[Mommy2Many]

This may be known to many of you but for me I just recently found this out. It has been a little over a year now that my son was diagnosed. I only had a few weeks to prepare a gluten-free Thanksgiving so I researched how to make gravy. What I found was try this flour and add this flour. In the end it was horrible. Don't know why I never found a recipe that just said add cornstarch to the drippings. I just made chicken in the oven the other night and added cornstarch to the juice from it and all four of my kids LOVED it!!! Why didn't I find something as simple as that a year ago? The only seasoning I used on the chicken was Garlic Salt and Pepper and then added nothing but the Cornstarch to the juice to make the gravy. Just thought I'd mention this in case there may be others new to this like I was and not know how to make it. Please let me know if you have had a similar experience.

[tarnalberry]

That's the only way I ever make gravy. Even long before I knew I was gluten intolerant.

BTW, *sometimes* the juice/drippings from a turkey are much stronger tasting. You *might* find that you want to add a little bit of water to tone down the flavor when making turkey gravy from a roasted turkey. Totally depends on your family's taste preferences, though, so it's a "taste as you cook" kind of thing.

[mcphena]

This is so true about the turkey!! The past 2 thanksgivings my gravy has been so salty it was GROSS and I didn't add any salt to either the turkey OR the gravy. This year I'm getting a turkey that isn't injected with a bunch of crap, and I'll try your cornstarch idea, thank you!!

[Juliebove]

Cornstarch will work but the problem with it is it breaks down when you reheat it. For this reason, I use sweet rice flour to thicken and make gravy. I use boxed broth or reconstituted pouches of concentrated broth (can get turkey), adding a bit of parsley and sometimes a bit of olive oil for richness. You could add butter if you can tolerate that.

[digmom1014]

I use cornstarch to thicken gravey too but, I drop a T of it in a cup of warm water and pre-mix it before I put it in the pan. That seems to help the gunky build-up.

[Nicole S.]

Juliebove, on Nov 5 2009, 12:08 AM, said:

Cornstarch will work but the problem with it is it breaks down when you reheat it. For this reason, I use sweet rice flour to thicken and make gravy. I use boxed broth or reconstituted pouches of concentrated broth (can get turkey), adding a bit of parsley and sometimes a bit of olive oil for richness. You could add butter if you can tolerate that.

Do you know of any Healthy egg substitutes?

[Juliebove]

Nicole S., on Nov 6 2009, 08:52 PM, said:

Do you know of any Healthy egg substitutes?

Depends on what you are putting the egg in. For some things I use ground flax mixed with water. I don't really measure, just do it till it looks right. We just make a chocolate cake tonight and used Ener-G egg replacer. You can also use mashed banana in fruit flavored things.

[tarnalberry]

Juliebove, on Nov 5 2009, 12:08 AM, said:

Cornstarch will work but the problem with it is it breaks down when you reheat it. For this reason, I use sweet rice flour to thicken and make gravy. I use boxed broth or reconstituted pouches of concentrated broth (can get turkey), adding a bit of parsley and sometimes a bit of olive oil for richness. You could add butter if you can tolerate that.

Never really had that problem...

[CeliacMom2008]

This has nothing to do with how to make gravy (I do use the cornstarch method), but thought I'd share what do with the leftover gravy and chicken or turkey. My son loves gravy, rice and little chunks of chicken/turkey in his lunch (thermos). It's a great way for me to use up the meat we don't eat and makes a great lunch for him.

Also, I've never had any problems with the cornstarch gravy leftovers.

[Dada2hapas]

I use both corn starch and rice flour for thickening and for gravy. They both should work for either purpose in a pinch.

Generally, I use corn starch for thickening (mix with liquid prior to heating) when doing chinese stirfry, or when trying to thicken gravy that is too thin. I prefer rice flour (usually brown rice flour) for making a roux, when making gravy.

[gabbi]

Mommy2Many, on Nov 3 2009, 01:17 AM, said:

This may be known to many of you but for me I just recently found this out. It has been a little over a year now that my son was diagnosed. I only had a few weeks to prepare a gluten-free Thanksgiving so I researched how to make gravy. What I found was try this flour and add this flour. In the end it was horrible. Don't know why I never found a recipe that just said add cornstarch to the drippings. I just made chicken in the oven the other night and added cornstarch to the juice from it and all four of my kids LOVED it!!! Why didn't I find something as simple as that a year ago? The only seasoning I used on the chicken was Garlic Salt and Pepper and then added nothing but the Cornstarch to the juice to make the gravy. Just thought I'd mention this in case there may be others new to this like I was and not know how to make it. Please let me know if you have had a similar experience.

I don't use cornstarch, because I can't handle corn. For those like me who are corn intolerant, potato starch works just as well. I've also used tapioca flour with great results.

[tarnalberry]

sweet rice flour (available... almost everwhere!, usually in the asian section) also works very well for a smooth thickening. other rice flours work, but I don't like what they do to the texture. potato (the starch or flour - I forget which is the right one, and which is right out) also works great to thicken stew!

[clogger69]

In all my years of cooking, I had learned about cornstarch. Probably from my mother! I know in my early days of cooking gravy was a big challenge, getting lumps out. We had a Vendor Fair here in Lansing, Mi about a month ago and a company had samples of their gluten-free gravy mix. It was good. You can mix with cold water or drippings from your meat. I used it this way with chicken and my crock-pot beef roast. Very good. We are able to purchase it from a local health store, but they do have a web site.( www.forfullflavor.com)

[momxyz]

I have used, in past years, both cornstarch and flour - a bit of both - mixed with water prior to adding to the drippings.

I was planning to use just cornstarch prior to reading this thread. Dada, do you suppose that I can just substitute brown rice flour for the the old flour I used to use? Ie a bit of cornstarch and br flour, mixed in water, slowly added to the pan juices?

Nice to hear that brown rice flour makes a good roux (for other recipes in my file...)

[mcphena]

I made an AWESOME gravy tonight! It was mushroom gravy:

8 large mushrooms, sliced
2 T butter, margarine, oil, whatever

Saute mushrooms in grease of choice. When they start releasing their juices, pour it off into a 2 cup glass measuring dish.

When mushrooms are soft, sprinkle with Mrs Dash and garlic powder to taste. Add chicken broth to mushroom broth in cup to equal 2 cups. Stir in 1-2 tbsp cornstarch. Pour into mushrooms in skillet and stir until thickened and bubbly. Season to taste with salt.

This was the BEST gravy I've ever had, and I just made it up. I am so not missing gluteny gravy now. We had this with a Costco rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts and a nice green salad. YUM!!