As with most anything, there are several thousand different ways to make the simple stuff.

I'm allergic to onions, especially cooked, so I have to avoid them and to be honest, that's one reason I learned to cook a long time ago. If you think about it, it's pretty hard to eat out and not have onions in the meal. That said, here's how I make my gravy. Keep in mind, though, the exact recipe may change from one time to the next.

Start off with about a pound of mild seasoned garlic sausage. Don't use anything as strong as Italian Sausage like you'd use on a Pizza. Also avoid using any of the pre-cooked (i.e. "brown and serve") as the texture won't seem right to you. Brown the sausage really nice. You want to be sure to cook pork well. You don't have to burn it or fry it to a crisp, but make sure it's cooked completely.

Drain the grease by dumping the sausage into a strainer but don't spend a lot of time wiping out the skillet (in fact don't do that at all). Leave some in there because the little bit of grease helps keep the gravy smooth and adds the sausage flavor. I do like to use a little bit of sage or dill. If you have it fresh, make sure it's VERY finely chopped, but for gravy's and such, the dried spices in the cans/bottles is fine. Just make sure you keep your spices fresh.

After draining the sausage, leave it in the strainer and turn your heat on the stove to lower/middle. On electric, like about 3-4 on the knob. Gas (which I prefer but don't have) a nice medium/short flame. With the pan off the stove, add about 2 - 3 cups of cold milk. Give it a couple of quick stirs with a whisker and you'll see some of the grease floating on the milk. Now take your flouer sifter and put a little bit of sifted flouer in the milk, spreading it out over the milk. Don't just dump it all in one spot. It too should float. At this point, you need to add a dash of salt and fresh black pepper. If you like other spices, like dill, garlic, sage, cayenne pepper, fresh sweet or hot peppers, onions, whatever, have them all ready to add to the milk/flour mix NOW, before it goes back on the stove, and put them in, stirring that so it's evenly distributed.

Set the skillet back on the stove and start stirring. And I mean start stirring immediately. You can stir with a flat spoon, or even a fork, but it's going to be much easier to get smooth gravy with a whisker than anything else. You need to stir what I call "actively". That means you don't look like a crankshaft turning 7000 rpm, but you're not taking a nap and watching the morning news either. You have to keep after this or it will get lumpy.

As you're stirring, if you have the flour/milk ratio close to right, you'll see it start to thicken at the same time you see the milk start to bubble from the heat. If that does not happen about the same time, and it's still just milk, sift in some more flour. If it gets like wallpaper paste and it's not hot yet, add some more milk. Be careful in adding either of the two because a little goes a long way and do NOT quit stirring. Once it starts to thicken, keep stirring for just a bit until it's about 1/2 as thick as you want it, then put the sausage back in the gravy. KEEP STIRRING! If you quit before it's done, it will get lumpy. Once you have the consistency you want, transfer to a bowl and serve immediately. If you can't serve right away, transfer to a bowl, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and keep in an oven at about 200°F. It will keep for awhile that way, but gravy is never much good anymore after abotu 30-45 minutes, IMHO. It's something that needs to be eaten when it's fresh.

A note on spices. I didn't put any quantities for that for good reason. What I might think is delicious might gag you, and vice versa. I say play with it and find what you like. In my case, I put in a little salt and pepper (actually I use garlic salt) and just a little bit of finely ground dried dill, then the sausage, and it's good to go. Some people like Maryjane, given his Tex-Mex heritage, might like their gravy a little more on the "wild side". That's not bad or wrong, he just likes things different than I do. Just play with it and come up with what you like but keep in mind that most spices take VERY LITTLE to change the flavor a LOT. If you're one that likes to measure, To me VERY LITTLE means 1/8 of a teaspoon or less. Mostly I just use a "dash", which is a little more than a sprinkle. It depends on the spice. Some peppers are very powerful. Some people use dehydrated onions that you can barely taste if you put in a couple of tablespoons. So it's all a matter of taste and the power of the spice you're using.

John Stricker

quote Originally posted by partfiero: How about you guys post your recipes for suasage gravy. I lost mine for what was called truck stop sausage gravy. It was ; Sausage Onions Sage Salt Pepper Flour Soy sauce But there is something missing, I think maybe wine vinegar, but not sure.

[This message has been edited by jstricker (edited 12-31-2008).]