Friday, I was in charge of the gravy for a post-Thanksgiving dinner, and the two turkey breasts weren’t offering enough juice to make gravy, so I went with the old standard. Mine has its roots in the Cook’s Illustrated All-Purpose Gravy, but mine is simpler and taste’s better.  All the measurements are one or a quarter, and the times are all dimes.

• 1 /4-stick butter
• 1 carrot, fine dice
• 1 stalk celery, fine dice
• 1 large shallot, fine dice
• 1 /4-cup flour
• 1 quart stock (beef or chicken or half and half)
• 1 /4-teaspoon peppercorns
• 1 /4-teaspoon basil
• 1 /4-teaspoon oregano
• 1 /4-teaspoon thyme
• 1 bay leaf

Saute the vegetables in butter over medium-high heat for 10 minutes and lower the heat to medium.  Stir in the flour and cook 10 minutes more.  Add the remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes more, skimming off any foam that rises to the top.  Strain or remove the bay leaf and blend, then salt & pepper to taste.

“To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy.”– Bette Davis