Saturday morning, 5 a.m.: My father is arriving at First Baptist Church of Hometown. It’s another Men’s Breakfast. The men of the church get together every once in a while to hang out and talk about the Bible and stuff. Their favorite pastime is eating in fellowship. The men gather at the church and feast on hearty and delicious breakfast food. The centerpiece of this meal is my father’s sausage gravy. He arrives at the church at about 5 a.m. to get started. He brings his supplies by the pounds and gallons: sausage, butter, flour, milk, salt and pepper. He uses industrial-sized skillets and pots, and when everything is said and done, approximately 10 gallons of gravy has been consumed. Think about that: 10 jugs of apple juice. A medium-sized fish tank. $30 at a gas station. The gravy is so good; the men pour it over everything. But beware - this gravy is full of cholesterol, sodium, starches, and greasy meat, so I consider this to be a special occasion kind of treat. Thankfully, when you need a gravy fix, it doesn’t have to happen during breakfast. Gravy is a wonderful addition to many meals, from brown gravy on a hot roast beef sandwich to chicken gravy all over your potatoes.

The first step to successful gravy is a roux. Roux is French; an equal weight combination of fat and wheat flour. The fat (butter, oil, lard) is heated until melted and warm, and then flour is added. The mixture is constantly whisked and cooked over heat until the desired color is reached. This can be to almost white to almost black. As long as the taste of uncooked flour is gone, your roux can be used at any time. A light white sauce requires a very light roux, whereas gumbo requires a very dark roux. The Roux is the base to three of the ‘Mother Sauces’ developed in French cooking in the 19^th century. Roux is a popular thickening agent in hearty soups and stews. If you are making something with a liquid that should be thickened, but a roux is not appropriate, you can always use a slurry, which is corn starch mixed with a small amount of water to make a thin mixture, and is then added to a hot liquid, like a boiling soup. Use a slurry when you are looking to thicken something without a strong flour taste. Never add flour or cornstarch directly to a hot liquid without previously mixing the flour with a liquid, as the flour or cornstarch will make hard lumps that will be next to impossible to remove.

The second step to gravy is the addition of a liquid to the roux. For sausage breakfast gravy, milk is added to the roux. For chicken gravy to go over your baked chicken and potatoes, you could try adding white wine and chicken stock. The liquid is an excellent opportunity to flavor the gravy. Add the liquid gradually at first. Don’t be concerned if your roux clumps up in the pan – you will be whisking the mixture for a long time, so these lumps will go away. I’ve done this dozens of times and I’ve seen my father do this dozens of times. Continue to whisk in enough liquid to reach your desired thickness. The gravy will thicken as long as heat is continually applied, and for a bit after the heat is turned off. I like to add enough liquid so the mixture is fairly thin – it allows for me to bring the heat up a bit and continue to season.

The third and final step is finishing the seasoning. With sausage gravy, a decent amount of salt and pepper should be added. Gravy in general is designed to be salty to bring flavor to the dish, but as with anything you are cooking, season to taste. This is when any fresh herbs should be added.

Whisk your gravy frequently at this point. It will continue to thicken and develop as it continues to cook, and will continue to cook a short time after the heat is turned off. When prepared well, gravy is a sublime experience that pushes the meal over the figurative edge. Once you’ve mastered gravy (and realized how simple it is to prepare), never again will you accept the substitute of powdered gravy mix.