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Thickening, Brown

Take a pound of flour. Spread it on a newspaper or large dish, and dry it thoroughly before the fire, and afterwards sift it carefully. Put a pound of fresh butter into a stewpan over a gentle fire, and melt it very gradually. Skim carefully, and afterwards pour off the portion that looks like clear oil, and leave untouched the white thick substance which will have settled at the bottom. Pour the clear oiled butter into a clean stewpan, mix the dried and sifted flour thoroughly and gradually with it, and beat it over a gentle fire with a wooden spoon until it forms a thick mass. Continue to stir it patiently until it is lightly coloured. Draw it to the side of the fire, and throw in with it a slice of onion for flavouring, and do not cease to stir the mixture until it no longer bubbles. Take out the onion, pour the roux into an earthen jar, and let it get cold. It then will be ready for use. When wanted for thickening, mix the roux with the sauce, and stir it till it boils. The sauce only attains its proper consistency after it has been stirred and boiled. This thickening may be mixed with either hot or cold liquor. If cold, stir it over the fire till it boils. If hot, moisten the roux gradually, and off the fire, with the sauce, then pour it into the remainder, and stir it over the fire till it boils. In order to cleanse sauce that has been thickened, that is, to remove the fat which has not become thoroughly incorporated with the gravy, draw the saucepan to the side of the fire, and throw in a small quantity of lukewarm water. The fat, etc., will rise to the surface, and may be removed with a spoon. Time to brown the roux, about an hour. A dessert-spoonful will thicken a pint of gravy.