Thermal Gravy Pot by Judge - Review

There's nothing worse than cold gravy and with Christmas just around the corner this thermal gravy pot from Judge Cookware is a must have for the kitchen.  Having tested it, I know it really does work! 

The extra gravy kept hot well after the dinner was eaten.

 The double wall insulated serving jug keeps liquids hot as it works just like a thermal flask.  

NEW Colman's Instant Gravy Paste - a Review

Colman's have just instant gravy paste in tubes!  Made with real meat juices and available in all major supermarkets in Beef, Chicken and Onion flavours.

Made with busy mum's in mind just a squeeze of a tube, some boiling water, a bit of a stir, and you have gravy in an instant!

Now, it has to be said (dare I say it) I'm a bit of a Bisto fan when it comes to instant gravy, and I really thought nothing else could match it.  
Although I'm really into cooking, there are times when you need gravy - and you need it like now!
  Colman's beef gravy paste is seriously good and I've now been converted from Bisto.  You really honestly, can taste the difference. 

 On Sunday we tried the chicken one and that too was really good, I'd say it was the next best thing to making your own gravy from scratch with the juices from the chicken.  All the gravy pastes smell delicious too! 

My only criticism is this:  Although the taste of all the gravy pastes is very good, even after adding more than the suggested amount of gravy paste, you do still end up with a 'thinnish looking' gravy.  However, the taste is still very, very good and so I wasn't too fussed - taste is everything after all.      

    The onion gravy really smelt of onions when the boiling water was poured on, and that too also tasted good.  When trying the onion gravy, I did only make some up in a small jug just to taste it, but it really needed bangers and mash to go with it! 

Colman’s Instant Gravy Paste is free of any nasty preservatives and artificial flavour enhancers. RRP is £1.59 and it comes in 130g easy-squeeze tubes, which provide approximately 5 servings.
Thank you to Neil for sending me some to try.

Toad in the Hole with Brown Onion and Madeira Gravy

 Yummy, yummy, but I took the picture before the gravy and then forgot to take another.  So, no gravy to be seen here but the recipe is below!

I only used 6 sausages since there are only two of us - this will easily serve 4 you just need 8 sausages.

Lamb Shanks in a Red Wine, Redcurrant and Balsamic Gravy

This is a totally make it up as I went along 'Jan' recipe!
I must say I was very pleased with the result. A deliciously rich red wine, redcurrant and balsamic gravy with meat that was falling off the bone.

Although I did put a couple of carrots in the dish whilst it was cooking, I also served the lamb shanks with roasted carrots and parsnips and roast potatoes too.



Print this Recipe

You will need:
about 50g butter in total (a 'knob' being a third of this amount)
a glug or two of olive oil
2 lamb shanks
3 red onions - sliced
3 fat cloves of garlic - finely chopped
2 carrots - peeled and quartered
2 sticks of celery - each cut into four pieces
a couple of sprigs of thyme - leaves only and chopped
1 sprig of rosemary - leaves only and finely chopped
2 bay leaves
a good heaped tablespoon of tomato puree
2 or 3 tablespoons of redcurrant jelly
a tablespoon of decent Balsamic vinegar
400ml beef stock - made form a Knorr stock cube (Oxo cube will not be the same as it's too salty)
400ml red wine a glug of port (a good tablespoon)
a splash of Worcestershire sauce
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

How to do it:
Preheat your oven to 170C/325F or Gas 3

Get yourself a nice casserole dish with a lid that can go both on top of the stove and inside the oven.

Heat a small amount of olive oil and a knob of butter. Brown the shanks - when they're nicely coloured, remove and set aside.

Now in the same pan, without washing it, add another glug of oil and a knob of butter. Gently fry the onions until they are soft but not coloured.
Put the carrots and celery in and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic. Fry for another minute or so and then add the chopped thyme and rosemary along with the tomato puree.
Cook for a minute or the paste will be bitter.
Now add the bay leaf, stock, wine, and redcurrant jelly. Give everything a good stir and bring to the boil.
Have a taste (take no notice of the very liquid state of the gravy at this stage) as that will be sorted in the end.



