I have to confess, I hardly ever make a proper gravy. I find it to be too big of a stressor to inflict upon myself right at the busiest time in the kitchen that inevitably happens at the moment before serving. Plus, it means I’ll be washing and scrubbing a roasting pan, which is why I like the shortcut of making my Roasted Chicken in a foil pan or foil-lined pan (but this doesn’t leave those good bits to scrape up, which can foil your attempts to build a flavorful gravy!). A Velouté is simply a sauce made with fat, flour, and the stock of your choice. It’s a great versatile tool to use in home cooking that can serve as a gravy or a simple sauce to transform leftovers.
Ingredients:
3 Tbsp fat (I usually use butter, see tips below)
3 Tbsp flour (see tips below if you’re cooking gluten free)
2 cups of warm stock of your choosing (Recipe for Homemade Stock here!)
Salt & Pepper to taste
How I make it:
* Add fat to medium sauce pan and turn on medium-low heat.
* When fat has melted, sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine to make a paste (called a roux) & keep it moving in the pan for at least 1 minute.
* When the roux no longer smells of raw flour and starts to smell a little toasted, add the warm stock gradually, while whisking to completely combine into a smoothy consistency.
* Bring to a bubble, then reduce heat, taste and add salt and pepper as you think it needs it.
Optional ingredients:
Chopped fresh herbs
Pinch of cayenne
Worchestershire sauce or soy sauce
Juices from the roast
Squeeze of lemon
Substitute butter for rendered fat from the roast
Tips:
* I pour my stock in a measuring cup and pop it in the microwave to warm. Adding the stock warm to the roux helps to prevent lumps.
* Also to decrease lumps, I gradually add half of the warm stock, while whisking furiously until it combines, then I add half of the remaining stock, while continuing to whisk, and then the remaining stock. Pouring it all in at once will set you up with a lot of lumps to whisk!
* Whenever possible I pour any of the pan juices into a fat separator, which allows me to use some of the fat to build the sauce and pour off the rest, while still keeping the pan juices to whisk into the sauce at the end (this will thin the sauce a little, but add a TON of flavor—do this before you add any seasoning.
*If cooking Gluten Free, substitute the AP wheat flour with rice flower. You may have to cook the roux a little longer until it smells toasted before adding the stock.
Serve with a roast like, roasted chicken, or save to transform leftovers on top of rice or noodles, or chicken pot pie!
Happy Eating!
