Chapter VII., or a little soy (when its flavour is admissible), or

cavice [TN: illegible], or Harvey’s sauce, may be added to it; and for some dishes, a glass of claret, or of port wine. Vermicelli, or rasped cocoa-nut, lightly, and _very_ gently browned in a small quantity of butter, will both thicken and enrich them, if about an ounce of either to the pint of gravy be stewed gently in it, from half an hour to an hour, and then strained out. All the ingredients indicated at page 4, for giving consistency to soups, will answer equally for gravies, which should not, however, be too much thickened, particularly with the unwholesome mixture of flour and butter, so commonly used for the purpose. Arrow-root or rice-flour, or common flour gradually browned in a slow oven, are much better suited to a delicate stomach. No particle of fat should ever be perceptible upon them when they are sent to table; and when it cannot be removed by skimming, they should be allowed to become sufficiently cold for it to congeal, and be taken off at once without trouble. It may be cleared from such as have not been thickened by passing them through a closely woven cloth, which has previously been laid into, and well wrung from, some cold water. JEWISH SMOKED BEEF. (_Extremely useful for giving flavour to soup and gravy._) This beef, of which we have more fully spoken in Chapter XXXIV.[TN: chapter missing], imparts a remarkably fine flavour to soup or gravy; but great care must be taken in using it to cut _quite away_ all the external parts which have been discoloured in the drying: the whole of the surface, indeed, should be rather thickly pared off, or it will give a _smoky_ taste to the gravy. An ounce or two of the lean thus cleared from the outsides and from all skin and fat, and divided first into thick slices, and then into small squares, will flavour a pint or more of stock of any kind: it may be added to the meat in making Liebeg gravy when it is first put into the stewpan. TO HEIGHTEN THE COLOUR AND THE FLAVOUR OF GRAVIES. This is best done by the directions given for making _Espagnole_. An ounce or two of the lean of unboiled ham, cut into dice and coloured slowly in a small stewpan, or smoothly-tinned iron saucepan, with less than an ounce of butter, a blade of mace, two or three cloves, a bay-leaf, a few small sprigs of savoury herbs, and an eschalot or two, or about a teaspoonful of minced onion, and a little young parsley root, when it can be had, will convert common shin of beef stock, or even strong broth, into an excellent gravy, if it be gradually added to them after they have stewed slowly for quite half an hour, and then boiled with them for twenty minutes or more. The liquid should not be mixed with the other ingredients until the side of the stewpan is coloured of a reddish brown; and should any thickening be required, a teaspoonful of flour should be stirred in well, and simmered for three or four minutes before the stock is added; the pan should be strongly shaken round afterwards, to detach the browning from it, and this must be done often while the ham is stewing. _Obs._—The cook who is not acquainted with this mode of preparing or enriching gravies, will do well to make herself acquainted with it; as it presents no difficulties, and is exceedingly convenient and advantageous when they are wanted in small quantities, very highly flavoured and well coloured. An unboiled ham, kept in cut, will be found, as we have already said, a great economy for this, and other purposes, saving much of the expense commonly incurred for gravy-meats. As eschalots, when sparingly used, impart a much finer savour than onions, though they are not commonly so much used in England, we would recommend that a small store of them should always be kept. BARON LIEBEG’s BEEF GRAVY. (_Most excellent for hashes, minces, and other dishes made of cold meat._) For particulars of this most useful receipt, for extracting all its juices from fresh meat of every kind in the best manner, the cook is referred to the first part of the chapter on soups. The preparation, for which minute directions are given there, if poured on a few bits of lean ham lightly browned, with the other ingredients indicated above, will be converted into gravy of fine flavour and superior quality. With no addition, beyond that of a little thickening and spice, it will serve admirably for dressing cold meat, in all the usual forms of