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I recently overcooked a rib roast – not badly, but into the “well-done” class. The roast itself was still OK – but the gravy…the gravy was fantastic. I can only assume this is because I cooked a lot more juices out of the beef. I enjoyed just having leftover mashed potatoes and gravy from this roast, so I don’t even need a roast to come along with the gravy!

What made the gravy so good? What tecnique can I use to replicate this type of gravy?

rumtscho
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Robert Rounthwaite
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    Unfortunately recipe requests are off topic here on Seasoned Advice. – ElendilTheTall Jan 08 '13 at 07:49
  • The original question would have been closed as a recipe request. I tried to edit it into a "How to achieve this effect" type of question, which is on-topic here. It is still a bit tautological - obviously, if you want long-cooked gravy, you have to cook your roast for a long time - but this was the best I could to to salvage the question. If somebody has a better edit idea, they are welcome. – rumtscho Jan 08 '13 at 13:39
  • This question would be better if you explained what made the gravy so delicious - was the flavor super-condensed or was there a lot of umami? – KatieK Jan 08 '13 at 16:53

2 Answers2

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It's probably less to do with the amount of juices that came out of the rib roast and more to do with the extended caramelisation of those juices produced by overcooking. Those burnt, caramelised bits left in the bottom of the pan are full of flavour and it's probably that, that added so much more flavour to your gravy than you're used to.

Just replicate it the next time you make a rib roast. Once the roast is done, take it out, cut a slice or two of the meat off, chop it up into small pieces, put it back in the pan and continue cooking until the pieces are burnt and caramelised. Make your gravy as before.

spiceyokooko
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Have you ever heard of "rice and gravy"? It's ubiquitous in Cajun country. That's essentially what you made.

To repeat it, all you have to do it brown your meat really well and then deglaze the pan repeatedly throughout the cooking process. It should be a covered braise and you can make it with anything from a roast to meatloaf. You can do it with most meats, but beef and pork make the best gravy.

It's a process of browning, then deglazing with liquid (water works, so does wine and better), then letting the liquid evaporate, and browning some more, then deglazing, etc. Over and over until the meat is cooked.

Add some finely diced onions, bell peppers, and celery (and a small amount of garlic later in the process (don't burn it, else very bitter) to achieve what the Cajuns do. It cooks down and melds with the gravy to make something that taste just short of fantastic. Careful not to burn it, as you can't fix the dish if the onions or pepper burn.

When just about done, deglaze one last time, but don't use too much liquid. Scrap all the delicious brown bits off the bottom of the pan and call it done.

Also, it's much better on Day 2 and 3 after it rests.

Thomas
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