Put the lamb back in and on with the lid and into your preheated oven.
As the liquid won't be enough to cover the lamb skanks, you will have to turn them and give it a stir every whenever you can - say every hour.
They will need about 2 to 2½ hours, by which time the meat will very easily come fall off the bone.

When they're nicely done, remove the shanks and cover to keep warm.
Put the casserole on the stove top and bring the liquid to the boil. Add the port, balsamic and Worcestershire sauce and turn the heat down a just a little as you need the liquid to reduce. Have a taste and adjust the seasoning - you may want to add a little more redcurrant jelly or port.
When it's nicely reduced (shouldn't take long) stir in a knob of butter to make a nice glossy sauce and serve immediately.

Don't forget to remove the bay leaves before serving!


I served mine with a few roasted carrots and parsnips and also some nice roast potatoes too!

Sausages with Champ Mash and Caramelised Shallot Gravy

Champ is an Irish dish of mashed potatoes with spring onions and goes down really well with sausages. But sausage and mash (or bangers and mash as it's also called) also needs a good onion gravy. I used shallots seeing as I had loads.



To make the champ you will need:
8 medium sized floury potatoes, such as Maris Piper, King Edwards or Desiree
6 large spring onions - finely sliced
300ml full fat milk
75g butter
salt

Peel and quarter the potatoes. Put them in a large pan of cold, salted water and bring to the boil with a lid to partly cover. Simmer for 20-25 minutes until the potatoes are just cooked.
Drain the water from them, cover the pan and let it sit in a warm place for about three minutes, this will allow the potatoes to become soft and completely cooked.
Wash and finely chop the spring onions. In a small saucepan put the milk and a good amount of butter (about 75g) bring to the boil.
Put the chopped spring onions into the boiling milk, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for about one minute.
Mash the potatoes well and stir in the milk and onions until everything is smooth. Check for seasoning and keep warm till you're ready to serve.

For the Shallot Gravy:

10 shallots
butter and olive oil for frying
2 tablespoons of flour
make up 300ml hot chicken stock
a good glug of red wine

Finely slice the shallots. Now add a knob of butter and a little olive oil to a frying pan and fry them over medium heat.
You need to cook them slowly until they are nicely caramelised and are a good even brown colour.
This will take about 20 minutes. Don't try to rush as it’s essential to give the gravy both its deep brown colour, and sweet flavour.
You don't want the gravy to taste of raw onion.

When you are satisfied with the colour of the onions, sprinkle over 2 tablespoons of flour and stir round to absorb any cooking fat and juices.
Add a good glug of red wine. Add a few freshly picked thyme leaves (lemon thyme is good if you have it) and mix well together while the alcohol evaporates.

Now add about 200ml of the stock. Don't add it all at once, you can always add more later if you think your sauce is too thick.
Stir well, and simmer the gravy for 10-15 minutes. When the gravy is done stir in a knob of cold butter and season to taste with freshly ground black pepper.



Serve both the champ and the shallot gravy with good quality sausages. I like both Lincolnshire or Cumberland sausages even though they are both quite different in taste.

Browned Onions and Madeira Gravy......

I made this gravy a few weeks ago before I started this blog.
A gravy for sausages, toad in the hole, mashed potatoes, and is wonderful over piping hot bubble and squeak....

Ingredients:

A thick slice of butter (approx 75g)
2 Large Onions
Flour (about heaped tablespoon)
75 ml of Madeira, or you could use Marsala (I've done this with both and they are equally nice).
250ml Stock
Worcestershire Sauce

Here's what to do:

Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan, add the onions and cook over a low heat till golden and soft.
Continue cooking, covering with a lid, until the onions are really brown and soft.

Stir in a heaped tablespoon of flour and cook for a few minutes until it has lightly browned. Now pour in the liquids.
Season with salt and pepper and the Worcestershire sauce and bring to the boil.

Turn the heat down so that the gravy bubbles gently and leave for about 15 minutes, stirring from time to time.