hashes, minces, _blanquettes_, &c., &c., and convert it into dishes as nourishing as those of meat freshly cooked, and it may be economically made in small quantities with any trimmings of _undressed_ beef, mutton, or veal, mixed together, which are free from fat, and not sinewy: flavour may be given to it at once by chopping up with them the lean part only of a slice or two of ham, or of highly-cured beef. SHIN OF BEEF STOCK FOR GRAVIES. There is no better foundation for strong gravies than shin of beef stewed down to a jelly (which it easily becomes), with the addition only of some spice, a bunch of savoury herbs, and a moderate proportion of salt; this, if kept in a cool larder, boiled softly for two or three minutes every second or third day, and each time put into a clean, well-scalded pan, will remain good for many days, and may easily be converted into excellent soup or gravy. Let the bone be broken in one or two places, take out the marrow, which, if not wanted for immediate use, should be clarified, and stored for future occasions; put a pint and a half of cold water to the pound of beef, and stew it very gently indeed for six or seven hours, or even longer should the meat not then be quite in fragments. The bones of calf’s feet which have been boiled down for jelly, the liquor in which the head has been cooked, and any remains of ham quite freed from the smoky parts, from rust, and fat, will be serviceable additions to this stock. A couple of pounds of the neck of beef may be added to six of the shin with very good effect; but for white soup or sauces this is better avoided. Shin of beef, 6 lbs.; water, 9 pints; salt, 1 oz.; large bunch of savoury herbs; peppercorns, 1 teaspoonful; mace, 2 blades. RICH PALE VEAL GRAVY, OR CONSOMMÉ. The French, who have always at hand their stock-pot of good _bouillon_ (beef soup or broth), make great use of it in preparing their gravies. It is added instead of water to the fresh meat, and when this, in somewhat larger proportions, is boiled down in it, with the addition only of a bunch of parsley, a few green onions, and a moderate seasoning of salt, a strong and very pure-flavoured pale gravy is produced. When the best joints of fowls, or of partridges have been taken for fricassees or cutlets, the remainder may be stewed with a pound or two of veal into a _consommé_, which then takes the name of chicken or of game gravy. For a large dinner it is always desirable to have in readiness such stock as can easily and quickly be converted into white and other sauces. To make this, arrange a slice or two of lean ham in a stewpan or saucepan with three pounds of the neck of veal once or twice divided (unless the thick fleshy part of the knuckle can be had), and pour to them three full pints of strong beef or veal broth; or, if this cannot conveniently be done, increase the proportion of meat or diminish that of the liquid, substituting water for the broth; throw in some salt after the boiling has commenced, and the gravy has been well skimmed, with one mild onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, a little celery, a carrot, a blade of mace, and a half-saltspoonful of peppercorns; stew those very gently for four hours; then, should the meat be quite in fragments, strain off the gravy, and let it become sufficiently cold to allow the fat to be entirely cleared from it. A handful of nicely prepared mushroom-buttons will much improve its flavour; and the bones of boiled calf’s feet, or the fresh ones of fowls, will be found excellent additions to it. A better method of making it, when time and trouble are not regarded, is to heat the meat, which ought to be free of bones, quite through, with from a quarter to half a pint of broth only, and when on probing it with the point of a knife no blood issues from it, and it has been turned and equally done, to moisten it with the remainder of the broth, which should be boiling. Lean of ham, 6 to 8 oz.; neck or knuckle of veal, 3 lbs.; strong broth, 3 pints (or veal, 4 lbs., and water, 3 pints); salt; bunch of savoury herbs; mild onion, 1; carrot, 1 large or 2 small; celery 1/2 small head; mace, 1 large blade; peppercorns, 1/2 saltspoonful; 4 hours or more. Or: ham, 1/2 lb.; veal, 4 lbs.; broth, third of a pint; nearly 1 hour. Additional broth, 3 pints: 3-1/2 to 4-1/2 hours. RICH DEEP-COLOURED VEAL GRAVY. Lay into a large thick stewpan or saucepan, from half to three quarters of a