[Sca-cooks] OT OOP Gallons of gravy

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Nov 5, 2007, at 9:39 PM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> niccolo difrancesco replied to Dan's questions about making a large
> amount of gravy with:
>
> <<< Simmer the giblets (not livers; add wing tips if available) in a
> couple
> quarts of water for about 30 minutes and add water back to half
> gallon.>>>
>
> Why do you exclude the livers? Do they add too strong a taste?

Short answer, yes. In addition, poultry livers, being smaller than  
some, occasionally have either an intact (bad) or broken (worse) gall  
bladder attached. If you want to know how bitter they can be, bear in  
mind that an old "cure" for nail-biting or thumb-sucking children is  
the bile from those gall bladders.

> <<< Then, you can use a turkey base (high end boullion) or chicken
> broth in a
> pinch, . . . or buy some turkey necks/backs to make a good broth out
> of them
> for your gravy (sauce veloute).  We can get necks most any time of  
> year
> around here. >>>
>
> Interesting idea about buying the necks for this. It sounds like you
> are making the broth/turkey base seperately and then adding that to
> the liquid above. Why is this? Why not add the turkey parts directly
> to the water above?

I'm not sure what you're asking... why make a separate broth in  
addition to the juices from the roast birds? You can do that (this  
would constitute a jus, I suspect), but the OP needs a gallon or two.  
This method gives him a little more control.

> You don't say anything about adding flour or some other thickener.
> You do need to add that, otherwise you just get broth or consume
> (thick broth),

Thick consomme? Bleah! Strong, clear, and of smooth mouth feel, yes,  
but not thick, unless you count one of the arrow-root-thickened  
variants.

> correct?

I suspect flour was not mentioned because not everyone uses it, but in  
addition, it was probably implied some form of roux would be involved  
when sauce veloute was mentioned...

Adamantius, taking the evening off from family e-mails and phone calls