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How do you thicken gravy or casseroles?

Serena51

Serena51

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I've probably posted in the wrong place but can anyone tell me what to use to make gravy.

The weather is miz today and I was thinking of stews and casseroles and then realised that with no flour or squidged up potato, they wouldn't be nice and thick and comforting. :(

Is Bisto powder or granules acceptable.
?


Jane
 
Bisto does have some carb, so it depends how much you can tolerate. But I don't much like gravy-flavoured liquid! My favourite is to prepare a jus from the roasting juices of whatever joint has just emerged from the oven:

  • Heat the juices in a pan (with all the bits and whatever's stuck to the bottom of the roasting dish, but as little of the fat as possible) until really hot;
  • Deglaze the pan with some alcohol of your choosing - any old red wine is fine, if you get flames then all the better;
  • Add some appropriate stock and reduce to 2/3 the volume of liquid;
  • Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool for a couple of minutes, then add some very soft butter and gently agitate the pan to dissolve the butter;
  • Strain, pour over meal and go to paradise, yum!

BTW this method originates from the Savoy Grill kitchen (probably elsewhere too) where I worked in a former life.
 
Hi Jane, my goddaughter tells me that Tesco's sell gram flour [in the foreign food section] which is, so she says not so carb heavy as ordinary flour. Another packet to read!
Val
 
Hi Val.
Most Flours range fro 58g to 75.9g carbs per 100g weight.

Gram Flour.
Description
Gram flour is milled from chickpeas (Cice arientinum), known as garbanzo beans in the US. This fine pale yellow flour is traditionally used to make Indian or Middle Eastern dishes such as onion bhajias, houmous and falafel.

Nutrition Analysis per 100 gm

Protein 20.2 gm
Carbohydrate 50.0 gm
Fat 5.7 gm
Fibre 15.0 gm
Nutritional Highlights: Good source of protein, folate, magnesium, iron and copper
 
Jane, I should have added at the end of my previous post that BUTTER is the ingredient that provides the thickening in my recipe, you could try to incorporate it in your version...?
 
Low carb megastore sells products for thickening.
I just whiz up the veggies in the dish. I have a bamix stick blender, which has earned its astronomical cost twice over. Cereriac and carrots are not carb free, but you don't need much
 
You could try adding only a little of the veggies to the casserole at first, boiling till tender, whizzing with a blender and then reducing the liquid until it's almost thick enough then add the rest of the meat and veg and cook in the oven as normal. Be careful if you're using stock cubes as reducing them too far can make the dish really salty.
Hope this helps. :)
 
Thankyou both. The link to carb megastore was an eyeopener for me, wow!

I too have a stick blender and will try both of your suggestions.
 
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