[Sca-cooks] canned gravy??????

[Christine Seelye-King]

Stephan pined:
>For Thanksgiving we did have a good giblet gravy, but my
>mother-in-law doesn't put hard boiled eggs in hers, ehich I like.
>And there really wasn't that much and it ran out long before the
>leftover turkey did.

And then Adamantius wondered:
You know, I don't seem to recall having heard of this one before. I
assume, though (and have seen this in other contexts, such as sea
turtle cookery) that it would be reasonable for someone processing an
egg-laying female for the table to include any unlaid eggs among the
giblets. I wonder if that's where that idea comes from.


	The first time I saw this was at Thanksgiving dinner at my soon-to-be
in-law's house.  My M-I-L made the gravy with giblets (which I don't care
for, opting myself for a nice veloute sort of texture to my gravy) and then
added chopped hard boiled eggs.  I was appalled.  I ate some to be nice, but
never liked it, although I don't have anything against h.b. eggs.  They just
don't belong in my gravy.  She was from south Georgia, and their family had
been living in northern Florida for decades (which isn't all that different
from south GA, once you get away from the cities).  If I recall correctly it
seemed to be sort of clearish, so she may have also used corn starch as a
thickener.  All very bizarre to me.  It was also the first time I'd ever
seen anyone stringing celery stalks.  (Using a knife to cut away a small
section at one end, then pulling along the back to remove the fibers running
lenghthwise.  I've done it since to larger, tougher stalks, but even in a
professional kitchen setting, I'd never seen anyone take the time to do
this).
	As for skimming fat, the method Adamantius describes of a tall container in
the fridge works best and most fool-proof, and it doesn't have to get
completely cold to have the separation complete.  It only takes a few
minutes for most poultry drippings to separate.  To get it congealed to be
able to lift it off cleanly takes a while, but just getting it all on top
makes removal of the fat pretty easy.
	Christianna