Thick, rich, delicious gravy.

No matter how simple or gourmet your holiday dinner, there is one sauce you'll serve this Thanksgiving that makes all the difference: thick, rich gravy. Great gravy is created through layer upon layer of flavor, and though complexity is the end result, eating is simple comfort.  

The Foundation: Homemade stock 

Your work starts this weekend with a brown turkey stock. Buy the cheapest turkey parts you can, roast them away and simmer them with roast aromatics for several hours. Too busy? Let your stock simmer away on the stove Saturday afternoon while the Ohio State University kicks Indiana's butt all over the football field (my husband made me say that). Here's the recipe.

Building flavor: Roasting your turkey  

The next step is to capture all the amazing flavor created while you roast your turkey. I layer thick slices of onion, along with halved carrots, celery ribs and chopped tart apple in the bottom of my roasting pan. I add about 1/2" of dry white wine, and baste the turkey every 20 minutes or so. When your turkey comes out you'll have a pan full of deliciousness.  

Making gravy

This is the final step. Skim the fat from your roasting pan then begin to build layers of flavor by deglazing the pan and with white wine, brandy and cider, then reduce loads of stock by half. Finally, whisk in a slurry of cold stock and flour, and let it cook away until the floury taste is gone and the gravy is thick, rich and ready to pour over turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and anything else on your Thanksgiving plate.  That's it. Layer upon layer of flavor gives you amazing, rich, complex gravy. For more specific directions, follow the recipe below.  

BONUS: The right roasting pan

Once your turkey comes out of the oven, you're going to put it over a couple of burners on your stovetop to make gravy. That means you need a heavy bottomed pan. Buy a cheap stock pot (it's just simmering water after all) and save your pennies for a good roasting pan. Plan on spending about $100-$160.

Thick, rich turkey gravy

Makes 5-6 cups gravy

Apple flavors including cider, Calvados and apple cider vinegar are layered into a rich gravy, the perfect compliment to your Thanksgiving turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. Apply liberally!

For roasting turkey:

• 1 large onion, peeled and cut in 1/2" thick slices

• 3-4 ribs celery cut in 6” pieces

• 1 large carrot, quartered lengthwise

• 1 tart apple like Stayman, Goldrush, Mutsu or Granny Smith, cut in a 1/2" dice

• 4 sprigs thyme

• 5-6 parsley stems

• 3-4 cups dry white wine or dry Vermouth

For gravy:

• 1 cup apple cider

• 1 cup dry white wine

• 1 cup brandy or Calvados

• 9 cups turkey stock (watch the video!)

• 1/2 cup flour

• 2 tbs butter

• Apple cider vinegar

• Cayenne pepper

Directions:

• Roast turkey to build a flavor base: Arrange carrot, onion and celery in a single layer on the base of your roasting pan. Sprinkle with apple, parsley and thyme. Place turkey directly on top of the vegetables.

• Add wine, coming up about 1/2" in the pan.

• Roast your turkey (find out more here.)

• After roasting reserve pan juices: When your turkey comes out of the oven, remove 2/3 of the veggies and reserve them for when you make stock with your turkey carcass (get that recipe here). Tip the pan juices to one end. Let settle for a minute and skim off most of the fat. If, like me, you obsess about not accidentally skimming off any pan juices you can pour them into your fat separator.

• Make gravy in roasting pan: Place the roasting pan over two burners on your stove set to medium-high. Add apple cider, white wine and brandy or Calvados. Cook until it reduces to a thick syrup.

• Add 8 cups of stock and reduce by half to 4 cups. Either chop remaining veggies or process them with an immersion blender to thicken stock.

• If you purée your veggies, they may thicken the gravy enough. If not, whisk together the flour and remaining cup of stock, creating a slurry. Whisk the slurry into the gravy until there are no lumps and cook 10-15 minutes until thickened and there is no flavor of raw flour remaining.

• Season gravy to taste with salt, pepper, butter, cider vinegar and a pinch of Cayenne.