Why Did I Only Have Half A Litre Of Allspice Gravy?

Our answer

Nigella's Allspice Gravy (from NIGELLA CHRISTMAS) makes a stock in advance using the giblets from the turkey. The giblets (minus the liver), along with celery, carrot, onion and aromatics, are simmered in a saucepan with 1 litre of water then strained, chilled and used on Christmas day.

The recipe states to cover the saucepan while the stock is simmering. This prevents evaporation and means that the 1 litre of water should become 1 litre of stock. If the pan was uncovered, or partially covered, then some of the water would evaporate and this would cause a reduction in the volume. If the pan was partially covered then you should maybe cover it fully and turn the heat to very low to stop the stock from boiling too hard. If you end up with less than 1 litre then you can add water back to make up the difference or make up the difference with regular chicken broth, as if the stock has reduced then the flavour of the spices in the stock will be more intense.