Traditional Turkey Gravy

Summary
Prep time	10 min
Cook time	2+ hours
Source	Feast - Food to Celebrate Life by Nigella Lawson (pg 8)
Yield / serves	8-10 servings
Rating	Delicious!!

This gravy is phenomenal!! 8-10 servings is probably pretty conservative since I was inclined to smother my turkey and stuffing with it. It results in a rich, dark brown gravy, especially when made with Spiced and Super-Juicy Roast Turkey which is basted with butter and maple syrup. I would probably double the recipe next time so that there is plenty of gravy left over. We didn't have nearly enough to handle all the turkey or stuffing we had on the table; it was probably a good thing we did Maple Mashed Sweet Potatoes instead of regular mashed potatoes.

Ingredients

• giblets from a turkey
• 1 bouquet garni (we used fresh rosemary, thyme and parsely)
• 4 black peppercorns
• 1 onion, peeled and halved
• 1 carrot, peeled and quartered
• 1 stick of celery, roughly chopped
• bacon rinds or 1-2 slices of bacon
• 6-8 c water
• 1 t salt
• 1 T all-purpose flour
• 1 T butter
• 1 T Marsala

Preparation

Put all the giblets except the liver in a pan (the liver will be used later) with the bouquet garni, peppercorns, onion, carrot, celery, and bacon, and cover with the water, sprinkling over 1 teaspoon of salt. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer for a couple of hours. Strain into a measuring cup. Set it aside if you're doing this stage in advance, or else get on with the next stage, which takes place when the turkey's cooked and resting on the carving board.

Pour off most of the fat from the roasting pan, leaving behind about 2 tablespoons plus all the usual sticky and burned bits. Put it back on the burner at a low heat, and in a separate little bowl mix together the flour with, gradually, 3-4 tablespoons of the liquid from the pan. When you have a smooth, runny paste, stir it back into the pan. Cook for a couple of minutes, scraping up any bits from the bottom and incorporating them, but make sure the pan's not so hot it burns. Still stirring, gradually pour in 2 cups of the giblet stock, or more if it seems too thick, bearing in mind you may e adding the liver later.

While the gravy is cooking gently, leave it for a moment (though keep stirring every now and again) to fry the liver. Melt the butter in a small pan and toss the liver in it for 1-2 minutes, then remove the liver to a board and chop finely.

Add the liver to the gravy. Add the Marsala, and stir well, cooking for another few minutes, before pouring into a couple of gravy boats.

• Note: Nigella wrote to pour it into "a couple gravy boats", but we only had enough for one. We may have cooked down our stock more than the recipe intended. If so, that may explain why the flavor was SO rich.