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Gravies
Jun 2, 2015 19:33:35 GMT 10
Post by chrisg on Jun 2, 2015 19:33:35 GMT 10
I guess it belongs here. I'm an absolute heretic when it comes to gravies I think. I spent years and years doing the whole from scratch with meat juices etc thing, all well and good but I could never forget that my father made the best gravy I've ever tasted, fondly described by my kids as "granddad's gravy" and absolutely insisted upon with any roast and his secret ingredient I knew was Bisto Sure, the meat juices, some vegetable water but Bisto to thicken and add flavour So the past few years I've been getting a gravy base going the traditional way and just building it back up from left-overs for a few weeks with veg water, any meat juices there might be, and Bisto Certainly not been getting any complaints but then a few months back I discovered gravy granules... I think the first brand I tried was "Golden" can't find them atm, "Greens" is routinely available and "Paxa" here but I think that might be a Farmer Jacks thing. Bisto seem to have their own now, not tried them yet. The thing with them is you can just toss them into a hot but not thickened dish, give it a few minutes and all is delicious Just made a great chicken pie and used them to thicken the sauce - a very useful item to have in your pantry in my opinion Cheers
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Gravies
Jun 2, 2015 22:05:21 GMT 10
Post by smokey on Jun 2, 2015 22:05:21 GMT 10
Cool topic, Not seen Bisto on the shelf but maybe not looking. The best gravies I can pull are from simple bangers, as in bangers and mash with onions. Then any beef roast pan roué There is one however that is like a mini jambalaya that I've done with fine diced green capsicum and so. The other holy trinity of green Cap, Onion and Celery. Fine diced and stirred into a dark roué and deglazed with a beef stock is pretty good. the Boost, If needed I use is Bonox.
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Gravies
Jun 2, 2015 22:34:29 GMT 10
Post by smokey on Jun 2, 2015 22:34:29 GMT 10
Corny vid but he is spot on. Basicly I make a smaller version of what this guy does then throw it into a gravy to cook out.
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Post by gatsby on Jun 3, 2015 5:36:10 GMT 10
I found the gravy granules last year and they are great, quick simple and taste great. Will have to look at the holy trinity. Not sure how you'd get it smooth - blender I suppose. But by the time i get to the gravy I'm hungry and want something quick...
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Post by chrisg on Jun 3, 2015 7:02:28 GMT 10
Bisto gravy powder is in most every supermarket Smokey, right next to Gravox and probably to the left of White Wings - you have not been looking TBH there are very few differences between them, I mostly buy Bisto for sentimental reasons. What is interesting to me is when does a gravy stop being a gravy and become a sauce ? For example it is not at all unusual in my kitchen for what I am going to serve with steaks or a roast to begin as brown onions and butter, perhaps get mushrooms added and I may thicken it with the gravy granules A pepper sauce may have a similar genesis, I tend to think of those as gravies, sauces are things like my bearnaise that should come with a health warning or my white sauce or bread sauce as examples. Cheers
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Gravies
Jun 3, 2015 17:10:14 GMT 10
Post by chrisg on Jun 3, 2015 17:10:14 GMT 10
I found the gravy granules last year and they are great, quick simple and taste great. Will have to look at the holy trinity. Not sure how you'd get it smooth - blender I suppose. But by the time i get to the gravy I'm hungry and want something quick... Glad someone agrees, I've been using that "holy trinity" and the more western one for decades with many a variation, I'm not a massive fan of white onions for example, prefer brown and you can really Jamaica it up with a red pepper instead In Seychelles it is very common to use that mix with the addition of some hottish chilies to stuff a whole fish and bbq it right down close to the coals to blacken the skin quickly then elevate it to cook through which is not a long cook of course although you can get some BIG fish around the islands, absolutely delicious. I find the most useful tool of all in the kitchen for smooth gravies/sauces is a stab mixer Gatsby, in fact I'm not quite sure what else it ever gets used for Cheers
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Gravies
Jun 3, 2015 19:18:32 GMT 10
Post by smokey on Jun 3, 2015 19:18:32 GMT 10
Glad this topic came up as The missus buys ALDI powdered gravies and I'm not to keen on them. Will check this granulated stuff out. Sometimes we just don't have pan drippings with fond ready to be deglazed and often reach for the powders.
An example would be sage roast chicken in an oven bag. You get some juices but no fond.
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Gravies
Jun 3, 2015 19:31:37 GMT 10
Post by chrisg on Jun 3, 2015 19:31:37 GMT 10
No idea with Aldi mate, but gravy powders are a bit of a mixed bunch, the granules, to date not had a single problem. I think it really comes down to you can't just add water to any of these and expect quality gravy, even though that is what the packet says, just treat them as the thickener with added flavour and make use of any liquid in the accompanying cooks to spike it up. We were sort of working out the other day how long a gravy endlessly revitalised lasts here, refrigerated of course - we think about four months seems typical Cheers
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Post by Bentley on Jun 5, 2015 2:46:14 GMT 10
Do they list ingredients? Curious what they use in it for the thickening agent?
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Post by chrisg on Jun 5, 2015 9:26:12 GMT 10
Hi Bent, In Australia everything has to list ingredients I can only speak for the Paxa granules that are in my cupboard, the thickening agent listed is potato starch but they do also list wheat germ. Cheers
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Gravies
Jun 6, 2015 14:22:48 GMT 10
Post by ozymandias on Jun 6, 2015 14:22:48 GMT 10
Here's my my 30 cents gentlemen.... If you will be using quality ingredients, drippings, broth, liquids, spices anyway to pimp up the gravy granules, why bother with the granules in the first place? Granules have a lot of weird stuff in them, preservatives, sugar, salt, etc etc
I mean how hard is a simple brown roux? Only takes a minute or two
My go-to gravy is done usually in a few mins when the meat is resting. I use a roux and cambells stock,. I boil the stock with whatever veggies I got, a great way to use vegies that are past their prime, then add a bit of drippings and strain into the roux.
I season last with s&p
i used to use a lot of powders, but ever since i bought my slow cooker, once a week I make stock and keep it in the freezer, and use that for my gravies and sauces. Never looked back!
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Gravies
Jun 6, 2015 14:55:08 GMT 10
Post by chrisg on Jun 6, 2015 14:55:08 GMT 10
I see your point Ozy although to me it is more a case of the other way around, the granules just give me a fool-proof thickening agent plus add a deal of flavour. Bent's question made me check, the Paxo brand seems to be pretty much all natural and I know from checking in the past that that is pretty true of most all gravy powders. There's also the consideration that Mick mentions, sometimes you just don't have the base ingredients but you still want a gravy Completely agree with slowcooker stock, we make a batch every ten days or so, haven't bought any in years. Cheers
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Gravies
Jun 6, 2015 15:09:19 GMT 10
Post by ozymandias on Jun 6, 2015 15:09:19 GMT 10
Btw... Where do you find the granules? What brands should I look for in coles/woolworths?
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Gravies
Jun 6, 2015 15:41:21 GMT 10
Post by chrisg on Jun 6, 2015 15:41:21 GMT 10
In Coles here I've seen Greens, rather a small container, the new Bisto ones and I'm sure it was where I picked up the original ones I tried, Golden, but they have not been around of late. Woolies same brands I think, don't shop there much. If you have IGA then you may find the Paxa ones I've mentioned and they also carry Bisto and Greens. Cheers
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Post by gatsby on Jun 7, 2015 6:31:18 GMT 10
I agree Ozy, the best is homemade. I use the granules when feeling lazy or don't have drippings. I should get into the habit of making stock as you and Chris do. I've got some asian pork stock which makes killer Tom Kar or Tom yum.
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