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Gravy for Roast Meat
About twenty minutes before the joint is taken from the fire, put a common dish under it, and pour slowly and gradually over the brown parts of the meat two or three table-spoonfuls of boiling water, in which half a tea-spoonful of salt has been dissolved. When it has all dropped into the dish, set it aside, carefully skim off the fat as it rises to the surface, for it is very disagreeable to have bubbles of fat on the top of the gravy in the dish, let it boil, and serve a very small quantity on the dish with the meat, and the rest in a tureen. When a larger quantity of gravy is required, there is in ordinary households no necessity to purchase gravybeef in order to obtain it. The trimmings and hard brown uneatable pieces of roasted and broiled meat or poultry should be regularly collected, put into a jar, and covered with boiling water. The next day they should be boiled and strained, and will then be ready for use. The brown liquid thus obtained will be much better than water to put under the joint.
This is a jus rather than a thickened gravy: no flour, no stock cube, just the roasting juices loosened with salted water. The instructions assume a joint hanging or standing before an open fire, which changes a few of the mechanics.
- The hingeThe water must be boiling and poured slowly over the browned surface, as the recipe specifies, so that it lifts the browned crust without chilling the meat.
- Adapt it to an ovenWith a roasting tin there is no separate dish to slide underneath. Twenty minutes before the end, spoon two or three tablespoons of boiling salted water over the browned top of the joint and let it run into the tin; deglaze the tin properly once the meat is out and resting.