Cream gravy recipe, the cream of the gravy crop | Homesick Texan (2024)

FAQs

What is cream gravy made of? ›

It's a simple concoction, made with pan drippings, flour, milk and cracked black pepper. But while it may appear plain, it's infinitely delicious. Sometimes it goes by the name country gravy or white gravy, but in Texas we always call it cream gravy.

If you don't have milk, you can use slightly thinned-out cream or half-and-half. Feel free to play with the proportions of milk and cream if you would prefer a gravy that's a little thicker or thinner. If need be, you can use butter instead of pan drippings in equal proportions.

(The classic ratio for gravy is three:two:one, so 3 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons fat, and 1 cup of hot stock.) You can add other flavors to the mixture, swap out the stock for another liquid, or use cornstarch rather than flour to thicken your gravy.

The term "sawmill gravy" comes from early logging camp food and old-time sawmills. It was originally made with cornmeal, bacon drippings, milk, and seasonings. This resulted in a somewhat gritty gravy; in fact, rumor has it that the loggers would accuse the cooks of putting sawdust in the recipe!

Your gravy might taste doughy or chalky if you didn't cook the flour enough when making your roux. You'll want to cook the flour for at least five minutes, until it smells nutty and begins to turn light brown. But if you don't notice until it's too late and you've already added your broth, bring the gravy to a simmer.

If your gravy is on the skimpy side, you can thicken it quickly with flour or cornstarch. But don't add your thickener directly to the gravy, which will create lumps. Instead, try stirring in three or four tablespoons of flour or cornstarch into a small amount of cold water until you have a smooth paste.

It turns out, the biggest difference between the two is brown gravy is broth-based, while white gravy typically has a milk or cream base. Garcia said both types usually have flour or cornstarch for thickening and they both contain some sort of “fat or meat drippings.”

Yes, heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are the exact same thing. The confusion lies in the fact that they're sold by different brands under two different names.

Milk contributes not only moisture but also structure due to its protein content. Replacing milk with heavy cream can introduce too much fat, potentially altering the texture and causing goods to become overly dense.

Browning adds more flavor to the gravy and gets rid of the raw flour taste. You're basically making a roux. We find that a flour-based gravy holds up better and reheats better later, which is why we tend to prefer using flour over cornstarch to make gravy unless we have a guest who is eating gluten-free.

What is a Southern gravy called? ›

Other common names include country gravy, sawmill gravy, milk gravy, and sausage gravy.

It consists of milk or cream, meat grease, flour, salt, and plenty of pepper. It can be either a white or light brown gravy, depending on the fat (butter or meat drippings).

Onion Gravy or Traditional British Gravy is what British people call gravy. Americans call it Brown Gravy, White Gravy (sawmill gravy or Breakfast Gravy), which is topped on biscuits. Brits don't put gravy on biscuits.

A cream sauce is a “mother sauce” that provides the base for a lot of combinations in preparing foods such as macaroni and cheese, cream soups and sauces. For meat gravies, natural drippings are essential for a tasty final product.

The basic recipe for white gravy consists of butter, flour, milk, salt, and pepper. Some people use bacon or sausage fat in place of butter, and others further season the gravy beyond salt and pepper.

Heavy cream and heavy whipping cream are essentially the same thing—they both have over 36% milk fat, and the name just depends on the brand. Whipping cream, however, is slightly different—it contains 30% to 35% milk fat, so it's slightly lighter (it's sometimes labeled light whipping cream).