MAKING:

1.Heat your fat over medium to medium-low heat until melted and warm.

2.Sprinkle the flour over the fat and use a whisk to stir that around. You will almost immediately have a very thick paste in your skillet or pot. This is whats called the roux (thats French!).

3.Continue stirring it slowly with the whisk for 30 seconds to a minute. You can cook it longer if you want a darker roux, but for cream gravy (and a bechamel) you want to keep it blonde, which is a very light brown in the world of roux.

4.Okay, now, keep stirring while you add about 1/2 c of your milk in a slow stream. Then whisk it faster to get the milk incorporated. It will be like really thick, sludgy gravy now. Make sure you whisk it fast enough to break up any lumps.

5.Add another 1/2 c of milk and whisk again to incorporate.

6.Add your salt and pepper.

7.Now you can add the last of the milk, whisk, then turn the heat down very low and let the gravy simmer until its the consistency you want. (If it gets too thick on you, just add a tablespoon or two of milk at a time until it thins out again.)

SERVING:

8.Serve it.

NOTES

1.Youll need to use more butter than other fats when making gravy because butter has a certain percentage of water than pure fats dont.

2.If you want a real sausage gravy, fry up some pork sausage crumbles and remove from the skillet. Make the gravy with the sausage drippings and then add the sausage chunks back in. Serve over split biscuits.