Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Gravy

Directions

1. Roast the garlic - Peel off some of the outer layers of papery skin, leaving all of the cloves still encased in a layer of skin. Place on a piece of aluminum foil, drizzle with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt. Wrap tightly in the foil and bake in oven or toaster oven at 300 for 1 hour. Let cool and then squeeze the garlic into a small bowl. I ended up with 1.5 TB. If you have a lot more, you can keep in the fridge for other uses, topped with a bit a olive oil. You can do this a day ahead of time if you prefer.
2. Place the dried mushrooms in a bowl and pour 1 cup of boiling water over. Cover with saran wrap and let sit for 20 minutes or so until soft. Remove the mushrooms from the soaking liquid and chop finely. Reserve the soaking liquid, pouring all of it except for the very bottom with the debris into a 4 cup liquid measuring cup. Set aside.
3. Once the chicken or turkey is done roasting, remove the poultry from the roasting pan and pour the drippings into a fat separator. Reserve 3 TB of the fat. Discard (or save) the rest. Pour the remaining drippings into the measuring cup with the mushroom liquid. Add enough stock so you have 3.5 cups.
4. Place the roasting pan over high heat and add the 3.5 cups of liquid discussed above to the pan to deglaze the pan and boil for a few minutes. Once the pan is deglazed, remove from the heat and set aside.
5. Place the 3 TB of fat in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Saute the mushrooms until soft, 4 minutes. Add the fennel seed and reconstituted dried mushrooms and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add the roasted garlic and mix in for 30 seconds.
6. Add the Wondra and stir for 1.5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the liquid from the deglazed pan, bring to boil and whisk frequently for the next 15 or so minutes until thickened up nicely. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
7. Pour into a gravy boat and enjoy.