Make Ahead Stock for Thanksgiving Gravy

What to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon… make your stock for your gravy for Thanksgiving.  My Thanksgiving gravy is excellent, and it's been called "Liquid Gold" by my family members.  The secret is a slow roasted turkey stock that gets cooked all afternoon, then I freeze it up until the day before Thanksgiving.  As soon as I see turkey legs or turkey wings at the supermarket I pick them up along with celery, carrots, onion, garlic and  large can of chicken broth (low sodium).  It may seemed like a lot of work, but it's worth every second spent.  After I take the turkey out of oven on Thanksgiving, I use this stock to finish the gravy.  No canned stock compares to this magical liquid.  Try it,  you still have time before the holiday.  You can also plan to use the cooked turkey drums for a meal.   

Make Ahead Stock for Thanksgiving Gravy

4 lbs. Turkey Drumsticks (about three)

1 large onion, peeled and cut into chunks

3 carrots, cut into large chunks

4 cloves of garlic, smashed with a knife

1 large can of fat-free, low sodium chicken broth 48 oz. can

4 cups of water

1 tablespoon olive oil

Salt & Pepper for turkey drums only

Oven temperature:  375 degrees

Salt & pepper the drumsticks.  In a large roasting pan, place vegetables on the bottom of roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil.  Place drumsticks on top of vegetables and roast for 1 1/4 hours.   Add 4 cups of broth to pan and return to oven for 45 minutes.  Remove roaster from oven and place on stove top on two burners (if you have a large roaster).  Add remaining 4-6 cups of broth and 4 cups of water to roaster and bring to a boil.  When the stock comes to boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour.  Reducing liquid to about 4-5 cups.  Remove drums and strain stock into a bowl.  Let cool and then freeze in a container. 

To make gravy on Thanksgiving - (makes enough for a 23 lb. turkey)

This is a basic gravy recipe.  Add what you like to make it your own.  

4-5 cups of turkey stock - heated in microwave - save 1/2 cup in case it gets too thick

6 tablespoons of all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons of fat from roasting pan

Salt & Pepper to taste

After removing turkey from roasting plan, drain all the fat from bottom of roaster reserving 3 tablespoons of fat. Place roaster on two burners on top of stove over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of fat and stir to scrap up brown bits.  Add 6 tablespoons of flour and cook for a few minutes until it forms a roux.  Add your heated stock and whisk until smooth and to your desire thickness. If your gravy gets to thick additional stock.   Salt & pepper to taste.

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