My father had a favorite “endearment” for me, his youngest son, when I was a kid.  At various times, he’d look at me a say, “you’re just a gravy sopper”.  This was especially true when Mom would cook pork chops and there’d be 2 boys and my Dad elbowing one another for the privilege of dredging a slice of bread in the bottom of the pan to “sop up” those greasy bits of goodness before sitting down to devour a thin chop cooked to the consistency of a roofing shingle.

One of my earliest food posts here on Open Salon was titled “They Call Me Mr. Gravy”.  That was 3 years ago.  I’ve always loved gravy.  One of my favorite breakfast dishes is still homemade biscuits and sausage gravy.  It reminds me of opening day of fishing season when we’d be treated to SOS for an early breakfast.

For Easter, I grilled a turkey breast and wrote about it here:
http://www.cheap-bastid-cooks.com/grilled-turkey-breast/

I justified cooking a turkey breast on the grill based on the $.99 a pound special that Target had going on turkey breast  Naw, what I really, really wanted was mashed potatoes and gravy.  A mountain of mashed potatoes with a liquid avalanche of thick, tasty gravy oozing down the sides.

It just takes a few minutes—less than the time you need to let your turkey breast or pork or beef roast rest prior to eating.  And if you do that, you won’t be tempted to cut into your meat too soon and drain all those terrific juices that a being absorbed back into the meat.

So here’s how Cheap Bastid/Mr. Gravy does it:

Prep your meat, put it on a rack in the pan (or 6 inch lengths of carrot and celery) and add about 2 cups of broth.

When the breast is done, put it on a cutting board to rest and start your gravy.  Pour off the liquid into a fat separator or into a bowl.

Make a roux. Put a pan on the stove, set to medium and add about 3 tablespoons of the fat from the breast.  Then add an equal amount of flour and start to whisk.

The roux will start to come together, keep whisking.

Add the rest of the pan drippings.  Then add about a cup to cup and a half of broth (or water or milk if you don’t have broth).

I used broth but added about a quarter cup of milk at the end to make it smoother in texture and taste.

This tasted fantastic!  Yeah, it looks like “Thanksgiving” but who said you can’t have turkey at Easter?

Gravy.  It’s what makes mashed ‘taters worthwhile.  Cheap Bastid is still a “gravy sopper” and proud of it!  And it’s cheap if you make it yourself.

That's the Cheap Bastid Way:  Eat Good. Eat Cheap. Be Grateful!