Gravy Please
 

What do you use to make gravy? I can't seem to find that thick and thin stuff from Atkins and would really perfer to use something I can find in town. My husband likes gravy and I still want to stay LC. Thanks for the help.

add some heavy cream to some pan drippings and seasonings. Cook til it reduces / thinkens up a bit.

I've never bought that thick and thin stuff from Atkins. It seems so expensive.

Some GNCs sell it

I got Xanthum Gum at the health food store. Just a pinch in the pan drippings and then add cream and cook it down for a few minutes.

I live for gravy :) I just had chicken with gravy and faux mashed potatoes about an hour ago.

My LC gravy is a work in progress. I have played around with cream a bit and found it doesn't give me the thickness I want. I also noticed that cream dillutes the flavor of your drippings slightly - the more you use, the more the flavors tend to get masked. For me, the most important element of my gravy is the meaty flavor of the drippings. I avoid using anything that masks that flavor at all cost.

Right now I'm using creamy almond butter. If you start off with well reduced pan drippings that are good and flavorful the almond flavor is hardly noticeable. It takes very little almond butter to get a nice thick gravy. Almond flour, made with blanched almonds, might make for an even more neutral gravy thickener except that it would need to be blended to remove any graininess. Cashew butter might be the best of them all (least noticeable flavor).

I have heard a great deal about guar and xanthan gums and I'm not entirely sold on them. Besides being incredibly expensive, the reviews I'm hearing are good but not glowing - at least when used by themselves. I think they may play some role in my gravies, though, possibly in conjunction with a nut butter. The advantages to these gums is that they add thickness without adding richness. Depending on how well you defat your pan drippings, nut butters and cream can have a tendency to make your gravy too rich, if that's possible.

It's strictly theoretical at this point but I'm leaning toward a combination of guar gum (cheaper than xantham) and roasted creamy cashew butter. Even though cashew butter is fairly low carb, it's not quite as good as almond flour/butter. For those who are on a tighter budget of carbs, I'd go with guar gum and almond flour and then some blending.

I believe you can also use egg yolks, like in Bernaise or Hollandaise sauces. They have to be tempered (added slowly at a low temp) though, or you will end up with bits of boiled egg.

WARNING: Vegetable gums, such as are contained in Thick n Thin, will continue to thicken over time. At least, that's been my experience.