Your Best Gravy

Assorted dried mushrooms, soy sauce, butter, light cream, sherry, fresh thyme, shallot & flour.

Amanda pours the vegetable stock into a pan, to warm together with the dried mushrooms. (Thankfully, she has impeccable aim.)

Assorted dried mushrooms will fortify the vegetable stock with meaty umami flavor.

Stripping thyme leaves -- some people think it's a chore, we find it meditative.

Amanda sends the mushrooms into the warmed stock.

Shallots, neatly minced.

Thyme, nice and fine. Now your prep is done!

Amanda and Merrill are raring to go.

Mushrooms from the deep.

The mushrooms have plumped -- reserve these to chop up later.

Shallots bubble away.

Then the flour is added and cooked for 2 minutes (till you can smell it toasting).

The stock gets added slowly, in stages, stirring all the while.

Don't fear the initial lumpiness...

... it'll soon go slack and smooth.

We chopped up the reconstituted mushooms and tossed them back in the gravy at the end.

Light cream is called for, but any cream or even milk will do (or more stock, if you've got vegans in the house).

Soy sauce blots that remind us of a Rorschacht test (we see a banana slug -- anyone else?).

Clouds in our gravy.

Minced mushooms go back in now...

... along with a scattering of thyme and a dose of sherry (not pictured).

Done!

Aside from the drippings and some stock, all you need is cider, sage, flour, salt and pepper.

We used 3 tablespoons of drippings from this gorgeous bird!

A bouquet of fresh sage.

ChrisandAmy say to infuse the sage into the drippings until the sage leaves start to stick to the pan.

When ours wilted in the small pan, we figured they'd probably infused the drippings nicely.

We used a local cider from Red Jacket Orchards.

ChrisandAmy have you make a slurry with the flour and chicken stock before adding it to the gravy base.

A slow, steady stream and constant whisking ensure a lump-free gravy!

The same is true for adding the slurry to the base: slow and setady.

Merrill has a visitor...

After a few minutes of simmering, the gravy thickens up nicely.

We strained out the sage leaves before tasting it, but if you make this gravy right in the roasting pan, just remove them with some tongs -- you don't want to lose the brown bits!