LAURA CREEKMORE (Nashville, Tennessee) shares that as a child, every time she went to visit her grandmother, DORIS DAVIS NORMENT (Whiteville, Tennessee), they cooked together. They would make fried squash, Rice Krispies treats, and lots of other dishes that appealed to Laura and her sisters. They called their grandmother DeeDee and remember her as patient and calm and a wonderful cook and teacher. Oddly enough, though, Laura shares that “DeeDee’s biggest food legacy in our family is a dish I don’t really like—her annual Thanksgiving giblet gravy. While my mother cooked everything else or shared in the cooking with my aunts, my cousins, and me, DeeDee made the giblet gravy as long as she was with us.” DeeDee passed away in 2006.
4 to 6 chicken gizzards
1 teaspoon salt
2 to 4 chicken livers
⅓ cup cold water
¼ cup all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons chicken or turkey pan drippings*
2 cups chicken broth
2 large hard-boiled eggs, chopped
Salt and black pepper to taste
1 Bring a saucepan of water to a boil; then add the gizzards and salt, and simmer for one hour. Add the livers and simmer for an additional 30 minutes. Drain, reserving pan drippings, and when cool, chop the gizzards and livers.
2 In a small bowl, slowly add cold water to the flour, mixing well.
3 In a heavy saucepan over low heat, add the pan drippings and slowly stir in the flour mixture. When well blended, slowly add the chicken broth and cook until thickened, stirring constantly. Then stir in the eggs and chopped giblets and livers. Add salt and pepper to taste before serving. Serve hot over turkey, chicken, or mashed potatoes.
MAKES 2 CUPS.
* If pan drippings are not available, use 4 tablespoons of butter or cooking oil.