The Ho's Turkey Gravy
Turkey, for all its fame and fortune, is not without its weaknesses. It has a reputation for being rather dry. It's not your fault, or the turkey's, it's a festive fact. When an otherwise delicious food is a little dry, we simply add moisture. And we do so, in this case, with gravy.
While instant gravy, such as it is, is fast, we believe the best gravies are made slowly. With care and attention. And giblets. And pig's trotters. When gravy is a labour of love, it symbolises all that is great about your Christmas Lunch. And with a memorable Christmas Lunch in your belly, falling asleep to The Snowman is just that little bit more satisfying.
This showstopping gravy is brought to you courtesy of our very own butter alchemist Tony Ho, and can be found in his secret book of recipes. And if you're worried about timing this on Christmas Day, fear not: you can make it up to a week in advance, and freeze it until it's needed.
Serves 4-6 | Takes about 6-7 hours
Ingredients
- Turkey giblets
- 2kg chicken wings
- 4 white onions (preferable to brown)
- 3 large carrots
- 1/2 celeriac
- 1 Pig's trotter (optional)
- 1/2 bottle dry white wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon all spice berries
- 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
- Sprigs of thyme
- Plain flour (use gluten-free flour if you need to)
- 3 litres of cold water
- 50g No.1 Pink Himalayan Salt butter
- 50ml double cream
Method
- Chop chicken wings in half. Roast at 200°C for 20-25 minutes until lightly coloured
- Halve the onions. Dry fry cut side down in the stock pot until charred. Remove from pot
- Generously flour the giblets. Fry lightly in a little oil until golden. Add the carrots, celeriac and charred onions, turn heat to max and add the wine
- Reduce the liquid until syrupy, then turn the heat down to medium low
- Flour the roasted chicken wings and add to the pot with the pig's trotter (if using), allspice berries, peppercorns, bay leaves and 4-5 sprigs of thyme
- Add the cold water
- As slowly as you can, bring the water up to a simmer. Skim any protein scum that comes to the surface
- Simmer gently for 5-6 hours
- Strain the stock into a clean pan, reduce until 250ml remaining
- Remove from the heat, add a couple of sprigs of thyme and set aside until needed
- Pour the juices from your turkey into the stock
- Bring back to the boil. Add salt and pepper if you fancy
- Take off the heat, whisk in the butter, then add a drop of cream
- Pour heartily from an impressive height
