A Simple Red Wine Gravy

The Perfect Gravy

I was talking to a young international student at work recently discussing his experience of food since he arrived in the UK. I suppose I was a little shocked that he was so knowledgeable about food until he explained he came from a rural location with no major supermarkets nearby and his parents grew most of their vegetables, grapes for wine and kept some livestock and despite his student budget, he attempted to eat well. I’m waffling a little but it was an engrossing discussion.

He was highly positive about much of the food he has eaten since his arrival apart from the ‘Sunday roast’, or more specifically why we spend so much time and effort producing this amazing spread of meat, vegetables and stuffing then proceed to ruin it by pouring a tasteless gloopy liquid all over it made from dehydrated unidentifiable granules or a cube that smells like it may briefly have crossed paths with an animal of some sort. In short, he detested gravy.

I argued that good gravy enhances the roast dinner.  It takes time and preparation but no real skill or additional effort and I do use a good shop bought stock as a base if I have none of my own in the freezer.

So I apologise to those who cook regularly, you no doubt have your own gravy recipes, but this one’s for my student friend and those who want an alternative to shop bought fare. This is my recipe for gravy for a lovely roast beef dinner but I will often make this for an indulgent sausage and mash as shown below.

Ingredients

1 pint good quality stock
1 large glass red wine
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 bay leaf
1 carrot
1 stick celery
Cornflour to thicken, slaked in cold water
Salt and pepper to taste.



Method

• In a large frying pan or saucepan, fry the onion, carrot, celery and bay leaf in a little oil until the vegetables have softened.
• Add the red wine and let the mixture simmer for a few minutes to cook off the alcohol. Add the stock and simmer for at least 30 minutes. I like to extract all the flavour from the vegetables prior to disposing of them so use a potato masher to squeeze out their goodness.
• If roasting a joint of meat use the juices from the roasting tray at this point, straining off some of the fat beforehand using a large spoon.
• Pass the liquid through a fine sieve and back into a saucepan.
• Mix the cornflour with a little cold water and add gradually to the gravy stirring all the time. It will thicken immediately so stop at the consistency you like. Let it simmer on the lowest heat until your meal is ready.

If you want to make a gravy for chicken or pork, substitute white wine and chicken stock in this recipe, it works equally well.