Gravylicious

I was just making some meatloaf over here on Elizabeth Hill and I decided to whip up some gravy to go with it.

Which got me thinking about Kari over at Alas 3 Lads and how I told her how I'd give her a recipe.

And then last Christmas I kind of dropped the gravy-ball on you all too....remember that? Well...NO MORE. I'm not leavin' you all in the cold. I'm giving you some gravy love, oh yes I am!

A little background on this recipe:

My dear friend, Kirst, came to work one day with the most amazing lunch. Her hubby Frank made her spaetzle with a sour cream mushroom sauce made from a brown sauce. She let everyone sample it (and because we work in a test kitchen, we called our mooching her lunch "research".) It was the best gravy I've ever had in my life.

So I sucked up to Kirsten until she invited us over for dinner, promising the very same sauce. Oh my gosh it was amazing and she gave me the recipe. To make it into a gravy, though, I change it a little. If you ever want the sour cream mushroom sauce version, let me know and I'll give it to you.

Well, fast forward to today: I didn't have enough beef broth to make the basic brown sauce recipe, so I used half chicken stock and half beef broth. It's delicious. And would be great with some turkey drippings stirred into it at the last minute. And the best thing about it? You can make it ahead of time and freeze it. Oh yes you can, girlfriends!

Here's the first thing I want you to do: Take 12 cups of stock and reduce it in half. Just boil it down on the stove until half of it is gone. The flavors all concentrate and it's very yummy. And - hey! If you're using the aseptic boxes of broth? That's just great, but get the low sodium variety. And don't forget: I used half beef broth and half chicken broth.....6 cups of each.

Okay, now here's the rest of the recipe:

6 tablespoons butter
1 cup diced onions (1 medium onion)
1/2 cup diced celery (about 1 large stalk)
1/2 cup diced carrot (about 2 medium carrots)
1/2 cup flour
6 cups double strength broth (you should be all set here!)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon pepper
salt to taste

1. In a heavy sauce pot, heat butter over medium to medium-high heat until foamy. Add diced vegetables and cook until onion is tender. Add flour and cook 2 minutes on low heat, stirring often.

2. Heat stock and add to vegetables, stirring constantly and slowly.

3. Add tomato paste, bay leaf, pepper and salt. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Strain through a fine strainer. After straining gravy, adjust seasonings and serve.

I hope you like it!