Mariner's Cookbook

Suggested Equipment:

• 10" stainless steel fry pan
  
• Stainless steel spatula
  
• Wire whisk
  
• Common kitchen tools and measures
  

Ingredients:

Directions:

1. If you aren't using a prepared meat broth, the first thing you need to do is to prepare one. For the sake of convenience, I usually just add 2 bouillon cubes to 2 cups of water and microwave on "High" for 2 minutes, then stir. If your cubes are reasonably fresh that is usually adequate cooking time.

2. It's often desirable to sear the meat you are preparing, both to improve the taste of the meat, and to capture any fat and meat juices that cook out it. Unless the meat is commercial ground beef, or a fatty cut of pork, the amount of fat rendered usually isn't enough to make up the required volume of oil, but it can add flavor to the gravy. If you sear the meat, remove it from the pan after searing, and cook off all of the water that renders out with the fat.

3. For this step, you'll need about 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan. The searing you did in the previous step might render that much oil, but probably not. Make up for it by simply adding a little of your reserved oil. Add the "seasoning vegetables" (onion, peppers, and mushrooms) to the pan, and cook on medium heat until the onions become transparent, and the peppers and mushrooms are cooked to your satisfaction. Following this, remove the vegetables to a mise bowl or other dish.

4. Now is the time to de-glaze the pan with wine or a small amount of broth. Add your degazing liquid to the hot pan. Use the spatula to scrape up any cooked bits of meat and vegetables that are stuck to the pan's cooking surface, mixing them into the degazing liquid. If you are using wine, continue cooking until the volume of liquid is reduced by at least half. Volume reduction isn't needed if you don't use wine.

5. Add the remaining oil to the pan. When the oil stops cooking off the water in the pan, sift the flour in a little at a time. Incorporate the flour into the oil with the wire whisk, breaking up any lumps you may encounter. Congratulations, you are making a roux! After all the flour has been added, continue cooking until the roux becomes your favorite shade of brown. At that stage the roux is "done".

6. Once the roux is done, reduce the heat and slowly add the broth; again using the wire whisk to thoroughly mix the contents of the pan, and to prevent or break up any lumps that may form. Return the previously-cooked "seasoning vegetables" to the pan. You may need to use the spatula to remove and re-incorporate any of the roux that sticks to the hot pan.

7. When the broth and vegetables have been incorporated, return the pan to medium heat, and add the salt, pepper, and spice mix, as well as any optional ingredients that you wish to use, and continue cooking the gravy until it reaches the desired thickness. Keep stirring with the wire whisk for as long as heat is being applied to the pan, and keep in mind that hot gravy is usually quite a bit thinner than the same gravy cooled to eating temperatures!

This recipe makes a bit more than 2 cups of gravy, which is about as much as most 10" fry pans can safely manage. The flavor of the gravy will be different between different batches, depending on your choices of meat, oil, herbs and spices, and any optional ingredients; but it should always satisfactorily complement the meat dish.

Gravy is not a diabetic-friendly food! The flour is pretty much a required component, and it is nearly pure carbohydrate. Eschewing the optional sugar will help, but not solve, the problem.