Gravy with Bisto and Fresh Herbs

Bisto tastes exactly like Bisto, which for a lot of people is the point. What it lacks is anything green or fresh, and that is the easiest thing in the world to fix. Steep herbs in it the way you would make tea, strain them out, and you get the familiar comfort with a lift on the finish. Works particularly well with chicken and with pork.

Ingredients

Makes about 450ml, enough for four plates

• 4 tbsp Bisto or other gravy granules
• 450ml (16fl oz) boiling water
• 20g (¾oz) butter
• 1 small bunch of fresh parsley, with stalks roughly chopped, stalks and all
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 6 fresh sage leaves or a small sprig of rosemary for lamb
• 1 tsp lemon juice added at the very end
• black pepper to taste

Kit

• Small saucepan
• Whisk
• Sieve
• Kettle

Method

1. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a medium heat and add the sage leaves. Fry them for about forty seconds until they stop sizzling loudly and go slightly crisp at the edges. Frying sage in butter first turns it from grassy to nutty and is worth the extra minute.

2. Sprinkle in the granules and stir them through the butter for fifteen seconds so they are coated in fat.

3. Pour in the boiling water while whisking steadily. Granules seize in seconds, so keep the whisk moving until it is smooth and glossy.

4. Bring it up to a bare simmer for a minute, then take the pan off the heat entirely. Everything from here happens off the hob.

5. Drop in the parsley, stalks included, and the thyme sprigs. Press them under with the whisk so they are submerged. The stalks carry more flavour than the leaves, so do not throw them away.

6. Put a lid on and leave it to steep for four minutes. Any longer and the parsley starts to taste stewed and the colour goes muddy, any shorter and you will not taste it.

7. Strain the gravy through a sieve into a warm jug, pressing the herbs against the mesh with the back of a spoon to get everything out, then discard them.

8. Stir in the lemon juice and plenty of black pepper. Taste. Granules bring their own salt, so it almost never needs more.

Tips worth knowing

• Steep, do not boil. Soft herbs like parsley lose their fresh character within a couple of minutes of hard boiling and start tasting like hay.
• Woody herbs are the opposite. Thyme and rosemary can go in earlier and take more heat, so add them with the water if you want them more prominent.
• Save the herb stalks from anything else you are cooking and keep them in a bag in the freezer. They are perfect for this and cost nothing.
• The lemon juice at the end is not there to be tasted as lemon. It is there to make everything else taste sharper and more defined.

Keeping and reheating

Three days in the fridge. The herb flavour fades noticeably after the first day, so if you are making it ahead, make the base ahead and do the steeping just before serving. Freezes for three months but expect to lose the fresh notes entirely.

Questions people ask