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Cooking 101 Basics Week #3 – Gravy, Gravy, Gravy

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Gravy, Gravy, Gravy…oh how I love thee. It is delicious and makes almost everything taste better. I’m going to share a secret with you…my pet peeve is people who don’t make gravy from scratch. It is so, super duper easy and tastes 1000 times better than jarred  canned, store bought, or dry packaged gravy. I promise…I’ve got a great gluten and dairy version of traditional white/cream gravy for you. It was one of the first things I mastered when I was diagnosed with my allergies. The techniques are the same for most of the recipes….and I’ve even included a video in case you need more help!

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If you’d like to join the cooking classes challenge, sign up by joining the Cooking 101: The Basics group on Facebook. Over there you can ask questions, post tips and recipe photos, and help each other along the way.

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How the Classes and Challenge Work:

Cooking 101: The Basics is a 16 week class on Wednesdays. I will post a new recipe with tips on getting great results along with pictures. It’s like your own personal online cooking school! Take as long as you need, but once you make the recipe (or a similar version) come back and add your link to the post to share with everyone. No blog…no worries…add your pictures to the Facebook group, we’d all love to see them!

Got questions? Email, leave a comment, but the best place will be the facebook group!

Grab your aprons and let’s get cooking!

The Cooking 101 ebook is HERE! 21 Easy Scratch Recipes

WEEK #3 – GRAVY, GRAVY, GRAVY

I learned how to make gravy in junior high or high school. It only took a couple tries and I had it mastered. When I got married, it was one of the first things I taught hubbyman how to make. It was important to marital happiness. My favorite breakfast is biscuits with cream gravy and bacon. Yeah, yeah…not so healthy, but we only have it once every month or so.

I realize you can make gravy in just about any type of pan, but I’ve had the best results with a good non-stick pan. (Keep reading…there is a giveaway). The other key is to monitor the heat of the stove. I think I change temperatures for my pan three times when I make gravy…don’t worry, it’s not going to be overwhelming. Promise!

How to Make the Perfect Pan of Gravy: 4 recipes (vegan & gluten free options) plus a Video!

 

Red Eye Gravy

Ham and coffee are the basis for red eye gravy, a Southern favorite. This is not for the faint of heart, but it sure is tasty! The name “red-eye gravy” comes from the fact that a circle or oval of liquid fat with a slightly reddish cast will form on the surface of the gravy when it is reduced.

Cream Gravy

White Gravy, Sawmill, and Country Gravy…they are all the same. And totally hits home with my Southern roots. It’s so easy and I promise you can make it (check out my video below for some awesome tips). It’s perfect over mashed potatoes, chicken fried steak, and of course biscuits. Once you learn this gravy, you can easily make alfredo sauce or a yummy mac & cheese. Yep, this gravy is pretty much the base for each of those.

Sausage Gravy

This is just a fancy version of cream gravy. It’s a cream gravy with bits of breakfast sausage cooked in. Seriously, my mouth is just drooling thinking about it. Sausage gravy is usually served over biscuits.

Brown Gravy

This gravy is the traditional gravy for pot roast, meatloaf, chicken, and turkey. Add some giblets from a turkey or chicken when it’s served and you have the best gravy for Thanksgiving!

 

Gluten Free/Dairy Free Gravy

Oh yes I did! This is the first thing I mastered when I got my allergy diagnosis. It’s super easy and tastes amazing!

homemade gravy in white gravy boat

Homemade Gravy (Cooking 101 Basics - Week #3)

Yield: 2 cups of each gravy

4 recipes for the perfect pan of gravy (including gluten free and vegan options)!

Ingredients

Red Eye Gravy

  • Country ham
  • 4 tbsp hot black coffee

Cream Gravy

  • 4 tbsp butter (or bacon drippings)
  • 4 tbsp flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup cooked pork sausage (if making sausage gravy)

Brown Gravy

  • 2 cups beef or chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 3/4 cup cooked chopped giblets (for giblet gravy)

Dairy Free / Gluten Free Gravy

  • 4 tbsp dairy free butter (or bacon drippings if you're not vegan)
  • 4 tbsp sweet rice flour (other flours will be too gritty)
  • 2 cups rice milk or soy milk
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

Red Eye Gravy

  1. Take a slice of uncooked ham with a lot of the fat left on. Fry the ham, in a large skillet, in its own fat until nicely browned on both sides. When it is cooked, transfer the ham to a platter. Add boiling black coffee to the skillet, scraping to dissolve the particles that cling to the bottom and sides.
  2. Pour over the ham and serve.
  3. Note: This gravy can be made from the drippings of pan-fried country ham, bacon, or other pork.

