Rich And Flavorful Gravy Enhances Thanksgiving Dinner

AT Martha's Place in Montgomery, Ala., Thanksgiving comes every Wednesday, week in, week out. The owner, Martha Hawkins, bones and roasts four turkeys, makes gallons of stock from the bones, and enriches her gravy with chopped-up giblets and meat from the neck.

People must understand, that is a labor of love," she said about boning turkeys and tending stockpots. "Flour, salt, pepper, love; those are the ingredients you need for gravy."

Michelle Ades, food director at the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Conn., will produce gravy for 350 people for the school's annual pre-Thanksgiving banquet tomorrow.

"Eight gallons should do it," she said. Although she could buy shortcuts like gravy base or turkey broth concentrate, she has made the stock ahead of time and will combine it with a roux and the pan drippings once the turkeys come out of the oven.

"I think you have to make the real thing," she said. "Gravy's really critical, it has to be flavorful and rich to enhance everything. Gravy is like the salt of the Thanksgiving table."

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