Next best is the essence of meat that flows out of it during the
process of cooking, and even this must be stretched to go around.
By the time it is increased by thinning, and then is thickened with
tasteless flour, it too often serves no other purpose than to wet
the food it is spooned over. To make up for its deficiencies, store
catsup, or some other expensive commercial condiment, is put on
the table to pep things up, thus adding one more item to the budget
which would not be necessary were the meat's natural dressing
all it should be.
The first requisite for a good gravy is a good gravy maker, one
who is not too hurried and flurried at the moment of taking up a
meal to give the crowning sauce all the care and quick thought it
demands. The next requisite is a wooden spoon to stir it with,
and a small collection of herbs and seasonings to give it inspiration.
Such a gravy maker knows that the pan liquid should never be
diluted with plain water. Vegetables are usually cooking in other
vessels on the stove, and it is just as easy to take some of the tasty
broth from boiling potatoes, or peas, or string beans, as to reach
for the tea kettle. She will also save for this purpose the liquids in
which foods were cooked for former meals. A cup of leftover soup
will come in handy, too, and, of course, milk for veal and chicken.
Anything to add flavor instead of weakening it.
83
84 MOST-FOR-YOUR-MONEY COOK BOOK
There are three ways to thicken a gravy with flour:
(i) Work the flour smooth in a little liquid, strain as an extra
precaution against lumps, and pour into the simmering pot liquor
slowly, stirring carefully all the while until thick and smooth.
This procedure is suitable only for stews and fricassees which are
already fully seasoned and which will be served in the gravy. The
solid portions should be lifted out with a skimmer, kept hot, and
returned to the pot for a few minutes for a final immersion in the
simmering sauce before serving.
(2) Knead equal quantities of flour and butter, or fat, together,
and drop tiny bits of the mixture into the pot, here and there,
shaking or otherwise agitating the liquid so the lumps dissolve
evenly and mingle smoothly with the whole. This way is appropri-
ate for a mixture of meat and vegetables which cannot be skimmed
out easily before gravy-making begins, or for fish slices or other
foods of such delicate texture that their appearance is spoiled by
too much handling.
In using either of these first two methods one should make ab-
solutely sure there are no lumps, and that the consistency is right,
neither too thick nor too thin. And then the solids and liquid should
simmer together for at least 15 minutes in order to completely
cook the starch, and to let it make a coating over each morsel.
Page 44
Presented as published in 1938. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Next best is the essence of meat that flows out of it during the process of cooking, and even this must be stretched to go around. By the time it is increased by thinning, and then is thickened with tasteless flour, it too often serves no other purpose than to wet the food it is spooned over. To make up for its deficiencies, store catsup, or some other expensive commercial condiment, is put on the table to pep things up, thus adding one more item to the budget which would not be necessary were the meat's natural dressing all it should be.
The first requisite for a good gravy is a good gravy maker, one who is not too hurried and flurried at the moment of taking up a meal to give the crowning sauce all the care and quick thought it demands. The next requisite is a wooden spoon to stir it with, and a small collection of herbs and seasonings to give it inspiration.
Such a gravy maker knows that the pan liquid should never be diluted with plain water. Vegetables are usually cooking in other vessels on the stove, and it is just as easy to take some of the tasty broth from boiling potatoes, or peas, or string beans, as to reach for the tea kettle. She will also save for this purpose the liquids in which foods were cooked for former meals. A cup of leftover soup will come in handy, too, and, of course, milk for veal and chicken. Anything to add flavor instead of weakening it.
There are three ways to thicken a gravy with flour: (i) Work the flour smooth in a little liquid, strain as an extra precaution against lumps, and pour into the simmering pot liquor slowly, stirring carefully all the while until thick and smooth. This procedure is suitable only for stews and fricassees which are already fully seasoned and which will be served in the gravy. The solid portions should be lifted out with a skimmer, kept hot, and returned to the pot for a few minutes for a final immersion in the simmering sauce before serving.
(2) Knead equal quantities of flour and butter, or fat, together, and drop tiny bits of the mixture into the pot, here and there, shaking or otherwise agitating the liquid so the lumps dissolve evenly and mingle smoothly with the whole. This way is appropriate for a mixture of meat and vegetables which cannot be skimmed out easily before gravy-making begins, or for fish slices or other foods of such delicate texture that their appearance is spoiled by too much handling.
In using either of these first two methods one should make absolutely sure there are no lumps, and that the consistency is right, neither too thick nor too thin. And then the solids and liquid should simmer together for at least 15 minutes in order to completely cook the starch, and to let it make a coating over each morsel.