We are coming to the time of year when heavy, rich foods replace light salads and garden-fresh vegetables.  Here on the farm, these next few Persephone months with little sunlight mean nothing grows, and we need to draw as much sustenance as possible from the stored harvest.  For those of you who have to pay for the sustainably-grown meat in your freezer, you’ll want to do the same.  Thus, every bit of fat you pour off the roasting pan to throw away, every scraping of browned bits that you peel away from the cast iron skillet and then wash down the drain, represent wasted precious calories and nutrition.  When we incorporate pan drippings and the browned bits from roasting into our meals, we help stretch the number of servings we get from every dish we prepare and…..we get to eat yummy gravy.

Gravy is often overlooked as a source of nutrition.  But done right, it is rich in the CLAs and Omega 3s that make grassfed meats so healthful.  Add to that the fat soluble vitamins A,D,E, and K that can be floating in pan juices and incorporated into the sauce, and you’ll suddenly see a nutritional goldmine when you pull your late fall and winter roasts from the oven.  Gravy is never a wasted effort in our house.  We make it with meat loaf, pork roasts, chickens, and of course, our Thanksgiving turkey.  Leftover gravy is then used at subsequent meals as an ingredient in impromptu soups and stews, or it is recycled by adding it to the next broth pot.

Gravy theory is simple.  The fat and the browned solids left in a roasting pan give color and flavor in this traditional English sauce.  Rather than washing them away, they should be part of the meal.  The pan fats, plus a little extra lard or butter (if necessary) are blended with flour* to make a roux.  Once the paste browns, pan juices and a little extra broth, wine, water or beer are slowly whisked in.   The gravy is then allowed to simmer until it thickens.

For those of us who take our thrills from dancing about the kitchen and whipping up sauces without measuring ingredients, I know the above directions will suffice.  But for those of you who, like my husband, will suffer an attack of anxiety without exact proportions and ratios to guide you through your first gravy attempt, I’ve included a recipe below.

*I prefer to use potato flour to wheat flour or cornstarch.  The flavor is less invasive, it doesn’t disturb my family’s digestive system like wheat, and the gravies from it thicken better.

Pan Gravy for Roasted Poultry and Meat

This recipe comes from Long Way on a Little: An earth lover’s companion for enjoying meat, pinching pennies, and living deliciously.  

Fat and pan juices from the roast, separated with a fat separator

2 tablespoons unsalted butter or lard (or enough to make four tablespoons of fat when combined with the melted fats from the meat)

1/4 cup potato flour

2 cups meat broth

Coarse salt and ground black pepper

Remove your roasted meat to a warm platter, pouring the fat from the roasting juices back into the roasting pan.  Add the butter or lard to the roasting pan and set it on the stove top over medium heat.  Once it melts and bubbles, whisk in the flour to make a roux.  Continue to whisk 1-2 minutes longer, until the paste has browned.  Slowly whisk in the pan juices and broth, and allow the mixture to come to a boil.   Reduce the heat and allow the gravy to simmer for 5-10 minutes, until it thickens to your preferred consistency (remembering that it will thicken further as it cools). Stir often to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.