Ultimate Christmas Turkey Gravy

Christmas gravy is really two jobs done on two different days. The stock is a calm job for Christmas Eve when nothing else is happening. The gravy itself is a twenty minute job on the day, done in the tin while the turkey rests, and the resting is what gives you the time. Do it in that order and the busiest hour of the year gets a lot quieter.

Ingredients

Makes about 1.2 litres, enough for ten plates with seconds

• 1 set turkey giblets neck, heart and gizzard, liver kept back
• 2 onions skin on, halved
• 2 carrots roughly chopped
• 2 sticks celery roughly chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 black peppercorns
• 1.5 litres (2 3/4 pints) cold water
• 4 tbsp fat from the turkey tin
• 4 tbsp (60g) plain flour
• 150ml (5fl oz) dry white wine or dry sherry
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• sea salt and black pepper

Kit

• Large saucepan
• Roasting tin
• Balloon whisk
• Fine sieve
• Warm jug

Method

1. On Christmas Eve, brown the neck, heart and gizzard in a dry heavy pan over a high heat until they are properly dark on all sides, about six minutes. Keep the liver out of it, it turns bitter and cloudy in a long stock. Add the onions cut side down and let them scorch for two minutes.

2. Tip in the carrots, celery, bay and peppercorns, pour over the cold water and bring it up slowly. When it starts to tremble, drop the heat so it barely moves and skim off the grey foam that gathers in the first ten minutes. Simmer uncovered for two hours.

3. Strain into a jug, let it settle, then lift the fat off the top. You want about a litre. If you have more, boil it down. Cool it to room temperature within ninety minutes, then cover and refrigerate overnight. It will set to a soft jelly, which is exactly what you want.

4. On the day, lift the turkey onto a warm board or platter, cover loosely with foil and a tea towel, and leave it to rest for a full forty five minutes for a big bird. The gravy gets made in that window and the bird comes to no harm at all.

5. Tilt the roasting tin so the fat runs to one corner and spoon off all but about four tablespoons, leaving every scrap of the brown crust behind. Set the tin over two hob rings on a medium heat and let the fat come up to a shimmer.

6. Scatter in the flour and whisk it into the fat until it looks like wet sand, then keep it moving for two full minutes until it smells like a biscuit rather than raw flour. Pour in the wine, whisk hard, and let it bubble down to almost nothing while you scrape the crust off the base of the tin.

7. Add the jellied stock a ladleful at a time, whisking each one smooth before the next. It will look alarmingly thick for the first two ladles. Once it is all in, bring it to a proper simmer and let it tick over for ten minutes, stirring and scraping the corners.

8. Pour it through a fine sieve into a clean pan, then add every drop of juice that has collected under the resting turkey, including the jelly at the bottom of the platter. Bring it back to a simmer for one minute, since those juices are raw meat juices and need to be cooked through.

9. Add the cider vinegar, taste, and only then reach for the salt. Between the tin and the stock there is often enough already. Pour into a jug you have filled with boiling water and tipped out, so it stays hot on the table.

Tips worth knowing

• The liver is not waste. Fry it in butter for two minutes while the stock simmers, chop it small and stir it into the stuffing, or eat it on toast as the cook's perk.
• Rest the turkey on a board with a moat or in a deep dish. A flat board sends the best liquid in the whole meal onto the worktop.
• If you are short on hob space, make the gravy in a wide saucepan instead. Deglaze the roasting tin with a mug of the stock, scrape it hard, and tip the lot into the pan.
• To hold it hot without a skin, sit the jug in a roasting tin of just boiled water and lay a disc of greaseproof directly on the surface. A skin forms where gravy meets air, so take the air away.

Keeping and reheating

The stock keeps three days in the fridge or three months frozen. Finished gravy keeps three days in the fridge, but only if you cool it fast, so pour it into a shallow tray rather than leaving a deep jug on the side. Reheat to a rolling boil before serving, and only reheat once.

Questions people ask