Brun sovs is the accompaniment that brings a whole festive meal together, uniting both roast meat and potatoes in an unctuous dark brown glory. Gravy is the most essential component of our Christmas meal, and everyone who saunters through the kitchen will taste a spoonful and offer their opinion as to just where you have gone wrong, and what they would do to improve it.
I encourage you to please use this recipe as a starting point before inviting your loved ones to taste a little and then gently critique your gastronomic judgment (preferably while your glasses are steamed up, a timer has just gone off and you attempt to juggle four pans of roasting vegetables… a tiny spoonful more redcurrant jelly, perhaps?).
Ingredients (serves 4-6)
60g of butter
60g plain flour
200ml milk
600ml of water, potato cooking water or the liquid from under your roast pork
Beef stock cubes
Gravy browning
Redcurrant jelly or a sprinkling of sugar
Salt and pepper
- Melt the butter in a large heavy based pan until it is golden and foaming.
- Add the flour and whisk, whilst continuously adding milk and stirring vigorously to avoid any lumps.
- Pour in the rest of your liquid. If making frikadeller with boiled potatoes, use the potato cooking water; however at Christmas the stock from underneath the pork can be used. (Leave it to cool for 15 minutes or so after you have poured it from the roasting tin, then skim off any excess fat first).
- Whisk the sauce until smooth, crumble in a couple of stock cubes and then let it simmer away gently for a quarter of an hour so that the flour cooks through (at this point a hefty glug of port is a welcome addtion too, if you happen to have a bottle open). Add a couple of drops of gravy browning and then give it a quick taste and adjust the flavourings. I generally add another stock cube or a very large teaspoon of Marmite and a tablespoon sized dollop of redcurrant jelly.
