Vegetarian Gravy
Nov. 29th, 2009 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
facetofcathy in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omnomnomI posted this a few days ago in my own journal, and I thought I should share this here. This is more a methodology than a recipe, so there's lots of room for personal variation. There are other ways to make gravy that's totally vegetarian, but this is my favourite.
Vegetarian Gravy
Before you can even think about gravy you need to produce the crucial ingredient--caramelized something or other, aka brown bits. This is what gives the gravy most of it's flavour and colour. I like to start with a base of roasted root vegetables. I use a cast iron baking pan for this, but any oven proof pan that can be used on the stove top works as well, although I do find things brown better in cast iron.
My standard root vegetable mix for this is potatoes, carrots, onions, coated in olive oil--with a well-seasoned cast iron pan, you don't need much--and seasoned with thyme and summer savory.
I use dried herbs for this. I find fresh herbs in a long slow bake can be bitter, and I'm not paying $2.99 for a sprig of thyme from the grocery store in the winter. I use summer savory because that is what my mother used to season dressing with when I was a kid; we were not a sage using family. If you were, sage might just be the taste you want here. Rosemary is good, but it's not got the nostalgia flavour I'm after when I make this.
Lots of other vegetables can be added--celeriac, sweet potatoes, garlic, parsnips, squash or pumpkin, whatever you like best. I have used actual celery for flavour--it basically melts away, and I've also thrown in an apple cut in half as well.
Chop your vegetables into reasonably small pieces--more surface area=more brown bits, so this is not the time to go for big chunks, 2" cubes are good--and toss with the oil and herbs. Roast until they are as brown as you like them, stirring them up occasionally so all the surfaces get browned. I do this in a 375° F oven, covered for about 45 minutes and then uncovered until done.
When the vegetables are done, scoop them out of the pan and set aside. They'll taste fantastic, but the point here is what's left in the pan.
You need some liquid to make gravy, and you've got choices here too. In Canada there is an all vegetable stock cube made by McCormick's that does a very good job of imitating chicken stock. Like most stock cubes, it's full of a long list of food science ingredients and a lot of sodium. Other choices are vegetable stock, homemade, or look for organic vegetable stock sold in liquid form made from actual vegetables, or you could use just water, but you're giving up a flavour opportunity if you do.
Put your pan of brown bits on the stove top on a heat that will give you a simmer, and deglaze the pan. You can just use your stock for this, or you can use some brandy or wine. I find a nice cheap Spanish brandy adds a good flavour, but white wine just gets lost. I'd rather just drink the wine while I stir. Whichever route you go, just stir/scrape up all that brown caramelized goodness, and then add all your stock and bring to a simmer. Season with black pepper, more herbs, whatever you like at this point.
You need to thicken the gravy, and I usually use a small amount of potato or rice flour mixed with cold water, and stirred in slowly. I find corn starch will gelatinize too much, but it still works. If you eschewed the brandy for deglazing, a dollop in there now tastes nice. A bit of butter will add some nice flavour too, especially if you used very little oil for roasting.
From one pan of vegetables that serves two, I can make 2, 3, or 4 cups of gravy. It freezes okay--it will sometimes separate, but you can stir it down to a decent consistency on re-heat, and it sure makes those boiled for an hour and a half Christmas mashed potatoes taste good.
Vegetarian Gravy
Before you can even think about gravy you need to produce the crucial ingredient--caramelized something or other, aka brown bits. This is what gives the gravy most of it's flavour and colour. I like to start with a base of roasted root vegetables. I use a cast iron baking pan for this, but any oven proof pan that can be used on the stove top works as well, although I do find things brown better in cast iron.
My standard root vegetable mix for this is potatoes, carrots, onions, coated in olive oil--with a well-seasoned cast iron pan, you don't need much--and seasoned with thyme and summer savory.
I use dried herbs for this. I find fresh herbs in a long slow bake can be bitter, and I'm not paying $2.99 for a sprig of thyme from the grocery store in the winter. I use summer savory because that is what my mother used to season dressing with when I was a kid; we were not a sage using family. If you were, sage might just be the taste you want here. Rosemary is good, but it's not got the nostalgia flavour I'm after when I make this.
Lots of other vegetables can be added--celeriac, sweet potatoes, garlic, parsnips, squash or pumpkin, whatever you like best. I have used actual celery for flavour--it basically melts away, and I've also thrown in an apple cut in half as well.
Chop your vegetables into reasonably small pieces--more surface area=more brown bits, so this is not the time to go for big chunks, 2" cubes are good--and toss with the oil and herbs. Roast until they are as brown as you like them, stirring them up occasionally so all the surfaces get browned. I do this in a 375° F oven, covered for about 45 minutes and then uncovered until done.
When the vegetables are done, scoop them out of the pan and set aside. They'll taste fantastic, but the point here is what's left in the pan.
You need some liquid to make gravy, and you've got choices here too. In Canada there is an all vegetable stock cube made by McCormick's that does a very good job of imitating chicken stock. Like most stock cubes, it's full of a long list of food science ingredients and a lot of sodium. Other choices are vegetable stock, homemade, or look for organic vegetable stock sold in liquid form made from actual vegetables, or you could use just water, but you're giving up a flavour opportunity if you do.
Put your pan of brown bits on the stove top on a heat that will give you a simmer, and deglaze the pan. You can just use your stock for this, or you can use some brandy or wine. I find a nice cheap Spanish brandy adds a good flavour, but white wine just gets lost. I'd rather just drink the wine while I stir. Whichever route you go, just stir/scrape up all that brown caramelized goodness, and then add all your stock and bring to a simmer. Season with black pepper, more herbs, whatever you like at this point.
You need to thicken the gravy, and I usually use a small amount of potato or rice flour mixed with cold water, and stirred in slowly. I find corn starch will gelatinize too much, but it still works. If you eschewed the brandy for deglazing, a dollop in there now tastes nice. A bit of butter will add some nice flavour too, especially if you used very little oil for roasting.
From one pan of vegetables that serves two, I can make 2, 3, or 4 cups of gravy. It freezes okay--it will sometimes separate, but you can stir it down to a decent consistency on re-heat, and it sure makes those boiled for an hour and a half Christmas mashed potatoes taste good.
no subject
on 2009-11-29 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2009-11-29 09:25 pm (UTC)I nearly always put some mushrooms--usually cremini bits--in my vegetable stock. No reason you couldn't have mushrooms in the roasted vegetables either, although you might have to chop the veggies into smaller pieces to get a balanced cooking time.
no subject
on 2009-11-29 11:41 pm (UTC)