Jamie Oliver's Get Ahead Gravy

This is definitely worth it!

I love gravy - in fact my favourite thing is rice and gravy together - I could eat a whole bowl of it - just like that!  But you know, during the week when things got really busy I would use instant gravy. I know, I know! But it does the job in 2 minutes! That was, until I discovered Jamie Oliver's gravy.

Now the beauty of Jamie's gravy is that you can make it in advance and simply store it in your freezer and use it whenever you like.  A suggestion is to maybe freeze a batch in smaller Tupperware or freezer bags so that there will never again be a need for instant gravy!!

I made this gravy for the first time just before Christmas and it was so worth it - absolutely delicious!  Brad and I had our families over for the day on Christmas day so we wanted things to be just "zhoosh!"

Okay, here it is:

Ingredients:
2 celery sticks, trimmed and roughly chopped
2 carrots, roughly sliced
2 onions, peeled and quartered
5 fresh bay leaves (I used dried bay leaves but definitely, the fresh leaves would have been better)
5 fresh sage leaves
4 sprigs of rosemary
2 star anise (I substituted this with a few dried cloves)
2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon
8 chicken wings (wings have the most flavour)
olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper
4 tablespoons of plain flour
60ml sherry or port (optional)
2 heaped dessertspoons of cranberry sauce for finishing ( I omitted this)

• Preheat the oven to 200 deg Celcius
• Throw the veg, herbs and star anise into a steady bottomed roasting tray. (Try to use the biggest you have, to hold about 2 litres of water. I had to transfer my ingredients half way through cooking which wasn't ideal)
• Scatter the bacon on top.
• Break the chicken wings open and then put them onto a board and bash the bones up with the end of a rolling pin - this will release more of their flavour. (Tip # 2 - make sure you are wearing an apron - it's a bit messy bashing chicken! I looked like I had 'done someone in' whilst cooking mine!)
• Put the chicken in the pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over a few pinches of salt and pepper and toss everything together and put the tray in the oven to cook for 1 hour or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.
• Take the pan out of the oven and put it on a hob over low heat and use a potato masher to really grind and mash everything up.
• Keep mashing, moving and scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan as you go.
• Gradually mix in the flour to thicken the mixture. The longer you let everything fry, the darker your gravy will be.
• When the flour is combined, pour in 2 litres of hot water, turn the heat up and bring to the boil for 10 minutes until thickened and then turn down the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• If you want to add 60ml sherry or port for flavour, do that now.
• When it has reached the consistency you're looking for, check the seasoning then push the mixture through a sieve into a large bowl.  Really push and mash everything through so you get as much flavour as possible.  Discard anything left behind.
• Once the gravy has cooled down to room temperature, put it into containers or freezer bags and pop it into your freezer. You'll finish it off on Christmas Day - or whenever you need to use it.
• To finish the gravy:  Take the gravy out of your freezer to defrost well in advance.
• When roast is perfectly cooked, collect the juices from the roasting pan and add to your pre-made gravy.
• Bring the gravy to the boil over the hob and add the cranberry sauce.  (I didn't add the cranberry sauce as our roast chicken has been glazed in cranberry and port glaze.)
• You may need to add a little bit of Maizena or cornflour to the gravy to thicken it slightly, according to your own preference.
• And there you have it - the most DELICIOUS gravy ever!