Giblet Gravy - Video Recipe

Giblets are those extra parts of the turkey you don't roast on Thanksgiving or Christmas Day. But don't throw out the heart, gizzard, liver, and neck before you read my Giblet Gravy recipe. But the question is "Can you handle it?"

Liver, heart, and the gizzard are textures that go from mushy and chewy to tough. Organ meat is not like dark or white meat, stringy and tender. My recipe is not for the faint of palate.

I used to make my Holiday gravy with pan-roasted drippings but lately, I've added cooked giblets and neck meat for the most pungent Giblet Gravy.

Giblets come in a pouch buried in the cavity of a store-bought whole bird. The long neck is usually separated but in the cavity as well. 

I usually saute or roast the liver and eat it when I bake a turkey or chicken. It's tender when cooked. The heart and gizzard are chewy and take an hour or two of boiling to tenderize. Japanese restaurants grill giblets on skewers while in the South they are deep-fried. 

The neck appears all bone, but it holds quite a lot of meat when cooked and peeled. 

For a Giblet Gravy, I will boil the giblets and neck in water for an hour with a little salt and pepper. I then chop them up and peel off the neck meat. Finally, I make a gravy with the giblet broth and flour then add the chopped and shredded meat.

Giblet Gravy is intense in flavor and may not appeal to sensitive palates. When I make a holiday turkey I just go for it, guests can always pour in the gravy liquid and leave out the chunky giblets.

So on your next Thanksgiving or Christmas Day, you can make a plain Gravy or my meatier and pungent Giblet Gravy.

Giblet Gravy - VIDEO      Play it here, video runs 4 minutes, 23 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients

• Giblets - 1 neckbone of meat, heart, gizzard, and liver. I get the giblets from buying a whole chicken or turkey. Look for the giblets package in the cavity of the raw bird. The neckbone also comes from the bird cavity. If the neck is not included then it's okay to just use the giblets package.
• Water from boiling giblets - 3 cups. Okay to use favorite broth or a bouillon cube.
• Flour - 1/4 cup. Add an extra tablespoon if gravy is too thin for your tastes. Or add extra water to thin the gravy.
• Salt and Pepper - to taste or about half a teaspoon. I add the salt and pepper to boiling giblets. No salt to the gravy as water from boiling giblets is salty enough to me, but I do add half a teaspoon of extra pepper to the gravy.

Directions

Place giblets plus neck bone into a pot. Add 3 cups of water. 

Bring to a boil then reduce heat to a low simmer and cover the pot. Simmer giblets plus neckbone for one hour. If you do not like organ meat it's okay to strain the liquid and make a flavorful gravy.

I find that the heart and gizzard are too tough and chewy if you do not cook long enough. They will still have a bit of chew, but that's just the normal cooked texture. 

The gizzard will have a tough clear connective tissue right in the middle where the two sides meet. You can slice this away when cooled as it will be rubbery. But, it's okay to just leave it as that is what giblets are all about, a chewier texture.

When giblets are done, remove them and allow them to cool down so you can roughly slice them. It's up to you how chunky the giblets are chopped. The liver is extra soft and may crumble a bit.

The neckbone takes the most work. I find a fork is the best way to scrape off the meat. You may need to get your fingers dirty because some of the meat will cling to crevices in the neckbone.

You should get a cup or so of neck meat and chopped giblets. Now it's time to make the gravy. Heat a pan or pot with medium heat.

Add a quarter cup of flour to the pan. Allow the flour to heat, and stir for a couple of minutes. This will take out some of the raw flour taste and make fewer lumps in the gravy.

Pour in the giblets broth, about 3 cups. If less than 3 cups it's okay to add some water. 

Stir water and flour making sure to scrape the bottom of the pan to release all the flour that may stick and clump. Heated flour should dissolve in the water. Look for clumps of flour to break up and stir. It may take a minute or two to dissolve all the flour. 

The gravy will thicken the longer it cooks. You can serve this as your Giblet Gravy, but to make my intense version you have to add the meat.

Add the cooked giblets and neck meat. Stir to blend. I like extra black pepper in Giblet Gravy, but it's okay to leave it out. I add about half a teaspoon of extra black pepper.

As Giblet Gravy thickens taste to see if you like more salt. I leave it out as the Giblet broth is salty enough for me.

Giblet Gravy will thicken as it heats up to a simmer or low boil, it may take two or three minutes. Keep stirring from time to time. The longer you simmer the gravy the thicker it will get. 

I like Giblet Gravy poured over sliced turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, how about you?

Country Gravy with Sausage - Video Recipe

Breakfast is heavy. I grew up in the South where calories are king, and Country Gravy with Sausage was often the first meal of the day.