pound of undressed ham, freed entirely from fat, and from the smoked edges, and sliced half an inch thick; on this place about four pounds of lean veal, cut from the best part of the knuckle or from the neck (part of the fillet, which in France is often used for it instead, not being generally purchasable here, the butchers seldom dividing the joint); pour to them about half a pint of good broth,[54] and place the pan over a brisk fire until it is well reduced; then thrust a knife into the meat, and continue the stewing more gently until a glaze is formed as we have described at page 10. The latter part of the process must be _very slow_; the stewpan must be frequently shaken, and the gravy closely watched that it may not burn: when it is of a fine _deep_ amber colour, pour in sufficient boiling broth to cover the meat, add a bunch of parsley, and a few mushrooms and green onions. A blade or two of mace, a few white peppercorns, and a head of celery, would, we think, be very admissible additions to this gravy, but it is extremely good without. Half the quantity can be made, but it will then be rather more troublesome to manage. Footnote 54: When there is no provision of this in the house, the quantity may be made with a small proportion of beef, and the trimmings of the veal, by the directions for _Bouillon_, Chapter I. Undressed ham, 8 to 12 oz.; lean veal, 4 lbs.; broth, 1/2 pint; 1 to 2 hours. Broth, 3 to 4 pints: bunch of parsley and green onions, or 1 Portugal onion; mushrooms, 1/4 to 1/2 pint: 1-1/2 to 2 hours. GOOD BEEF OR VEAL GRAVY. (ENGLISH RECEIPT.) Flour and fry lightly in a bit of good butter a couple of pounds of either beef or veal; drain the meat well from the fat, and lay it into a small thick stewpan or iron saucepan; pour to it a quart of boiling water; add, after it has been well skimmed and salted, a large mild onion sliced, very delicately fried, and laid on a sieve to drain, a carrot also sliced, a small bunch of thyme and parsley, a blade of mace, and a few peppercorns; stew these gently for three hours or more, pass the gravy through a sieve into a clean pan, and when it is quite cold clear it entirely from fat, heat as much as is wanted for table, and if not sufficiently thick stir into it from half to a whole teaspoonful of arrow-root mixed with a little mushroom catsup. Beef or veal, 2 lbs.; water, 2 pints; fried onion, 1 large; carrot, 1; small bunch of herbs; salt, 1 small teaspoonful or more; mace, 1 blade; peppercorns, 20: 3 to 3-1/2 hours. A RICH ENGLISH BROWN GRAVY. Brown lightly and carefully from four to six ounces of lean ham, thickly sliced and cut into large dice; lift these out, and put them into the pan in which the gravy is to be made; next, fry lightly also, a couple of pounds of neck of beef dredged moderately with flour, and slightly with pepper; put this, when it is done, over the ham; and then brown gently and add to them two or three eschalots, or a Portugal onion; should neither of these be at hand, one _not_ large common onion must be used instead. Pour over these ingredients a quart of boiling water, or of weak but well-flavoured broth; bring the whole slowly to a boil, clear off the scum with great care, throw in a saltspoonful of salt, four cloves, a blade of mace, twenty corns of pepper, a bunch of savoury herbs, a carrot, and a few slices of celery: these last two may be fried or not as is most convenient. Boil the gravy very softly until it is reduced to little more than a pint; strain, and set it by until the fat can be taken from it. Heat it anew, add more salt if needed and a little mushroom catsup, cayenne-vinegar, or whatever flavouring it may require for the dish with which it is to be served; it will seldom require any thickening. A dozen small mushrooms prepared as for pickling, or two or three morels, previously well washed and soaked, may be added to it at first with advantage. Half this quantity of gravy will be sufficient for a single tureen, and the economist can diminish a little the proportion of meat when it is thought too much. PLAIN GRAVY FOR VENISON. Trim away the fat from some cutlets, and lay them into a stewpan; set them over a clear fire, and let them brown a little in their own gravy; then add a pint of boiling water to each pound of meat. Take off the scum, throw in a little salt, and boil the gravy until reduced one half. Some cooks broil the cutlets lightly, boil the gravy one hour, and