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Gravy for Patties
Take the bones, skin, and trimmings of the meat of which the patties are made, and put them into a jar with as much water as will cover them, a little pepper and salt, a bay-leaf, and a shallot, finely minced. Tie two or three folds of paper over the jar, and place it in a moderate oven for two hours. Strain the gravy, skim it carefully, let it boil, and it is ready to be put into the patties. If these are made of venison or hare, it is an improvement to dissolve a small quantity of red currant jelly in the gravy, and to add a little claret.
This is a small-batch bone stock made by long, gentle oven infusion rather than stovetop simmering, intended to moisten the inside of meat patties (small raised or puff-pastry pies) at the moment of serving.
- A moderate ovenRead this as 325-350F. The point is a bare tremble in the liquid for two hours, not a boil; a rolling boil in a covered jar will cloud the gravy and emulsify the fat back into it.
- The jar and its paper lidA stoneware jar standing in a cooling oven did the work of a modern slow cooker. Use a small ovenproof crock or a narrow lidded saucepan, or cover a dish with foil. The tied paper keeps the surface from drying without sealing the jar airtight.
- Water to cover, and no moreThe strength of the finished gravy depends on keeping the liquid low; the recipe allows only enough water to cover the bones. For the trimmings of a pound or so of meat that is perhaps a cup, yielding a correspondingly small quantity of gravy once strained.
- Skim cold if you canStraining and skimming while hot leaves fat behind. Chilling the strained liquid lifts the fat into a solid cap that comes off cleanly, after which the gravy can be reheated and boiled as directed.
- Salt at the endSalting at the start seems harmless, but some liquid is lost between the jar and the finished gravy. Season lightly going in and correct after the final boil.
- ClaretIn an English book of this period claret means red Bordeaux, or any dry, unoaked red of that character. A tablespoon or two is enough; it should be added with the jelly and boiled briefly to take the raw edge off the wine.
- Red currant jellyAbout a teaspoon per half cup. It is there for acidity and a faint sweetness against the muskiness of venison or hare, not to make a sweet sauce. Cranberry jelly is a reasonable stand-in; grape jelly is not.
- ServingThis gravy is deliberately unthickened. It goes hot into the patties just before they are sent to table, so make it while the pastry bakes and keep it hot rather than reheating it later.
"Patties" here means the small individual pies that often appeared between courses on a Victorian table "petites patés" anglicised, by the usually accepted etymology, usually puff pastry cases filled with minced game, veal or lobster. Because the filling was cooked and finely chopped, it dried out in the oven, and a common remedy was said to be a spoonful of concentrated gravy added at the last second. The red currant jelly and claret finish for venison and hare follows the long-standing English convention of pairing dark game with something sweet-sharp, a habit generally traced back through the spiced, vinegar-based sauces of earlier centuries.