During my childhood weekend mornings, my Dad would get us kids started with this Southern staple for breakfast. There was nothing better than tearing up hot biscuits and drenching them in Country Gravy with Sausage.

And it is easy to make if you use ready-to-bake biscuits. Now this is an extreme shortcut for biscuit purists, but some mornings I'm just too lazy to make homemade ones.

If you have a biscuit recipe then pair it with my Country Gravy with Sausage recipe. But if you are drowsy and cheap, then this recipe with store-bought biscuits will do just fine.

Click on any photo to see larger

I use cheap ground breakfast sausage that tends to be quite fatty, but all that rendered grease will be put to tasty use when mixed with flour and whole milk. Of course, it's okay to pour out some of the grease, but do leave a little, as it adds so much lush flavor to country-style gravy.

You can even use any lean sausage meat substitute as well, but be sure to drizzle in some tasty oil for a richer gravy.

I use whole milk and regular white flour as the gravy base. Again it's okay to lighten things up with low-fat milk, or even a milk substitute. You can use healthier whole wheat flour instead of traditional bland white flour.

Okay to use milk substitute like Almond Milk. 

All the ingredients are cheap enough as I get it all from my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. Breakfast sausage comes in 8 to 12-ounce packages. You can use as much sausage in the gravy as you like. And milk and flour are cheap enough.

The recipe comes together quickly, in the time it takes to bake biscuits for about 15 minutes. Just brown the sausage as the biscuits bake.

Once the sausage is cooked through, then sprinkle in flour and cook for a few minutes. Finish up by stirring in the milk. Along with a little salt, I like a lot of black pepper in my Sausage Gravy, so don't be skimpy with it.

You don't want to serve this calorie bomb too often, but, boy does Country Gravy with Sausage hit all your flavor buttons.

Country Gravy with Sausage - Video

Play it here. Video runs 2 minutes, 27 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients (about 2-3 servings)
5 biscuits - I used ready-to-bake. Okay to use your favorite biscuit recipe.
Breakfast pork sausage - about 8 to 12 ounces.
2 cups milk - whole or low fat. Okay to use milk substitutes like Almond Milk.
1/4 cup of flour - white or wheat.
Salt and plenty of pepper to taste.

Directions
It takes about 15 minutes to prepare the gravy - about the same time it takes to bake biscuits. So you can start both at the same time. If the biscuits take longer to bake, you can keep the gravy at low heat, until ready to eat (stir in a tablespoon of milk at a time if gravy thickens too much.)

 Typical store-bought biscuits cook in about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. 

While biscuits bake, in a large pan or pot, over medium heat, add raw pork breakfast sausage. As sausage browns, break it apart into smaller pieces. It's okay to use formed sausage patties or links, just break them up as they cook.

It's best to get the sausage nice and brown, at least on one side. The caramelizing adds a lot of flavor to the gravy. Cook the sausage all the way through for about 5 minutes (depending on the size of the sausage pieces.)

 Breakfast sausage tends to have a lot of fat, so it's up to you how much-rendered grease you want to keep in the pan. It's okay to pour out some grease to lower calories, but do leave a tablespoon for extra richness and flavor.

Next, sprinkle on a quarter cup of flour. Stir into the cooked sausage and saute for 2 to 3 minutes.

Slowly pour in the milk and stir to mix well. Keep stirring so any flour lumps break down. Once the gravy is brought up to a low simmer, it should begin to thicken in a couple of minutes. Once the gravy is thick and hot it is ready to pour over biscuits.

Almond milk version

My gravy recipe is for a thick one. You can add a tablespoon of milk at a time to thin it out some, if that's the way you like it.

Biscuit cooking time may vary, depending on the type you buy or make, so time the baking so both gravy and biscuits are done about the same time. You can get the gravy started first, as it is easy enough to keep warm, or just heat up at the last minute.

Serve hot biscuits covered in my delicious Homemade Sausage Gravy. Some like to tear their biscuits apart first, then spoon on the gravy. I just lay out a couple of them and cover it all with Sausage Gravy.

Dollar Tree Country Breakfast

Sometimes the stars align and all the ingredients appear at one time as it does for my latest cheap$kate recipe Dollar Tree Country Breakfast.

A typical Country Breakfast is a combination meal and more than an easily and quickly made Bacon and Eggs with Toast. Going by region, a Country Breakfast can include grits, biscuits, ham, eggs, gravy, pancakes, hash browns, and more.

The Country Breakfast I grew up with in Texas consisted of Cream Gravy with Sausage, Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits, and Eggs.

