Creamy Chicken Gravy

This is what to do with the sticky brown bits in the bottom of the tin after a roast chicken. A spoon of flour, the stock you made from the last bird, a squeeze of lemon and a splash of cream turn them into a gravy that is richer than a plain roast gravy but nowhere near as heavy as a restaurant sauce.

Ingredients

Makes about 500ml, enough for six plates

• 3 tbsp fat and juices from the chicken roasting tin skim off any excess so about three tablespoons remain
• 1 small onion finely chopped, optional but worth it
• 25g (1oz) plain flour
• 500ml (18fl oz) hot chicken stock the darker and more gelatinous the better
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 100ml (3 1/2fl oz) double cream
• 1 tsp chopped tarragon or parsley optional
• salt and black pepper to taste

Kit

• The roasting tin
• Balloon whisk
• Sieve
• Measuring jug

Method

1. Lift the chicken onto a board to rest and tip the tin so the fat gathers in one corner. Spoon off all but about three tablespoons, keeping every scrap of the dark sticky residue in the bottom of the tin.

2. Set the tin over a medium hob heat across one or two rings. Add the onion if you are using it and cook for five minutes until soft, scraping the base constantly with a wooden spoon so the residue lifts into the fat.

3. Sprinkle in the flour and stir it into the fat until you have a smooth paste, then cook for a full minute. It should darken slightly and stop smelling of raw flour.

4. Add the hot chicken stock roughly a third at a time, whisking hard. The first addition will thicken almost to a paste. Do not add the next until the pan is smooth, and you will never have lumps.

5. Bring it to a simmer and let it bubble gently for five minutes, whisking now and then, until it is glossy and thick enough to coat the whisk wires. Add the lemon juice and taste. Season it properly now, before any cream goes in, because cream will flatten the salt.

6. Take the tin off the heat, pour in the double cream and stir. Put it back on a low heat for two minutes only, just to warm it through. It should never boil once the cream is in.

7. Pour it through a sieve into a warm jug if you want it smooth, or leave the onion in if you do not. Stir in the herbs and pour any juices from the resting board in at the last moment.

Tips worth knowing

• The lemon goes in before the cream, always. A squeeze of acid into a finished cream gravy will make it grainy, but stirred into the stock it just brightens things and gets buffered by the flour and fat already there.
• Skim the fat properly. Too much fat and the gravy will not emulsify with the cream, and you will get an oily film across the top of the jug.
• A gelatinous homemade stock, the kind that sets like jelly in the fridge, makes a noticeably better gravy than a cube. If you are using a cube, add half a teaspoon of soy sauce to make up some of the depth.
• Warm the jug with hot water before pouring. Cream gravy hitting cold china cools fast and starts to set at the edges.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps three days in the fridge and freezes for three months. It sets solid when cold because of the flour and the gelatine in the stock. Reheat in a pan with a splash of water or stock, whisking, and take it off as it starts to simmer.

Questions people ask