No, this is not another recipe. This is me sharing with you my success in the kitchen over something that has mocked me for years. Tonight, I successfully made gravy! This may not sound very complicated to those of you who are thinking, "So, I make gravy all the time, dump the pack of gravy and stir in water." I don't think so people...I am talking about gravy made from pan drippings and flour. Gravy has been my nemesis since I started trying to cook for my husband. So Matt, you will be glad to hear this.
I will tell you the story about what should be called The Great Deer Steak and Gravy Debacle of 2008. One of my husband's favorite meals is fried deer steak w/ gravy...the kind made in the pan. In my efforts to be the perfect wife I slaved over the hot stove and fried my deer steak, took a deep breath and gave it my best effort
at making the gravy. One word: DISASTER.
(not Chelle's gravy, so other tortured soul's gravy)
My gravy turned out looking something like this. I had failed, I had to march into the other room and tell Matt that the gravy got the best of me. Bless his heart, he tried to eat it. But it just wasn't edible. It certainly wasn't worth having our stomach's pumped over. And he had already met his "eat it because my wife cooked it" quota when he ate the orange beef a few months before. I just resigned myself to the fact that I needed help. I called my mother in law and had her walk me through the process of making the gravy, thinking surely I forgot a step, but no...it just wasn't in the cards for me.
Fast Forward to July 27, 2010...
I MADE GRAVY!
I melted butter in the pan, slowly mixed in the flour and seasonings until I had this:
(Chelle's pretty gravy)
Notice the lovely color, the smoothness, NO CHUNKY BLACK STUFF. To bad I was home alone at the time and no one could jump around the kitchen with me singing, "Whoop there it is...Whoop there it is...". Surely this wasn't a fluke occurrence, I think I have learned that mixing it in slowly, little bit at a time, not having the pan to hot, and constantly stirring it helped me make the perfect gravy.
In celebration, I made myself a certificate of completion that I will proudly hang in my kitchen so all that enter those hallowed walls will know of my accomplishment.
2 comments:
I know how you feel. You should hear the story of the first time I tried to make gravy (and the following attempts that led up to my final victory).
Love it. I feel very accomplished when I make pan gravy too. I usually only do it when I roast a chicken or cook a turkey. Mmmm...mashed potatoes and gravy...
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