Good Gravy

One of my favorite Thanksgiving stories is all about the gravy, giblet gravy to be exact. Giblet gravy is a traditional topping for white rice in my family. I grew up enjoying this delicious southern specialty every Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday. We never ladled our homemade gravy over mashed potatoes or stuffing; we reserved the giblet gravy for rice, and poured it over fluffy white rice. It isn’t a Thanksgiving feast or Christmas Day supper without the delicious duo. I do understand that giblet gravy may be odd to those who did not grow up eating it, and it may even prove to be mistaken for something it’s not. That takes me to my favorite Thanksgiving story from a local Aiken resident.

She was a young nurse, working in a small hospital in Kentucky far from home and family… all of the nursing staff pulled together to provide a Thanksgiving dinner for the nurses and doctors, who were on call. Dinner was a pot luck style buffet, which the staff ate in small groups while on a short dinner break.

When our gal took her dinner break, she ladled what looked like a clear broth into a soup bowl as did the nurse from Alabama. She sat down at the long table and waited for the rest of the nursing staff to fill their plates and be seated. Once all of the staff was seated, she tasted a spoonful of the rich broth. She found the soup far too rich to finish and was curious to see other nurses pouring the soup over stuffing and roasted turkey. They seemed amused to see her eating it with a spoon. She asked “What’s so funny?” One nurse from Kentucky informed her that “We don’t eat giblet gravy from a soup bowl; we put it on stuffing and turkey.” The response to this was “What do I know about giblet gravy, I’m from the North.” And, many years later our long-term Aiken resident points out with laughter, “What was the girl from Alabama doing eating the giblet gravy from a soup bowl? She was from the South and should have known what it was.”
As I see it, Thanksgiving should be about family traditions and welcoming everyone to the table, whether you eat giblet gravy on mashed potatoes, stuffing, or white rice.

Here is my family’s recipe for giblet gravy; this is from my great grandmother, Nanny. Enjoy!
 

Giblet Gravy

1 turkey neck
1 turkey liver and giblets
4½ cups water
1 boiled egg
2 tablespoons of turkey pan drippings
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons of ice water
salt and pepper

Put the water in a saucepot and bring the water to boil. Add the turkey neck, liver, and giblets. Bring back up to a boil then reduce the heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes. In a small jar add the flour and ice water and shake to incorporate. Add this flour mixture to a large cast iron skillet. Heat it with the pan drippings (from the cooked turkey) and add the water from the giblet saucepot one ladle at a time. Whisk this mixture until smooth gravy begins to take place. Continue to whisk to incorporate. Bring the gravy up to a boil and reduce the heat. Taste it to see if any salt is needed. Add salt and pepper at this time. Reduce the heat to a low simmer add the cooked yolk of the egg. Crush the cooked yolk and stir to incorporate it. You may remove the cooked giblets and liver from the saucepot and chop them up and add them to the gravy or you may choose to omit them from the gravy. I add them back to the gravy, unless my son is watching me.