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1
Preheat oven to 300 degrees and fill a huge ovenproof pot (like a dutch oven) with 5 or so quarts of water.
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2
Throw in all your turkey parts, the celery and carrots (halved), the onions (quartered, skin on), parsley, thyme, salt & pepper.
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3
Put entire pot into oven and cook for 3 hours until your stock turns a lovely dark brown color. This is nice because you can put it in and then forget about it if you put on your oven timer.
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4
Remove from oven, let cool slightly, then strain through a sieve. Let cool to room temperature and skim off any fat from the top. Just know that it should be jelly-like at this point and the fat will be a much whiter color and firmer consistency. My mum had a friend who started skimming away the jelly, not knowing that this was actually the stock!
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5
In another large pot make your roux. Melt the butter over a low heat and add in the flour. Stir to combine and then cook for 10-15 minutes, stirring constantly, until dark brown in color.
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6
Slowly add in your stock and whisk to combine. Keep whisking to remove any lumps. Continue to cook until the mixture starts to thicken to a gravy-like consistency.
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7
Remove from heat and let cool. Once cool put into freezer-proof containers and freeze. Remove from freezer the day before you need it, and let defrost in refrigerator.
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8
Take the defrosted 'almost perfect gravy' out of the fridge and allow to come to room temperature.
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9
Remove turkey from pan and set aside with foil covering it to rest.
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10
Place turkey roasting pan with remaining drippings on top of stove over medium heat. Pour in approximately 3 - 4 ounces of a good dry sherry and deglaze the pan by using a wooden spoon to scrape all the delicious brown turkey bits that have stuck to the pan.
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11
Add your room temperature 'almost perfect gravy' to the pan, stir to combine, then bring to a boil.
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12
You are ready to serve - enjoy!
