Thanksgiving Gravy Traditions

I think that I’m a healthy eater. I enjoy organic produce, meals with little dairy and low on bad fats, very few processed foods, and I can count the number of times I’ve consumed fast food in the past year on one hand (usually french fries at a rest stop on I-87 where my food options were limited). I’m not bringing this up to make myself sound like a food snob, rather, I’m trying to balance out the Thanksgiving food tradition I’m about to discuss: Mangan Family-Style Turkey Giblet Gravy. (Vegetarian readers may want to bail before the jump.)

A typical giblet gravy is not much different than your average gravy made from turkey drippings and flour; it just has some meaty bits mixed in. The viscosity is just thick enough so that it can coat a spoon, allowing it to be poured easily from the family’s gravy vessel of choice. There may be some chopped vegetables involved to give it some extra flavor, a bit of butter, salt, etc.

And then there’s my mother’s family’s traditional giblet gravy, passed down from my Grandma Mangan to my mother and aunt to my sister and I, which has such a thick consistency that it can barely be poured and features ingredients of questionable origin. When described or offered to anyone outside of my immediate family, the response is usually an exclamation of disgust and/or horror, but I’m going to outline it here because it has been a family staple for decades. It’s also my favorite item on the Thanksgiving table, so much so that when my sister and I went to Thanksgiving at another family member’s house last year, we made our own giblet gravy at home and brought it along. 

Mangan Family-Style Giblet Gravy
(Mo Note: There aren’t really set amounts for this since it varies depending on amount of drippings you can get from the bird, personal tastes, and all number of other factors, so the following recipe is a general guide.)
-Turkey drippings
-Turkey giblets 
-Water or broth from boiling the giblets
-All purpose flour
-Worcestershire sauce
-The mysterious Kitchen Bouquet
-Salt

 1. As you prepare your turkey on Thanksgiving morning, remove the giblets, place them in a saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer until cooked, 45 minutes to an hour. Drain pan, reserving a cup of the broth, and let giblets cool for a few minutes. 

2. Once cool enough to handle, pull meat away from the neck and place in a food processor with the heart and gizzard. Chop until fine and then place in a bowl, cover, and store in the fridge until the turkey is done. Pour the cup of broth into a separate container and also store it in the fridge. 

3. While the turkey is cooking, add 1/4 a cup of water to the pan every hour or so and baste. This will ensure you have ample drippings to make gravy, and will help keep the bird moist. 

4. When the bird is done, remove drippings from the pan using the turkey baster, or if the bird will be resting on another surface before carving, just pour them straight from the roasting pan and into a medium saucepan. Make sure to scrape some of the brown bits from the bottom of the roasting pan as well. 

5. Heat the drippings over medium heat and begin to add flour a small bit at a time, whisking constantly and making sure flour doesn’t begin to burn. Continue to add flour and whisk, adding the reserved giblet broth or water as needed until the gravy reaches your desired consistency. 

6. Begin to whisk in giblets and continue to add in small amounts until you reach your desired amount. The typical Mangan amount is enough to make the gravy into a meal in its own right, so I leave it up to you. 

7. Once your gravy has all of the basic ingredients added, it’s time to season. Add a splash of Worcestershire sauce and a splash of Kitchen Bouquet and whisk. Taste and then begin to add dashes of salt, tasting as you go along to make sure you don’t overdo it. This may require the assistance of multiple family members, so have a number of spoons on hand to allow for tasting without contaminating the gravy. 

8. Pour (or scoop) into the gravy vessel of your choice and provide a ladle for serving. Store leftovers in a covered container in the fridge and mentally prepare yourself for the following day when it has hardened into a gelatinous mass. Rest assured that it will regain its semi-viscous consistency upon reheating.