What is a roux?
Most folks are afraid of making gravy from scratch because they aren’t sure how to make gravy without big clumps of flour. This is where the Roux comes in. Fancy french word for a thickening agent. It consists of a fat and flour. Butter is the best fat for a Roux, but people have used vegetable or olive oil. Doesn’t matter as long as you have equal measures of fat to flour.
How much Roux you make depends on how much gravy you want to make and how thick you like it. Typically it’s one tablespoon of Roux to one cup of liquid.
Best way to make a gravy that is not lumpy is to slowly add some of the liquid you want to thicken to the Roux. This will temper the Roux to your broth. Once you get the roux to where it can be easily poured, then pour it into the rest of your broth and wisk until the gravy starts to boil. Once the gravy boils remove it from the heat. It will thicken as it cools.
Now for you people that need to be in a hurry, Roux can be kept in your refrigerator for a couple weeks or even frozen and thawed when needed.
Next: What do I use Roux in?
Reflections | Celtic Wolf December 15, 2009