Make-Ahead Marsala Turkey Gravy

The Thanksgiving Day kitchen is a busy, hectic scene that can intimidate even the most experienced cooks. By doing your gravy ahead of time, you make that last-minute production a lot easier. That’s not to say I want you to throw away all those lovely turkey pan juices sitting in your roasting pan. Time permitting, strain them into a saucepan, boil them down, and add them to this sauce.

Step: 1

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Place turkey necks in the Dutch oven and cook until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in onion, celery, and carrot; cook and stir until onion is soft and slightly brown, about 5 minutes.

Step: 2

Pour Marsala wine over turkey necks; increase heat to high and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits off of the bottom of the pan. Simmer until wine is reduced by half, 3 to 4 minutes.

Step: 3

Stir in water, 1/4 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, garlic, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil then decrease heat to low; simmer, skimming any foam or fat that rises to the top. Cover the Dutch oven almost completely; simmer until meat is falling off the bones, 4 to 5 hours. Strain turkey stock carefully into a clean container and cool completely, about 2 hours.

Step: 4

Place 1/4 ounce dry porcini mushrooms in a bowl and cover with warm water; soak until mushrooms are soft enough to dice, about 15 minutes. Drain, squeezing out excess water, and dice. Set aside.

Step: 5

Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Add diced porcini mushrooms; cook and stir until browned, about 5 minutes.

Step: 6

Stir flour into mushrooms and butter; cook and stir until flour is no longer gritty, about 3 minutes.

Step: 7

Whisk in turkey stock, increase heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is 1/3 reduced and thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in cream, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Per Serving: 163 calories; protein 13.1g; carbohydrates 5.6g; fat 8.9g; cholesterol 68.5mg; sodium 79.2mg.

One of most obvious way to choose a side dish is to look at your main dish (pasta, chicken, seared tofu) and choose more different. If you’re making pasta, go for a simple healthy dish . Making steak? Go for something light. If you’re making stir-fry with rice, it must not a good idea to adjust with make a rice salad.

This also can make to cooking method . You don’t want to push more often your oven by scheduling three dishes at once in there, or be rounding four pans on the cooking items . But sometimes you can make a dish do double-duty .