Beef-Gravy, or Common (Brown) Gravy

Ingredients

• Fuse some butter
• thin slices of bacon or of beef suet
• some thin slices of onions
• some thin slices of carrots
• some pounds of minced gravy-beef
• a quart of standard broth
• some parsley
• some celery
• mushroom, or its ketchup
• some cloves
• some blades of mace
• a few pepper-corns
• a little salt

Method

1. 1

   Fuse some butter in a stewpan, cover with thin slices of bacon or beef suet, add thin slices of onions and carrots, then minced gravy-beef.

2. 2

   Fry gently with constant stirring until light brown, then add a quart of standard broth and boil briskly.

3. 3

   Reduce the broth to a glace, then put on moderate fire to acquire a deep red-brown color.

4. 4

   Fill up with standard broth, add parsley, celery, mushroom, cloves, mace, pepper-corns, and salt.

5. 5

   Boil, skim, and let simmer until vegetables are done, then strain through a silk tammy into another stewpan.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The spirit of cookery (1895) by Johann Ludwig Wilhelm Thudichum, page 96. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

Beef-G-ravy, or Common (Brown) Gravy. This preparation passed in French magirism under the name of Jus de Bceuf,* and was to be used to ‘ colour ’ soups, sauces, entremets, and entr6es which require f.e., gravy. The expression ‘ colour ’ here means the imparting not only of a tint perceptible by the eye, but particularly a savoury character and taste similar to that of the gravy of roast meat. Fuse some butter over the bottom of a stewpan, and cover it with thin slices of bacon or of beef suet ; over this place some thin slices of onions and carrots, and then some pounds of minced gravy-beef ; fry this mixture gently with constant stirring, and when it is light brown add a quart of standard broth, and boil briskly. When the broth is reduced to a glace, put the stewpan on a moderate fire, and allow the glace to acquire a deep red-brown colour ; then fill up again with standard broth ; add some parsley, celery, mushroom, or its ketchup, some cloves, some blades of mace, a few pepper-corns, or their equivalent of tincture, and a little salt

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.