gravy recipe

[megs4413]

i made some mashed potatoes last night that i would like to use the leftover chicken broth from my recipe today to make gravy for....anyone know how to do this?

[alleyoop]

It is my understanding (and I can be wrong!) that you can't make gravy without the drippings or at least the brown bits on the bottom of the roasting pan from the meat.

Say you are doing a chicken, and you roast it in the oven. After you pull the chx out of the pan you will have all this geasy brown stuff left over. If there is alot, drain it off into a gravy sifter thing (looks like a measuring cup, but with a spout coming off the bottom of the cup) and just pour the brown bits/lower level/non-grease back into your pan. Now you have the base for gravy. Now, there are two schools of thought about gravy... clear or creamy. If you wanted clear gravy, bring that pan to a boil on the stove and pour in your broth (and maybe just a dash of marsala). Scrape up all the brown bits and stir/boil until it is reduced by half. Then add a tablespoon or so of cornstarch to about 1/4c of water in a glass (stiring to disolve) and just pour that bit by bit into the gravy until it is the consistency you want. Give a little time between each addition so that it has time to thicken. Salt and pepper to taste.
If you want creamy gravy, then start with the brown bits and add a tlb of butter to the pan and about 2tbl flour. Cook the flour in the butter until it is brown and bubbly. Add your chx stock and cook till half. If the gravy still isn't thickened enough, do the thickening trick, but use flour in milk. Make sure the flour is totally dissolved, though, or you will get tiny flour dumplings and that is gross. S and P again.
My sister actually doesn't use any stock, and only adds milk, but I am of the clear gravy side(at least with chx, creamy with turkey), so I don't know about that!

Or, you can buy those packets at the store. HTH and wasn't too much information!