Nov 27th, 2023

Author: donich_admin

Gravy and sage and onion stuffing

I made my small contributions to Christmas yesterday. Normally I make loads of stuff like Christmas cakes, mince pies and shortbread, plus prepare and freeze all my own vegetables and accompaniments. This year I will have just had my operation and will have my arm in a sling, so virtually everything is coming pre-prepared from M&S, and what cooking needs to be done, R is going to do. He is quite a good cook now and even says he has carved a turkey before (I don’t recall this, but as he says he has, I believe him), so I am sure it will all be fine. I enjoyed doing the Christmas cooking in past years, so we are definitely having two things from the Donich Kitchen this year.

a) Sage and onion stuffing – shop bought stuff is always crap. I can never buy fresh sage here – it is unavailable most of the year, comes in to ASDA the week before Christmas and then promptly sells out. So last year I planted three sage plants, and this year we are having some of them (leaving the plants to grow on as they are perennials). The stuffing is also made with homemade breadcrumbs from homemade bread and loads of proper butter.

b) Gravy. My brother and I are at odds over this. He prefers (and makes), a thickish, pale brown gravy made from vegetable stock and thickened with flour. To my taste it would be ok with e.g. a chicken pie, but for Christmas dinner you have to have…. My gravy, made with the meat juices and crunchy bits, turkey stock and bisto powder (note that this is the old fashioned powder which is essentially coloured cornflour – not the disgusting “gravy granules” which are artificially flavoured instant gravy). My gravy is thinnish and dark brown. My mum used to make this every year – she was the best at it, but sadly past making it now.

So this year I have made both items in advance and frozen them. The gravy had to be made with chicken rather than turkey, but it was a good excuse to have a roast dinner yesterday. I hope M&S roast potatoes are good because they would have to be to come up to the standard of the ones I made yesterday 🙂