BEST GIBLET GRAVY AND MERRY HO HO EVER!

"I'm going to post my Scrambled Egg Casserole and Pumpkin Pancake recipes this week," I told my daughter.
"Mom, what I really need is a Giblet Gravy recipe. Please pray for me, I'm making my first Thanksgiving turkey. Ben is going to try to order a turkey from the butcher. They don't carry them in the grocery store. Pray his Hungarian translates into what we need. We need a cranberry sauce recipe too. You can't buy the canned stuff, but we can buy fresh cranberries at the specialty store," Megan explained.
"But what about my brunch recipes?" I asked.
"I already have those, so they can wait," she laughed. So for my kids in Hungary here are those recipes. 

GIBLET GRAVY

1/4 cup fat from turkey drippings

Vegetable oil

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups liquid (turkey juices, canned chicken broth or water)

Browning sauce, if desired

Salt and pepper, as needed

1. Pan and drippings will be hot, so be careful when handling. Pour drippings (turkey juices and fat) from roasting pan into a glass measuring cup, leaving the brown particles in the pan. With a spoon, skim fat from drippings. Return 1/4 cup of the fat to the roasting pan. (If there isn't enough fat, add oil to measure 1/4 cup.) Measuring accurately is important because too little fat makes the gravy lumpy and too much fat makes the gravy greasy.

2. Stir the flour into the fat in the pan, using a wire whisk. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Remove the pan from the heat.

3. Add enough chicken broth or water to remaining drippings to measure 2 cups. Stir into pan. Heat to boiling over high heat, stirring constantly, Continue boiling 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in a few drops of browning sauce for a richer deeper color. Taste the gravy, and add salt and pepper, if desired.

It is difficult to find canned chicken stock in Hungary, so I started with a rotisserie chicken.
I left plenty of meat on the carcass when I de-boned it. Place in a pot and covered it with water.

This is a great time to clean out the vegetable drawer. Cut up celery and onion
 (and any other vegetable that needs a new zip code) and throw it in with the chicken.
This chicken already had some lovely spices on it, but I did add about a teaspoon of
poultry seasoning. Cover and simmer until the meat falls off the bone.

I let the broth cool overnight and then skimmed the fat off the top.

I didn't have quite enough fat, so I added coconut oil.
(any vegetable oil will do)

I strained the broth until I had 2 cups.
The rest I used in chicken and dumplings.

Stir flour into heated oil to make a roux.

Stir constantly until it browns.

Browning gives it additional flavor.

I heat my broth in the microwave and add it slowly
to the roux so my gravy is smooth and not lumpy.

Bring to a boil stirring constantly. Add salt and pepper if needed.

So where are the giblets (heart, gizzard, liver and neck)? You can make your stock using giblets. Strain the stock for the gravy. Chop the giblets up and add them back to the gravy at the end. I never put liver in my gravy because so few people like it. I do use the gizzards, heart, and neck meat, but you can serve it without any of those pieces and call it Turkey Gravy. I like to make my gravy the day before and warm it up before serving. It's just one less thing to stress about on an already busy day.

For Ben my favorite son-in-love in Hungary, my cranberry relish. We call it Merry HoHo! I make a double batch at Thanksgiving, seal it in jars and eat it with Christmas Ham too!

MERRY HO HO!

2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen, 1 12oz bag is enough)

2 fresh oranges, (ends & seeds removed)

2 apples, cored (I like the tartness of Granny Smiths)

1/2 to 1 cup sugar

1 cup chopped pecans (opt.)

Directions

1. Slice unpeeled oranges and apples into eighths. Place half of the fruit in food processor or blender. Pulse until evenly chopped. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with remaining fruit. Stir in sugar to taste. Add pecans. Store in refrigerator or freezer.

Gather your ingredients. Toast your pecans, if desired
Three minutes in the microwave will be sufficient for 1 cup of pecans.

Pulse in food processor or blender.

My blender broke so I ended up using my
mini-chopper.

I just cut the fruit a little smaller and chopped in batches.

Place all the fruit in a bowl. Add sugar and pecans.

Mix together and you have Merry Ho Ho!

I like to put plan-overs in small jars and use it through out the
holiday season. Sometimes we fry turkeys for neighbors and friends.
 I like to send a little Merry Ho Ho when we deliver their turkey.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, YA'LL!