I have a Dollar Tree  right down the street from where I live and usually get, on a regular basis, 6 to 8 eggs for a buck, breakfast link sausage and regular ground breakfast sausage, and milk. Sometimes flour shows up, and flakey-style biscuits in the cold case, too. That's everything I need for a quickly-made Country Breakfast.

The Dollar Tree eggs are usually the medium size and that's okay with me. 

The Farmer John Sausage Links, or Classic Pork Sausage, are a bit on the fatty side, but the flavor is there -- it's easy enough to remove rendered pork grease, but don't drain it all, as that is a great flavor.

Add flour to milk and you have Cream Gravy, but add bacon or sausage grease and you have Country Gravy. This is an artery-clogging start to the day, but I don't make it very often so it's a welcome decadent breakfast on a lazy weekend morning.

I like my eggs sunny-side-up, which are cooked on one side only until the white is done. It takes a little longer than over-easy (cooked on both sides). It's also idiot-proof since you don't risk breaking the yolk when you turn the egg over to finish frying. If you like your eggs scrambled then go for it. Country Gravy mixes well with scrambled eggs on the fork. 

 

I prefer homemade Buttermilk Biscuits, but deli case canned (cardboard-wrapped) flakey biscuits are fine in a pinch. They are like a croissant, with visible pastry layers, quite different than the Homemade Buttermilk Biscuits I grew up with down South. 

Buttermilk Biscuits are cake-like when sliced. They are easier to crumble and soak up gravy beautifully. I can get premade ones though, on sale at my local grocery chain store, Ralphs. 

Dollar Tree also sells a dry mix to make a homemade Buttermilk Biscuit. If you don't want to spring for flour you can get a Country Gravy mix, too.  

My latest Cheap$kate Recipe only uses ingredients from the Dollar Tree, so I'm sticking with the flakey deli case biscuits. And they are easy and quick to use only taking 15 minutes to bake brown - about the time it takes for the Country Gravy and Sunny Side Up Eggs to finish cooking.

99 thanks to Dollar Tree for all the tasty ingredients for my Cheap$kate Dollar Tree Country Breakfast. And you can bet your bottom dollar it's really easy and quick to do, so get to cookin' -- and after this meal, you can skip lunch, believe me!

Country Breakfast - Video      Play it here. Video runs 3 minutes, 13 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here. 

Ingredients (about 2-3 servings)

• 1 to 2 Eggs - Fried eggs over easy or sunny-side-up. Okay to scramble eggs your way.
• 4 to 5 Biscuits - I used ready-to-bake canned that hold 5 biscuits. Okay to use your favorite biscuit recipe or mix.
• Breakfast Pork Sausage - about 8 ounces, links or ground pork. If you buy cooked links or patties, cook sausage for a minute or so to heat and render some of the fat then follow gravy directions.
• Milk 2 cups - whole or low fat. 
• Flour 1/4 cup - white or wheat. 
• Salt and pepper to taste.

Directions

Start by baking canned biscuits according to package directions, usually bake at 350 degrees in the oven for about 15 minutes until the biscuits brown.

It takes about 15 minutes to prepare the gravy - about the same time it takes to bake biscuits. So you can start both at the same time. If the biscuits take longer to bake, you can keep the gravy at low heat, until ready to eat (stir in a tablespoon of milk at a time if the gravy thickens too much).

While biscuits bake, in a large pan or pot, over medium heat, add raw pork breakfast sausage. As sausage browns, break it apart into smaller pieces. It's okay to use formed sausage patties or links, just break them up as they cook. 

It's best to get the sausage nice and brown, at least on one side. The caramelization adds a lot of flavor to the gravy. Cook the sausage all the way through for about 5 minutes (depending on the size of the sausage pieces).

 Breakfast sausage tends to have a lot of fat, so it's up to you how much-rendered grease you want to keep in the pan. It's okay to pour out some grease to lower calories, but do leave a tablespoon of grease for extra richness and flavor.

Next, sprinkle on a quarter cup of flour. Stir into the cooked sausage and saute for 2 to 3 minutes. 

Slowly pour in the milk and stir to mix well. Keep stirring so any flour lumps break down. Once the gravy is brought up to a low simmer, it should begin to thicken in a couple of minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Once the gravy is thick and hot it is ready to pour over the biscuits.

My gravy recipe is for a thick one. You can add a tablespoon of milk at a time to thin it out if that's the way you like it.

Fry or scramble eggs any way you like. I would cook eggs after the biscuits and gravy are done, as they can sit for around a couple of minutes while cooking eggs.

Serve hot biscuits covered in my delicious Homemade Sausage Gravy. Some like to tear their biscuits apart first, then spoon on the gravy. I just lay out a couple of them and cover it all with sausage gravy.

My Country Breakfast barely takes half an hour to make. And it's enough for a couple servings so invite a friend!