Turkey Gravy (from Roasted Wings & Thighs)

I adapted this recipe a couple years ago from the Classic Turkey Gravy recipe in the December 2007 issue of Cuisine at Home. We usually have Thanksgiving at my sister's, with her cooking the turkey, so I was looking for a gravy recipe that I could pre-make the day before and that didn't require using the drippings from a whole roasted turkey. This version uses turkey wings, necks, drumettes, and/or thighs. You can use one, all, or a combo of any of these parts, and the beauty of it is that the end product tastes just like the gravy that you would normally make from the drippings of your Thanksgiving bird. The flavor punch and rich caramel color comes from slow roasting the turkey parts with celery, onion and garlic in the oven. This gravy also freezes well.

Ingredients:
6 lbs. of turkey wings and/or turkey drumettes (2 pkgs)
5 ribs of celery, cut into large dice
2 carrots, peeled and cut into large dice
1 large onion, cut into large dice
1 head of garlic, halved through the cloves. 
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
Salt & pepper

1/2 cup fat from turkey drippings
1 cup flour
2 1/2 tsp. kosher salt (or to taste)

1 tsp. black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375F.

2 Place the turkey wings and/or drumettes/thighs, celery, onion and garlic in a roasting pan. Season with a little salt and pepper and toss with 2 tbsp. vegetable oil.

3. Place the pan in the oven and roast 1 1/2 to 3 hours, turning the wings over occasionally, or until well browned. Add 18 cups of water to the pan. Continue roasting another 1 hour or until stock is slightly reduced.

4. Let stock cool in the roasting pan and pour everything into a smaller pot that will fit in the frig. Cover and keep in frig overnight to let flavors develop. 

5. Remove stock from the frig and let come to room temperature. Strain stock and set aside. Add 2/3 cup of the fat from the turkey drippings in a large pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. 

6. Gradually add strained stock, whisking until smooth. Bring gravy to a boil and simmer 2 minutes to thicken. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 10 minutes. 

7. Finish gravy with 2 tsp. salt and 1 tsp. black pepper, or to taste. 

1 pkg. of turkey thighs & 1 pkg. of turkey wings.

Add turkey wings/thighs, chopped onion, carrots, celery and garlic to a large roasting pan. Season lightly with salt and pepper and toss with 2 tbsp. vegetable oil.

Roast in the oven, turning the turkey pieces over occasionally, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours or 
until totally browned on all sides. 

 After roasting with the addition of water, it should look like this. 
Let this cool off and then pour everything into a stock pot that will fit in the frig. 
Cover and refrigerate overnight to let flavors develop.

The next day, take the stock out of the frig and let it come to room temperature. Strain the stock through a wire mesh strainer into a sauce pot.

Stock should have a rich dark color from all those roasted goodies.

For the roux, add 1 cup of flour to the fat from the turkey drippings and mix together well. 

Stir constantly with a whisk for about 2 minutes to cook out taste of the raw flour.

Add strained stock to the roux, mix well, and bring to a boil. Simmer 2 minutes. Turn down heat and continue cooking at a simmer for about 10 minutes or until gravy thickens.

Season with salt & pepper.

Looks like turkey gravy to me!