Rachael Ray's Maple-Worcestershire Gravy

Create a more flavorful gravy by adding maple syrup and Worcestershire sauce. Check out this blogger's review of a Rachel Ray recipe.

How much thought do you put on gravy? It is something you just throw together at the last second without much forethought or worse yet does it come out of a can or jar?

Gravy is the sauce that ties the whole meal together from the turkey to the potatoes. I think you need to make it good. A good gravy can help cover up any turkey shortcomings. I am always up for trying out new gravy recipes. I saw that Rachael Ray had a recipe for a Maple-Worcestershire gravy. I thought that sounded interesting, let's give it a go.

Ingredients

Here is what you will need to make this recipe:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves finely chopped
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken or turkey stock (homemade would be best)
• ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
• ⅓ cup maple syrup (darker the better!)
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• Salt to taste

To make this gravy really wow, you got to use the best ingredients. I like Lea & Perrins Low Sodium Worcestershire. They have been doing it since 1835, so they know what they are doing. It has the best flavor of any Worcestershire I have had. I also like their low sodium version as it gives me more control over the salt content.

You want to look for a dark amber maple syrup, which will have the strongest maple flavor. What I love the most is barrel aged maple syrup, it has even more flavor. Maple syrup is aged in different types of barrels such as ones that were used to make bourbon.

2 sprigs of thyme will yield about 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme. Don't have fresh thyme? No problem, you can substitute tsp of dried thyme instead. Most people say you need a third of dried thyme to replace the fresh. I prefer to do half instead, so for this recipe I would do ½ teaspoon dried thyme.

Tips

This gravy is made with a roux, which is how I like to make my gravy. Easier to thicken when you incorporate the fat and flour before adding any liquid.

Optional - You could take this advice that I got from Alton Brown and replace half the flour with potato starch. By using two different types of flours it helps the gravy from becoming a solid mass shortly after finishing it. It will reheat better too this way.

I like to make the gravy in a frying pan. I like the wide open spacing for whisking. And I feel the gravy thickens up so much faster with a wider surface area. Just be careful to keep on eye on it, so you don't burn it. It's a higher risk but it comes together fast, so you shouldn't be leaving it anyway.

🦃 Making the gravy for Thanksgiving? You can do it at the last minute while the turkey has come out of the oven and is resting. You need to allow the turkey to rest so that the juices don't just run out of the meat when sliced into. This gives you the perfect amount of time to make your gravy fresh.

Final Thoughts

This was a mighty tasty gravy. It was unlike any gravy I have ever had. That being said, I didn't really like it on the potatoes by themselves. The sweetness wasn't working for me with the mashers. Though I do think it would be great just on turkey itself where the sweetness would enhance the meat.