For the love of gravy

We had planned a basic dinner of baked chicken breasts, squash and broccoli. I wasn't too thrilled about the bland and basic meal, but then I remembered something special waiting in the freezer. We had baked a couple of lemon, garlic chickens for company a month or so ago, and for that dinner it didn't really make sense to make gravy (the side dishes all had sauces of their own), so I just stuck the dripping in the freezer to save for another day. The other day had arrived! I defrosted them, and made gravy. Yum! Gravy can really change the whole meal. We slathered it over everything and it was fabulous. My tip: keep the fat - it adds so much flavor. See below for gravy prepared three different ways.

The car still isn't up and running because we are still waiting for parts, but this week we were able to make it to the Cambridge farmers market via the bus. Looking forward to a week full of farmers market finds.

Meal Plan

Monday - Bottom Round Roast with onion gravy and roasted root vegetables
Tuesday - Knockwurst with sauerkraut and sauteed red chard
Wednesday - Lentils with cauliflower and acorn squash
Thursday - Paprika pork chops with celriac and green beans
Friday - Fish (whatever looks good at the fish market)
Saturday - Hamburgers and salad


1 - Pan Gravy

Drippings

Method - Bring the drippings to a simmer and cook until they thicken.


2 - Gravy thickened with flour

2 T fat skimmed off the drippings (supplement with butter if necessary)
2 T flour
1 C drippings (supplement with broth if necessary)

Method - Place the fat in a skillet over medium heat, and add the flour. Cook for at least 5 minutes. Slowly add in the drippings while stirring constantly. Keep stirring and bring to a simmer. Cook until it reaches the desired thickness.


3 - Gravy thickened with Cornstarch or Arrowroot

1 C drippings (supplement with broth if necessary)
2 T cornstarch or arrowroot
2 T warm water

Method - Bring the drippings to a simmer over medium heat. Mix the cornstarch or arrowroot with warm water. Slowly add the mixture to the hot drippings while constantly stirring. Serve right away.*

*It is possible to overcook, so remove from heat as soon as it thickens, and serve right away.

This post is part of Monday Mania and Menu Plan Monday.

Brisket with Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

The weather suddenly feels like fall here in New York City. It's making me crave roasts and baked vegetable dishes. It's a great change of pace after spending a hot summer eating lots of salads and planning meals around cooking as little as possible. I thought I'd make another meal plan this week to make sure we eat up all our farm share vegetables.

Monday - Fresh ham baked with maple and mustard sauce, brown rice cooked in chicken stock, boiled corn, and sauteed kale.

Tuesday - Hamburgers with tomatoes, oven roasted beets, and sauteed beet greens.

Wednesday - Leftover ham, baked corn, and kale salad.

Thursday - Baked Chicken with kohlrabi and leeks, and a tomato salad.

Friday - Steak with fried onions, corn on the cob, tomato, radish and salad turnip salad.


Last night we had brisket with mashed potatoes and vegetables. I heated up some oil in my dutch oven, browned the brisket, and set it aside. I then quickly browned some onions and garlic, and added the rest of my ingredients. Once I had everything in the pot, my husband shared that he thought mashed potatoes would be really good with the meal. I had to agree that some mashed potatoes with gravy would be delicious, but I already had the potatoes stewing in the pot with everything else. But then we decided to try something new, we would cook the potatoes in the dutch oven with the brisket and broth soaking up flavor, and then pull them out after 30 minutes and mash them. It worked really well. We ended up with really flavorful potatoes, and only used one pot!

Brisket with Vegetables, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
2 T oil
1 (2 1/2 lb) brisket, with "fat cap" (do not trim)
3 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus for brisket
Freshly ground black pepper
2 medium yellow onions, cut into thick slices
12 - 16 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 c cooking sherry
4 c chicken broth
2 T fresh sage, finely chopped
2 medium carrots, peeled, and cut into 1 inch pieces
2 turnips, peeled and chopped
8 red potatoes, cut into large pieces
2 T butter
1/4 C flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat until beginning to smoke. Season the brisket generously with the paprika, salt, and pepper. Place fat side down in the Dutch oven and cook until brown, turn and continue to brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate and set aside.

Add the onions and garlic and cook over medium heat until starting to brown. Pour in the sherry and cook until reduced by about half. Nestle the brisket into the onions and garlic fat side up, add the broth and sage; bring to a simmer and place in the oven to bake, covered, until the brisket is fork tender, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Uncover, scatter the carrots, turnips and potatoes around the brisket and cook until they are tender, about 30 minutes more.

Fish out the potatoes, and place in a mixing bowl. Mash the potatoes with a fork or masher. Add broth from the brisket until they reach the desired consistency.

Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, thinly slice the meat across the grain.

Use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables from the broth, and set aside to serve with dinner.

For a Pan Gravy: Melt the butter in a skillet and slowly add the flour. Make sure the four is entirely integrated with the butter before adding more flour. Cook until golden brown, and then starting adding broth ladle by ladle. Stirring until smooth, and then adding more broth. Once the gravy has reached the desired thickness, pour into the gravy boat.

Save the rest of the broth for another dish. We plan to use our for cooking rice this evening.

This post is part of Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.