Mushroom Gravy for Meatloaf

American meatloaf usually comes with either a sweet tomato glaze baked on top or a mushroom gravy poured over, and this is the second sort. It borrows a little of the ketchup and Worcestershire from the glaze so the two do not argue on the plate. The important part is browning the mushrooms properly, in a hot dry pan, before any liquid gets near them.

Ingredients

Makes about 750ml, enough for six slices with mash

• 350g (12oz) chestnut mushrooms sliced about 5mm thick, do not wash them, wipe them
• 40g (1½oz) butter
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil stops the butter burning
• 1 small onion finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 30g (1oz) plain flour
• 600ml (1 pint) hot beef stock
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup picks up the meatloaf glaze
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or ½ tsp dried
• salt and black pepper to taste

Kit

• Wide frying pan
• Wooden spoon
• Balloon whisk
• Measuring jug

Method

1. Get a wide frying pan properly hot over a high heat with the oil and half the butter. Add the mushrooms in a single layer, or in two batches if the pan is crowded, and then leave them alone for three minutes.

2. Once they have caught colour underneath, stir and keep frying for another five or six minutes. They will release water, the pan will go wet, and then the water will boil off and they will start browning and squeaking. That squeak is what you are listening for.

3. Turn the heat down to medium, add the rest of the butter, then the onion, and cook for five minutes until soft. Add the garlic and thyme for the last minute only, so the garlic does not catch.

4. Scatter in the flour and stir it through until the mushrooms are coated in a dry looking paste. Cook for two minutes, stirring, so the flour toasts against the base of the pan.

5. Pour in a third of the hot stock and stir hard. It will thicken almost instantly and lift all the brown from the pan. Work it smooth, then add the rest of the stock in two goes.

6. Stir in the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, bring to a simmer and cook for eight to ten minutes. The gravy will darken and reduce to a proper coating consistency, and the mushrooms will soften into it.

7. Taste and season with salt and a lot of black pepper. Spoon it over sliced meatloaf and mashed potato, letting a little run into the mash.

Tips worth knowing

• Crowding the pan is the death of mushroom gravy. If they steam rather than fry you get a grey, watery result with none of the deep flavour, so cook them in two batches if you need to.
• Never salt mushrooms at the start. Salt pulls water out of them straight away and stops them browning. Season the finished gravy instead.
• The tablespoon of ketchup is not laziness. It brings sweetness, acidity and tomato in one go and ties the gravy to the glaze on top of the loaf.
• If you baked the meatloaf in a tin, tip off the fat and deglaze that tin with a splash of the stock, then add it to the gravy. It is the best flavour in the kitchen and most people throw it away.

Keeping and reheating

Keeps four days in the fridge and freezes for three months, and the flavour improves overnight. Reheat gently with a splash of stock, as the mushrooms drink up liquid as it sits.

Questions people ask