reduce it after it is strained. For appropriate gravy to serve with venison, see “Haunch of Venison,” Chapter XV. A RICH GRAVY FOR VENISON. There are few eaters to whom this would be acceptable, the generality of them preferring infinitely the flavour of the venison itself to any which the richest gravy made of other meats can afford; but when the flavour of a well-made _Espagnole_ is likely to be relished, prepare it by the receipt of the following page, substituting plain _strong_ mutton stock for the veal gravy. SWEET SAUCE, OR GRAVY FOR VENISON. Add to a quarter-pint of common venison gravy a couple of glasses of port wine or claret, and half an ounce of sugar in lumps. Christopher North’s sauce, mixed with three times its measure of gravy, would be an excellent substitute for this. ESPAGNOLE (SPANISH SAUCE). _A highly-flavoured Gravy._ Dissolve a couple of ounces of good butter in a thick stewpan or saucepan, throw in from four to six sliced eschalots, four ounces of the lean of an undressed ham, three ounces of carrot, cut in small dice, one bay leaf, two or three branches of parsley, and one or two of thyme, but these last must be small; three cloves, a blade of mace, and a dozen corns of pepper; add part of a root of parsley, if it be at hand, and keep the whole stirred or shaken over a moderate fire for twenty minutes, then add by degrees one pint of very strong veal stock or gravy, and stew the whole gently from thirty to forty minutes; strain it, skim off the fat, and it will be ready to serve. Butter, 2 oz.; eschalots, 4 to 6; lean of undressed ham, 4 oz.; carrots, 3 oz.; bay leaf, 1; little thyme and parsley, in branches; cloves, 3; mace, 1 blade; peppercorns, 12; little parsley root: fried gently, 20 minutes. Strong veal stock, or gravy, 1 pint: stewed very softly, 30 to 40 minutes. ESPAGNOLE, WITH WINE. Take the same proportions of ingredients as for the preceding _Espagnole_, with the addition, if they should be at hand, of a dozen small mushrooms prepared as for stewing; when these have fried gently in the stewpan until it appears of a reddish colour all round, stir in a tablespoonful of flour, and when it is lightly browned, add in small portions, letting each one boil up before the next is poured in, and shaking the pan well round, three quarters of a pint of hot and _good_ veal gravy, and nearly half a pint of Madeira or sherry. When the sauce has boiled gently for half an hour, add to it a small quantity of cayenne and some salt, if this last be needed; then strain it, skim off the fat entirely should any appear upon the surface, and serve it very hot. A smaller proportion of wine added a few minutes before the sauce is ready for table, would perhaps better suit with English taste, as with longer boiling its flavour passes off almost entirely. Either of these _Espagnoles_, poured over the well bruised remains of pheasants, partridges, or moor fowl, and boiled with them for an hour, will become most admirable game gravy, and would generally be considered a superlative addition to other roast birds of their kind, as well as to the hash or salmi, for which see Chapter XV. Ingredients as in preceding receipt, with mushrooms 12 to 18; Madeira, or good sherry, 1/4 to 1/2 pint. JUS DES ROGNONS, OR, KIDNEY GRAVY. Strip the skin and take the fat from three fresh mutton kidneys, slice and flour them; melt two ounces of butter in a deep saucepan, and put in the kidneys, with an onion cut small, and a teaspoonful of fine herbs stripped from the stalks. Keep these well shaken over a clear fire until nearly all the moisture is dried up; then pour in a pint of boiling water, add half a teaspoonful of salt, and a little cayenne or common pepper, and let the gravy boil gently for an hour and a half, or longer, if it be not thick and rich. Strain it through a fine sieve, and take off the fat. Spice or catsup may be added at pleasure. Mutton kidneys, 3; butter, 2 oz.; onion, 1; fine herbs, 1 teaspoonful: 1/2 hour. Water, 1 pint; salt, 1/2 teaspoonful; little cayenne, or black pepper: 1-1/2 hour. _Obs._—This is an excellent cheap gravy for haricots, curries, or hashes of mutton; it may be much improved by the addition of two or three eschalots, and a small bit or two of lean meat. GRAVY IN HASTE. Chop fine a few bits of lean meat, a small onion, a few slices of carrot and turnip, and a little thyme and parsley; put these with half an ounce of butter into a thick saucepan, and