Good Gravy

Gravy for poultry by Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Good gravy is a godsend, whether you need it to dress the bird, the dressing or the mashed potatoes, having homemade gravy on the Thanksgiving table pretty much separates the real cooks from the duffers.

There's no particular magic to gravy, just attention to ingredients and proper stirring to eliminate lumps will carry a novice through. Here's the recipe that I've used for years - it's based on canned chicken broth, but substitute homemade turkey or chicken or vegetable broth as you wish. For the Thanksgiving feast, combine the gravy with some of the pan drippings from the bird for a truly spectacular gravy (if the bird has been brined, add drippings judiciously, the salt can quickly overwhelm the sauce).

Gravy for Poultry

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 carrot, peeled and roughly chopped

1 stalk celery, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 bay leaf

1 sprig fresh thyme, if available

1 (32 oz) package low-salt chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste.

1. In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Add the vegetables, all roughly chopped, and let brown, stirring occasionally. Pour chicken broth into a microwavable container and zap for 1 minute.

2. Stir the vegetables until they are nice and caramel-colored, about 10 minutes, then add 1/4 cup all-purpose flour. Stir this into the vegetables for an additional 5 minutes or so. Then gradually add 4 cups of warm broth. Strain the broth through a sieve, discarding the solids. Season to taste. Cool and store the gravy in the fridge for a day or so, or place in the freezer until Thanksgiving Day.

3. On Turkey Day, stand by the stove, lovingly stirring the gravy, adjusting the seasoning and admiring your kitchen skills. Homemade gravy without lumps, and not requiring a packet or a pocket or a jar.

Martha Doesn't Live Here (Thank Goodness!)

I'm a bit embarrassed to show this picture, because it's kind of garish and sloppy (notice the gravy on the thrift store placemat), but it's a plate that makes me proud, reminding me of the home-cooked meals of my red clay South Carolina youth.

First up, fried chicken, using the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook recipe for Extra Crispy Fried Chicken. The technique is brilliant - first, a buttermilk brine, then a small portion of buttermilk poured into the flour and seasonings just so it makes shaggy crumbs. The buttermilk-soaked legs and thighs are then dredged in the shaggy crumbs, yielding a very crispy poultry product. I use the gravy recipe from the same cookbook - it's my go-to. My one exception to the gravy recipe is that I use exclusively chicken broth rather than both chicken and beef, that is a combination that confuses my palate. The gravy is simple: just sauteed mirepoix vegetables in butter, a bay leaf, some thyme; let cook down for at least 15 minutes, add flour, then broth and adjust seasonings. Strain before serving.

The pear salad is a riff on a Southern classic - canned pear half, with low-fat yogurt instead of mayo, and a cherry, which gives it a gaudy glow, to be sure, but guess what the kids ate first? You got it, the healthiest thing on the plate, the fruit.

This blog isn't one of the beautiful ones, the thoroughbreds put out by food stylists, photographers and chefs. It's real food by a real mom working in an average kitchen with Oprah on the tv in the background and the kids sitting at the counter reading, painting, coloring, nagging, nibbling. A little red clay on their knees would complete the scene.