I’ve experimented with different types of milk and the type of milk you use does indeed make a difference flavor wise.  It also makes a difference calorie wise too.  My late husband and I preferred our white gravy made with half and half.  It’s just richer tasting than gravy made with whole or any other reduced fat milk.  I never tried to make it with cream, we like gravy but at $4 a half-pint for cream we just weren’t willing to try it.  Also, half and half gives it a richer taste and smoother texture.

A good rule of thumb for making white gravy is for every cup of liquid you use 1 tablespoons of flour and 1 tablespoon of oil.  If you like your gravy thicker increase your flour slightly, if you like your gravy thinner increase you milk slightly.  This is the recipe for how we preferred our gravy, some people like it on the thin side but we preferred a gravy that was “gonna stick to your ribs”.

Some so called experts say that you have to use a whisk to keep gravy from forming lumps.  I’ve never used a whisk to make gravy, I was taught to use a tablespoon and to make sure that I kept stirring.  The only time my gravy comes out lumpy is if I have to walk off from stirring it while I’m cooking it.  So, I say just use what you are comfortable using.  Hubby used a fork, his mother used a slotted spoon.  There isn’t one way that is absolutely better than the other.  What is best is whatever works for you.

WHITE GRAVY

2 cups half and half

3 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons oil

Salt to taste

Black Pepper

Measure oil into cold skillet (sauce pans can be used but take longer due to the increased depth).  Add flour and stir until completely dissolved (flour not being completely dissolved can cause lumps), add salt.   You can add a tab bit more oil if you need to do so to dissolve your flour, just go easy as you do it because a little drip goes a long ways.  Pour milk into flour/oil mixture and place skillet onto stove burner.  Cook over medium heat making sure you continue to stir until gravy boils into bubbles that you can’t stir out.  Failure to constantly stir will cause lumps.  Remove from heat and pour up into serving bowl and serve.  Adding pepper after your gravy is done cooking helps from turning the gravy an off white or grayish color. Gravy will thicken upon standing so you might want to take that into consideration too.

2 teaspoons cream of tartar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cornstarch

Mix together, store in refrigerator. Can be multiplied to make larger quantity.

Makes 4 teaspoons of baking powder.

First of all this is a recreational recipe site not a professional recipe website that has money backing it and everything it does.  It is hosted on WordPress.com which hosts the site for free and which I use their free blogging soft ware to publish my recipes and pictures.  The key word to all of this is free.  It would be nice if I had the money to make the site easier to use but since my husband passed away from Lung Cancer in August I have no income and am existing by the benevolence of my son and daughter-in-law.   I live with them and my 5 year old grandson.  I earn my keep by doing the housework, cooking, cleaning, laundry and babysitting my grandson while they work. 

I do however have a suggestion that could eliminate the problem with printing the recipe without having to print the comments.  I use this solution all the time on websites that I can actually print from but prefer to do it this way because it eliminates some of the garbage that I don’t want to waste ink and paper on. 

Simply copy and paste to a document in a word processing program.  There is a free program available if you do not have a word processing program, in fact I use it all the time.  It is Open Office and you can obtain it here or you can visit http://www.openoffice.org if you don’t want to click on the link.  Not only will that solve the problem but you can adjust the font type and size more to your liking which is especially nice if you prefer to have larger print.

So Jim I hope that solves the problem for you.  I appreciate every one who takes the time to leave a comment, especially after you’ve tried one of my recipes (whether you like the recipe or not).  I realize that not everyone is going to like my recipes, but that is alright, that is why God made us all different. 

Tuna Noodle Casserole

1 1/2 cups wide egg noodles
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can mixed vegetables
2 can tuna (drain off water or oil)
12 saltine crackers
1/2 stick melted margarine

Cook noodles until not quite done.  In 1 1/2 quart casserole dish mix tuna, mixed vegetables, both soups and cooked noodles.  Crush crackers and mix with melted margarine; sprinkle on top of casserole.  Place in preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 40-45 minutes.  When casserole is finished remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes and serve. 

Feeds 4 healthy appetites or 6 normal appetites.