keep them stirred until they are slightly browned; add a little spice, and water in the proportion of a pint to a pound of meat; clear the gravy from scum, let it boil half an hour, then strain it for use. Meat, 1 lb.; 1 small onion; little carrot, turnip, thyme, and parsley; butter, 1/2 oz.; cloves, 6; corns of pepper, 12; water, 1 pint: 1/2 hour. CHEAP GRAVY FOR A ROAST FOWL. When there is neither broth nor gravy to be had, nor meat of which either can be made, boil the neck of the fowl after having cut it small, in half a pint of water, with any slight seasonings of spice or herbs, or with a little salt and pepper only; it should stew very softly for an hour or more, or the quantity will be too much reduced. When the bird is just ready for table, take the gravy from the dripping-pan, and drain off the fat from it as closely as possible; strain the liquor from the neck to it, mixing them smoothly, pass the gravy again through the strainer, heat it, add salt and pepper or cayenne, if needed, and serve it extremely hot. When this is done, the fowl should be basted with good butter only, and well floured when it is first laid to the fire. Many cooks always mix the gravy from the pan when game is roasted, with that which they send to table with it, as they think that it enriches the flavour; but to many persons it is peculiarly distasteful. Neck of fowl; water, 1/2 pint; pepper, salt (little vegetable and spice at choice): stewed gently, 1 hour; strained, stirred to the gravy of the roast, well cleared from fat. ANOTHER CHEAP GRAVY FOR A FOWL. A little good broth added to half a dozen dice of lean ham, lightly browned in a morsel of butter, with half a dozen corns of pepper and a small branch or two of parsley, and stewed for half an hour, will make excellent gravy of a common kind. When there is no broth, the neck of the chicken must be stewed down to supply its place. GRAVY OR SAUCE FOR A GOOSE. Mince, and brown in a small saucepan, with a slice of butter, two ounces of mild onion,. When it begins to brown, stir to it a teaspoonful of flour, and in five or six minutes afterwards, pour in by degrees the third of a pint of good brown gravy; let this simmer fifteen minutes; strain it, bring it again to the point of boiling, and add to it a teaspoonful of made mustard mixed well with a glass of port wine. Season it with cayenne and pepper and _salt_, if this last be needed. Do not let the sauce _boil_ after the wine is added, but serve it _very_ hot. Onions, 2 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 to 15 minutes. Flour, 1 teaspoonful: 5 to 6 minutes. Gravy, 1/3 pint: 15 minutes. Mustard, 1 teaspoonful; port wine, 1 glassful; cayenne pepper; salt. See also Christopher North’s own sauce, page 119. ORANGE GRAVY FOR WILD FOWL. Boil for about ten minutes, in half a pint of rich and highly-flavoured brown gravy, or _Espagnole_, half the rind of a Seville orange, pared as thin as possible, and a small strip of lemon-rind, with a bit of sugar the size of a hazel-nut. Strain it off, add to it a quarter pint of port or claret, the juice of half a lemon, and a tablespoonful of Seville orange-juice: season it with cayenne, and serve it as hot as possible. Gravy, 1/2 pint; 1/2 the rind of a Seville orange; lemon-peel, 1 small strip; sugar, size of hazel-nut: 10 minutes. Juice of 1/2 a lemon; Seville orange-juice, 1 tablespoonful; cayenne. See also Christopher North’s own sauce, page 119. MEAT JELLIES FOR PIES AND SAUCES. A very firm meat jelly is easily made by stewing slowly down equal parts of shin of beef, and knuckle or neck of veal, with a pint of cold water to each pound of meat; but to give it flavour, some thick slices of lean unboiled ham should be added to it, two or three carrots, some spice, a bunch of parsley, one mild onion, or more, and a moderate quantity of salt; or part of the meat may be omitted, and a calf’s head, or the scalp of one, very advantageously substituted for it, though the flavouring must then be heightened, because, though very gelatinous, these are in themselves exceedingly insipid to the taste. If rapidly boiled, the jelly will not be clear, and it will be difficult to render it so without clarifying it with the whites of eggs, which it ought never to require; if very gently stewed, on the contrary, it will only need to be passed through a fine sieve, or cloth. The fat must be carefully removed, after it is quite cold. The shin of