According to a survey of the climate at the state’s flagship university, minority students feel less welcome on the UW-Madison campus than the student body as a whole. We talk about the results and what’s being done to improve the college experience. In Washington, the House passed their version of a tax overhaul plan yesterday. We look at the plan’s chances as the Senate takes over. We also talk with a chef about how making delectable sauces can improve dishes of all sorts.
Featured in this Show
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GOP Tax Plan Passes House As Senate Struggles With Its Own Version
House Republicans passed their tax reform bill yesterday with a comfortable margin of 227 votes in favor, and 205 opposed. The GOP tax reform effort is facing challenges in the Senate, where Wisconsin Republican Senator Ron Johnson has formally opposed it. A reporter talks to us about the highlights of the tax plans, and the chances of it reaching the White House before the end of the year.
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UW Survey Finds Minority Students Feel Less Welcome On Campus
A survey of students at UW-Madison found that students of color and LGBTQ students were less likely than their peers to feel a sense of belonging on campus. We talk about what’s behind the numbers and what the university is doing to make the college experience more positive and welcoming.
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Good Gravy! Tips For Making The Perfect Thanksgiving Gravy
For some, gravy is an essential part of Thanksgiving dinner. But in order to make gravy, the turkey has to be “just right,” says award-winning cookbook author James Peterson.
“You can’t just sort of in a vacuum make the gravy, because it’s based on turkey juices,” said Peterson, a chef, food writer and winner of the James Beard Foundation Cookbook of the Year Award.
The fourth edition of his book, “Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making,” was released earlier this year.
In the book, Peterson writes that making sauces can allow the cook more freedom to work with flavors, textures and color than any other area of cooking.
“When you’re baking something, if you bake a loaf of bread, for example, you mix everything in, you stick it in the oven, you hope it works. If it doesn’t work, there’s not much you can do until you make another loaf; whereas the sauce you can manipulate as it’s going in real time, so you deglaze the pan and you add a little cream or whatever, and you want to wake it up with a drop of vinegar or you decide you’re going to add some freshly minced chives or whatever. They’re very amendable to improvisation and adjustments,” Peterson said.
That being said, back to the gravy.
Peterson said that when the bird is cooked properly, there aren’t juices (because they stay inside the bird). So, to address that, he takes turkey parts like wings, puts them in a roasting pan beneath the bird, and adds chopped up onion and a carrot.
Those pieces will release juices, whereas the turkey won’t and that will provide you the gravy base.
When the turkey is done, he said, cook the base more if needed and deglaze with a little broth. Repeat that process as needed to get au jus, which is gravy that hasn’t been thickened. To turn it into a gravy, one method involves using a roux made of flour and butter or a little fat and cooking that until it’s caramelized. Then, add the au jus and whisk until it’s smooth and thickened.
Peterson said he loves giblets — which he roasts along with the turkey — and chops them up and stirs them in.
In case of lumps, Peterson advised that cooks strain the sauce to solve the problem. A specific recipe for roast turkey with jus, gravy or giblet gravy from Peterson can be found on Epicurious.
Other recipes from the latest edition of “Sauces” includes béchamel and cauliflower gratin with mornay sauce.
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Food Friday: Sauces!
Want to turn a good dish into a great dish? A well-made sauce is just the ticket. Whether it’s tomato or béchamel, there’s a sauce for just about every occasion. On this edition of Food Friday, a chef and food writer digs into the world of sauce, and how you can make both classic and modern sauces in the comfort of your own kitchen.
Do you regularly make sauces, or do they seem either too complicated or too time-consuming to make? Is there a dish you make often that you think might be even better with the addition of a sauce?
Let us know by emailing ideas@wpr.org
You can also contact us here:
Tweet: @centraltimewpr
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Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Haleema Shah Producer
- Dean Knetter Producer
- Chris Malina Producer
- Bernie Becker Guest
- Sherri Charleston Guest
- James Peterson Guest
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