After an afternoon of chores, and waiting in the rain to
tour a US warship (the USS Lake Champlain),
I decided on a somewhat hearty
supper. Sausages, cabbage and potatoes. And lately I’ve been serving our
sausages with gravy. And I have to admit to a dirty little secret, I usually
start with gravy from a can. Horrors. I know. But there I was on Saturday
evening, looking in my cupboard and I couldn’t find a packet of gravy mix or a
can of gravy and I was going to have to make it from scratch if I wanted some.
And the more I thought about not having gravy, the more I wanted it. I really
wished I had bought home a can of these from England, as suggested, but alas, I
had not. So I was going to have to wing it.
First I sliced an onion, and browned it in a knob of butter.
Once the onion was browned a bit, I threw a couple of big spoonfuls of flour
into the pot and let it cook for a few minutes, until it was looking a bit
toasty and there was a nice dark brown fond on the bottom of the pan. Then I
added some beef stock, salt and pepper and crossed my fingers while whisking
madly. I admit I added a splodge of soy sauce in for the salt and the colour
and then I let the whole thing bubble away on the stove until it was thick and
dark and there it was. Gravy. A lovely dark brown. Served over brown sausages,
alongside beige-brown potatoes and brown-green sautéed cabbage, it was
delicious but not at all photogenic. And best of all, I conquered another of my
kitchen fears.
