How can it have taken me what feels like a hundred years of pot stirring to come up with an easy gravy recipe?….
I have always hated cooking ‘roast dinners’ – even though they are in constant demand – because there is so much fiddling around…. First the meat – and then the various veg. that need to be peeled and par-cooked before they are roasted – and then the stuffings and sauces – and then, when you think you must be done with the wretched thing and it is ready to serve – the gravy… But no more…
This morning I rescued a chicken which had been languishing in the freezer and left it to defrost. Anxious to get something on quickly so that I could watch the Manchester United/Marseilles match… I stuck it on a rack, sat the rack in a baking tray, covered the bird in bacon and surrounded it with parsnips (not even peeled, let alone parcooked) and onions (tailed but otherwise intact), poured half a bottle of white wine which I found lurking in the fridge, into the baking tray under the rack, topped it up with about the same amount of water and a good shake of my current passion, Seagreens mineral salt, and whapped it into the oven. Now, to be fair, I had also stuffed the bird with an elderly, sad looking aubergine into which I had inserted, via slashes in its skin, about six fat cloves of garlic, but since the chicken was large we did not get as far as the aubergine, I am not sure that that it can be taken into account in any assessment of the gravy.
But the point of the story is – that the combination of the wine, the water, the mineral salt and the juices of the chicken dripping down through the rack into them made quite the most delicous gravy, with absolutely no further effort on my part other than pouring it out of the baking tin…. And it was totally everything-free! Even better, I can see no reasons why the method cannot be utilised for any meat – just varying the colour of the wine to suit the joint….
Now maybe I am being very naive and maybe you all got this years ago but – for me – for now– I am very excited….
And while on the subject of freefrom food… Those of you following Micki Rose on her totally gluten-free odyssey should check out her blog post about her weekend away – some great ideas for making totally-freefrom travel enjoyable.
Fab idea! Gravy has been foxing me recently. I made one with arrowroot and ‘gloopy’ was not the word. It was foul. Slight problem in our house is how to make a veggie version, though, as P is veggie and whenever we have a ‘roast’ we have all the trimmings but without the meat! Help.
Great idea… though I don’t have a rack. Shopping trip coming up… We are on the same wavelength though Michelle. My next blog post is going to be a review of the gravy/stock cubes out there… will include link to here as this would save any bother at all.
Whilst you’re at it, Ruth, purleease can you check for grain/corn-derived ingredients and save me a job. I am ingrediented-out!
Well here it is ladies. http://whatallergy.com/2011-03/stockcubes
@Micki – I think there are a few stock cubes here that are corn free. Is maltodextrin anything to do with corn? Things often don’t say corn free even when they are. Do you have an allergy to corn then? Possibly Marigold stock cubes, definitely Kallo and interestingly the Tesco own ones might be although I only looked at the beef variety. However they have a few other nasties in there. Hope this helps.
Whoops – Micki – just read by blog again and maize is the same as corn isn’t it? So Kallo is not corn free. Seems most of them have corn or conr starch.
That’s really interesting thanks Ruth. Yes unfortunately maltodextrin is becoming the bain of my life, along with xylitol in toothpastes but that’s a whole other story! I have asked Tesco about the beef stock cubes – they’re not pretty as you say and I doubt they are corn free but worth checking so thanks for that; I’ll let you know when I hear back.
I will keep nose to ground and let you know if I find any. There MUST be some corn free stock cubes somewhere. There are things that do the same as corn… what else can help thicken? I’d have thought any flour would help… must research this. Another blog post coming on. What is zylitol?
Xylitol is a sugar substitute that comes from several sources: birch, wheat, corn etc and is used to sweeten stuff and especially in toothpastes because it is thought to prevent teeth and gum problems. It doesn’t raise blood sugar like other sweet stuff and is therefore low GL, but most manufacturers don’t declare where it comes from so I have to assume it is corn or spend flippin ages checking! You can buy it as Perfect Sweet or other brands in most shops now.
Thickeners – potato starch, arrowroot I am trying currently. Would be fine for meat gravies cos you can use the juices but makes a very weedy gravy with stock. I shall just have to make my own and freeze it in cubes!
Micki – check out Knorr Simply stock liquid stock. It doesn’t appear to have any corn, wheat or gluten. Ingredients: water, vegetable juice (leek, celeriac, carrot) salt, mushroom juice, garlic paste, spices (lovage, white pepper, nutmeg). WOW!
Fab detective work there, Ruth! I have asked them to email me the ingredients for each so I can check them out. Any idea where you can buy it from? Have looked at Sainsbury’s and Tesco and no joy so far! Back later when I have the ingredients.
By the way, I also checked out the Tesco Beef Stock Cubes. Not great for us, but they responded that there is no corn in the starches, flavourings, caramel, veg fat etc
“I’m happy to confirm that there is no grain of any type used at all in the production of this product.”
Here are the ingredients: Salt, sugar, vegetable fat, potato starch, yeast extract, natural flavouring, beef extract (2%), colour (plain caramel), celery powder, carrot, parsley, perservative (Sulphur dioxide).
Thanks for that Micki. Good detective work there! I await more info on the ingredients on the Knorr. I feel it certainly should say if there are any allergens in it… I hope they don’t come back saying it does or my faith in labelling with drop drastically.
Hi there, just done a summary of the stock cubes found to be grain free: check it out: http://trulyglutenfree.co.uk/2011/04/09/gravy-and-stock/. Thanks for your help, both.
Fresh goat cheese is delicious; and tangy, and there
are many varieties of real cheese that are safe (Again- check labels for
additives, fillers or flavorings- these are possible culprits).
It usually affects the small digestive tract and it causes the indigestion of food properly.
If you can’t find one you should check the rest of the label to find out if the
yogurt if gluten free or not.