/tops & Italian parsley and one large Bay Leaf),
along with the spare turkey parts and black peppercorns. To end up
with 4 cups of stock, add a good 6 cups of water to the pot with all of
the parts. Simmer uncovered for a while, skimming any gunky foam, then
simmer, covered, for a couple of hours and strain before using.

Rather than tossing in "used potato water" to bring your yield to 4C,
better to plan ahead or add good quality canned chicken stock if you
grossly miscalculate and come up short. I cook potatoes in "seriously
salted" water and you may have inadvertantly oversalted your stock by
diluting it by half with the potato water - not to mention diluting the
flavor essence of the stock.

I wait to add salt until I've actually made the gravy and use far less
than your 1-2 tsp for 4C of gravy. Oversalting doesn't always just
make a dish taste salty - it can also kick the balance of other flavors
silly, intensifying the flavors of ingredients in an unpleasant way.

I've used wine periodically in making turkey gravy to deglaze the
roasting pan - a mellow red - occasionally Marsala or Madeira, but
never in the stock itself.

Am thinking you may have burned your flour - and overcooked flour is
truly nasty. You really don't want the fat/flour mixture to actually be
brown - when it moves from pasty to a pale golden shade, it's time to
add liquid. The milk solids in the butter you added may also have
burned. Sounds like that part of things got complicated for you.
10-12T for just 4C of gravy is a lot of fat. Something was very "off"
here. I gave up on that whole pain in the keester part of gravy making
years ago and keep Wondra flour on hand. No muss, no fuss, no lumps -
perfect gravy everytime. Google for Wondra gravy recipes and you'll be
a star.

Best of luck - am sure the leftovers will be great!

Nancy T