Nicholas Gavin is the Culinary Creative Director of ChefSteps, where he develops recipes and is responsible for making all the food look beautiful. Nick has worked at ChefSteps for over a decade; he and ChefSteps co-founder Grant Crilly worked together at Modernist Cuisine. Nick has worked in professional kitchens both in the United States and abroad, most notably at Mugaritz in San Sebastian, Spain.

Nicholas Gavin

Silky <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/how-to-make-a-quick-pan-sauce">pan sauces</a> and rich <a href="https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/turkey-gravy">gravies</a> can make a good meal great.The beauty of pan sauces and gravies is they’re not just delicious liquids, they’re delicious emulsions. That means they’re made up of tiny globules of tasty fat completely surrounded by and suspended within water (fortified, hopefully, with some of the tasty brown bits of fond scraped up off the bottom of the pan).But if that emulsion breaks, which can happen in the blink of an eye while it’s reducing on the stove, all that beauty disappears. The silky smooth sauce splits into a greasy mess that you certainly don’t want to pour over a beautiful plate of roast turkey and fluffy mashed potatoes.Don’t worry, though, the fix is in, and it’s easy. How do you save a broken pan sauce or gravy (and your meal)?Just add water!WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

Skillet or saucepan

Broken pan sauce or gravy

Water or stock

Whisk

Tips & Tricks: How to Fix a Broken Pan Sauce or Gravy