Cream Gravy

  1. In a large skillet, melt butter and flour together over medium high heat. Cook flour mixture for 1-2 minutes, stirring often.
  2. Lower heat to low and slowly pour in milk while constantly stirring. Keep stirring and work out any lumps that may have formed. Once lumps are gone, turn heat up to medium high and bring to a slow boil. Gravy will begin to thicken (add sausage if making sausage gravy) and keep stirring for 30 seconds-1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Gravy will continue to thicken as it cools.

Brown Gravy

  1. Add stock to large skillet over medium high heat. Bring to a boil. While stock is coming up to a boil, combine corn starch and water in a small bowl. Mix well to combine and work out any lumps.
  2. Gently pour corn starch mixture into boiling stock. Stir constantly until gravy starts to thicken. (Add giblets for giblet gravy.) Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Gravy will continue to thicken as it cools.

Gluten Free and Dairy Free Gravy

  1. In a large skillet, melt "butter" and rice flour together over medium high heat. Cook flour mixture for 1-2 minutes, stirring often.
  2. Lower heat to low and slowly pour in milk while constantly stirring. Keep stirring and work out any lumps that may have formed. Once lumps are gone, turn heat up to medium high and bring to a slow boil. Gravy will begin to thicken (add sausage or soy-based sausage to keep it vegan) if making sausage gravy) and keep stirring for 30 seconds-1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. Gravy will continue to thicken as it cools.
Nutrition Information:
Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 42Sodium: 4mgCarbohydrates: 9gProtein: 1g

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© Wendy O'Neal

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{Last week: Tools of the Trade       Next Week: Brownies}

MY SPONSOR

Please welcome the sponsor this week…Teflon! Teflon brand provides superior nonstick performance  on your pots and pans. Pans with Teflon nonstick coating lasts about 7x longer than pans that have ceramic or silicon coatings. Plus they are dishwasher safe. That’s a bonus for me….I won’t buy it if it can’t go in the dishwasher! You so need one of these pans for all the gravy making you’ll be doing!

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Disclaimer: Teflon provided me with a set of pans and is providing the winner with a set of pans. All opinions are my own.

 

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Comments

  14. Melissa Tippie says

    I love thick white sausage gravy with fluffy buttermilk biscuits. Soooo tasty ~ YUMO! Thank-you for a great giveaway 🙂

    Reply

  24. Tim Stephens says

    I love a very spicy white sausage gravy… with all my breakfast foods but especially my dad’s homemade biscuits

    Reply

  31. Laura O in AK says

    We do a LOT of brown gravy in the house for over mashed potatoes as the boys love it that way.

    Reply

  37. Meghan says

    Red gravy, like we call it in the Philly area…just gravy or spaghetti sauce which it’s more commonly known by! LOL Thank you for the chance to win.

    Reply

  56. Paula Michele Hafner says

    I make country style gravy with milk, flour, black pepper, and a little ground sausage.

    Reply

  62. Patricia says

    I just started experimenting with gravies. I cannot believe how easy they are to make. I love a brown gravy.

    Reply

  66. karen b says

    My favorite gravy is sausaage gravy, but I would love to try the cream gravy, thanks

    karenb834atyahoo.com

    Reply

  69. Nicole Newby says

    I’ve never made my own gravy, but I’d like to give it a try! I would say sausage gravy is my favorite!

    Reply

  70. Jackie says

    I love making my own gravy be it sausage, chicken or beef. I just like gravy especially homemade. I have never made red eye but am going to try that soon.

    Reply

  75. Wendy Owen says

    My dad has red eye gravy every year on thanksgiving while everyone else has focus on the turkey gravy. I have never been able to learn how to do it as many times as I have tried. Gravy is not an easy thing to do.

    Reply

  79. Steve @ The Black Peppercorn says

    I love almost any gravy – but Country gravy is my favorite!! Love that you are doing a giveaway. I have one going today as well!!

    Reply

  80. Shana says

    I like country gravy mainly because I like a thick gravy.
    We won’t eat brown gravy unless I make it from scratch (pan gravy)
    I need to try the red gravy!

    Reply

  81. Georgia @ The Comfort of Cooking says

    This is so helpful to me! I love to make gravy with drippings from my Thanksgiving turkey, but I always tend to mess it up. Thanks for sharing your tips, Wendy!

    Reply

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