Roast Chicken Pan Gravy - Getting to the �Bottom� of Flavor

Yes, more gravy! This clip goes along with the already posted �Ultimate� Roast Chicken recipe clip, but was never posted, so here you go. Don�t think of this as a recipe. Think of this as a basic culinary technique that you can do anytime you�ve roasted meat in a heavy pan.

The �bottom� I�m referring to in the headline, is the bottom of the heavy Stainless Steel Lined Copper Frying Pan we used to roast our chicken. As a meat roasts, proteins caramelize on the pan�s bottom, and that sticky brown goodness is the base for any pan gravy. In culinary terms this is called a �fond.�

The procedure is basic. Remove the bird. Pour off the excess fat (mostly the butter we used under the skin) into a small bowl. Add some flour to the pan and mix with the fond. Add just enough of the reserve fat to form a somewhat dry crumbly roux, and toast on low heat for 5 minutes. Add cold stock, or any other liquid, and cook for about ten minutes to finish. That�s it!

I don�t normally strain the gravy, but if you want a �finer� gravy product you need to use a Fine Mesh Strainer.

Ingredients:
Pan full of beautiful pan drippings or �fond�
2 tbl flour
Reserved fat/butter from pan
about 2 cups of cold stock or other flavorful liquid
salt and pepper to taste