beef recommended for this and other receipts, should be from the middle of the leg of young heifer beef, not of that which is large and coarse. Middle of small shin of beef, 3 lbs.; knuckle or neck of veal, 3 lbs.; lean of ham, 1/2 lb.; water, 3 quarts; carrots, 2 large, or 3 small; bunch of parsley; 1 mild onion, stuck with 8 cloves; 2 small bay-leaves; 1 large blade of mace; small saltspoonful of peppercorns; salt, 3/4 oz. (more if needed): 5 to 6 hours’ very gentle stewing. _Obs._—A finer jelly may be made by using a larger proportion of veal than of beef, and by adding clear beef or veal broth to it instead of water, in a small proportion at first, as directed in the receipt for _consommé_, see page 98, and by pouring in the remainder when the meat is heated through. The necks of poultry, any inferior joints of them omitted from a fricassee or other dish, or an old fowl, will further improve it much; an eschalot or two may at choice be boiled down in it, instead of the onion, but the flavour should be scarcely perceptible. A CHEAPER MEAT JELLY. One calf’s foot, a pound and a half or two pounds of neck of veal or beef, a small onion, a carrot, a bunch of parsley, a little spice, a bit or two of quite lean ham, dressed or undressed, and five half pints of water, boiled _very_ slowly for five or six hours will give a strong, though not a highly-flavoured jelly. More ham, any bones of unboiled meat, poultry, or game will, in this respect, improve it; and the liquor in which fowls or veal have been boiled for table should, when at hand, be used for it instead of water. These jellies keep much better and longer when no vegetables are stewed down in them. GLAZE. This is merely _strong_, clear gravy or jelly boiled quickly down to the consistence of thin cream; but this reduction must be carefully managed that the glaze may be brought to the proper point without being burned; it must be attentively watched, and stirred without being quitted for a moment from the time of its beginning to thicken; when it has reached the proper degree of boiling, it will jelly in dropping from the spoon, like preserve, and should then be poured out immediately, or it will burn. When wanted for use, melt it gently by placing the vessel which contains it (see article _Glazing_, Chapter IX.) in a pan of boiling water, and with a paste-brush lay it on to the meat, upon which it will form a sort of clear varnish. In consequence of the very great reduction which it undergoes, salt should be added to it sparingly when it is made. Any kind of stock may be boiled down to glaze; but unless it be strong, a pint will afford but a spoonful or two: a small quantity of it, however, is generally sufficient, unless a large repast is to be served. Two or three layers must be given to each joint. The jellies which precede this will answer for it extremely well; and it may be made also with shin of beef stock, for common occasions, when no other is at hand. ASPIC, OR CLEAR SAVOURY-JELLY. Boil a couple of calf’s feet, with three or four pounds of knuckle of veal, three quarters of a pound of lean ham, two large onions, three whole carrots, and a large bunch of herbs, in a gallon of water, till it is reduced more than half. Strain it off; when perfectly cold, remove every particle of fat and sediment, and put the jelly into a very clean stewpan, with four whites of eggs well beaten; keep it stirred until it is nearly boiling; then place it by the side of the fire to simmer for a quarter of an hour. Let it settle, and pour it through a jelly-bag until it is quite clear. Add, when it first begins to boil, three blades of mace, a teaspoonful of white peppercorns, and sufficient salt to flavour it properly, allowing for the ham, and the reduction. French cooks flavour this jelly with tarragon vinegar when it is clarified; cold poultry, game, fish, plovers’ eggs, truffles, and various dressed vegetables, with many other things often elaborately prepared, and highly ornamental, are moulded and served in it, especially at large _dejeuners_ and similar repasts. It is also much used to decorate raised pies, and hams; and for many other purposes of the table. Calf’s feet, 2; veal, 4 lbs.; ham, 3/4 lb.; onions, 2; carrots, 3; herbs, large bunch; mace, 3 blades; white whole pepper, 1 teaspoonful; water, 1 gallon: 5 to 6 hours. Whites of eggs, 4: 15 minutes. ------------------------------------------------------------------------