Gravy from a Stock Cube, Done Properly

There is nothing wrong with a stock cube. The problem is that most people use one cube to the amount of water the packet says, boil it, thicken it and wonder why it tastes salty and thin at the same time. Use less water than the packet says, add fat, add acid, and you get something that will hold its own next to a chop.

Ingredients

Makes about 450ml, enough for four generous plates

• 2 beef or chicken stock cubes crumbled
• 500ml (18fl oz) boiling water less than the packet says for two cubes, which is the point
• 30g (1oz) butter or beef dripping
• 2 tbsp (25g) plain flour
• 1 tsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp malt or cider vinegar added right at the end
• black pepper to taste

Kit

• Small saucepan
• Whisk
• Measuring jug
• Kettle

Method

1. Crumble the cubes into a jug and pour on 500ml of boiling water. That is deliberately a third less water than most packets ask for, because you want a concentrated stock that can carry the flour without going watery. Stir until no gritty bits remain.

2. Melt the butter or dripping in a small saucepan over a medium heat. Stir in the tomato puree and cook it for thirty seconds until it darkens slightly and smells sweeter. This is a cheap way of getting some roasted flavour without a roasting tin.

3. Scatter in the flour and stir to a paste. Cook for a minute and a half, stirring, until it goes from pale to the colour of a rich tea biscuit.

4. Ladle in a third of the hot stock and whisk it smooth. It will thicken alarmingly for a few seconds. Keep going and it will loosen.

5. Add the rest of the stock, whisking, then bring to a simmer and cook for four minutes. It should coat the back of a spoon and hold a line when you draw a finger through it.

6. Turn off the heat. Add the vinegar half a teaspoon at a time, tasting between each. You are not trying to make it taste sour, you are trying to make it taste less flat. Finish with black pepper and do not add salt until you have tasted.

7. If the salt has got away from you anyway, whisk in another 50ml of hot water and a small knob of butter, which softens the edge better than water alone.

Tips worth knowing

• Different cubes are wildly different in strength. Oxo is saltier and thinner, a jelly pot is richer and fattier, so taste the stock in the jug before it ever meets the pan and adjust the water then.
• The tomato puree step is worth the thirty seconds. Frying it drives off the tinny taste and leaves behind sweetness and colour.
• Never add salt to a cube based gravy before the final taste. There is almost always enough in the cube, and you cannot take it back out.
• If you want a darker colour without more salt, a quarter teaspoon of gravy browning or a few drops of dark soy will do it.

Keeping and reheating

Three days in the fridge, three months frozen. Because it is cube based it can taste saltier after a night in the fridge, so loosen it with water rather than more stock when you reheat it.

Questions people ask