You may have noticed our tendency to include “Commercial brand Hollandaise sauce” with our evening meals. Tonight is an exception. We are having home made gravy. The main reason for this is to have some available to use in the recipe for port and cream mushroom sauce.
This is how I make the gravy. Add three teaspoons of plain flour to about 3 centimeters of cold water in a cup and mix it really well. Meanwhile, add about one centimeter of cold water to the pan the beef steaks and mushrooms have been cooked in. The main reason for this addition is to cool the pan’s base down. Pour in the flour and water mix and stir it so it forms one mixture, incorporating all the meaty brown goodness from the bottom of the pan. Gradually stir in some of the vegetable water from the steamer and bring it to the boil. Keep stirring, as it boils for a small time it thickens.
It isn’t quite as flavoursome home made gravy as boiled vegetable water would give, but it is fine for our purpose, which is to set aside one cup. Allow it to cool and then freeze it. If the gravy making is not a success, there are still several meals to practise making it before it is needed for the port and cream mushroom sauce. If the gravy making turns out to be disastrous, fear not because “Commercial brand gravy” may be used in the recipe.