Roast Meat

Ingredients

• A large piece of meat
• a tablespoon or two of water
• season well with salt
• season with pepper
• a half cup boiling water
• a tablespoon vinegar
• four of oil
• a clove of garlic
• a sprig of parsley
• some fat bacon

Method

1. 1

   Wash and soak the meat, then place it in a hot oven.

2. 2

   Baste every 10-15 minutes, seasoning with salt and turning the roast halfway through.

3. 3

   Cook beef and mutton for 15 minutes per pound, and pork, veal, or lamb for 20 minutes per pound.

4. 4

   When done, the roast should be brown with a thick glaze.

5. 5

   Prepare gravy by pouring off fat, adding boiling water, and stirring until dissolved.

6. 6

   Optionally, thicken with flour.

Nutrition per serving

Estimated from matched ingredients across 4 servings.

As published

This recipe was extracted from The new practical housekeeping (1890) by Estelle Woods Wilcox, page 340. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

a tablespoon or two of water ; if fat, the juices of the meat will be sufficient, and the addition of the water renders it juiceless and tasteless. The oven should be very hot when the meat is put in that the surface may be quickly searea or browned over and the juices confined. Keep the fire hot and bright, baste every ten or fifteen minutes, and when about half done season well with' salt and turn the roast, also seasoning the turned side, always keeping the thick part of the meat in the hottest part of the oven. Take care that every part of the roast, including the fat of the tenderloin, is cooked so that the texture is changed. If the fire has been properly made, and the roast is not large, it should not require replenishing, but^ if necessary, add a little mel at a time, so as not to check the fire, in- stead of waiting until a great deal must be added to keep up the bright heat. Most persons like roast beef and mutton underdone, afid less time is required to cook them than for pork and veal or lamb, which must be very weU done. Fifteen minutes to the pound and fifteen minutes longer is the rule for beef and mutton, and twenty minutes to the pound and twenty minutes longer for pork, veal and lamb. The directions for beef apply equally well to pork, veal, mut- ton and lamb. Underdone meat is cookea throughout so that tho bright red juices foUow the knife of the carver ; if it is a livid purple it is raw, and unfit for food. When done, the roast should be a rich brown, and the bottom of the pan covered with a thick glaze Re- move the joint, and those who do not salt before or while roasting now sift evenly over with fine salt, and it is ready to serve. Never salt before cooking, as it drawsout the juices. To keep the roast hot while making the gravy place it in a pan or on an old platter in the oven. To prepare gravy, pour off the fat gently, holding pan steadily, so as not to lose the gravy which underlies^ it ; put pan on stove, and pour into it a half cup boiling water, varying tnecjuantity with the size of the roast : soup or thin stock of any kind is better than water if at hand ; add a little salt, stir with a spoon until the " particles adhering to sides of pan are removed and dissolved, making a rich brown gravy \ if necessary add a thickening of a little flour, mixed smooth with water, thougn if a nice, luicy roast, the gravy is much better without. Some first stir the nour into tne drippings, then pour in boiling water. In roasting all meats, success depends upon basting frequently by dipping the gravy from the pan over the meat with a large spoon, turning often so as to prevent burning, and carefully regulating heat I*. 404 MEATS. of oven. Roasts prepared with dressing require more time than those without. In roasting meats if necessary to add water do not put it in until the meat has been in the oven about half an hour, or until it begins to brown, and then only a very little, a half cup or so, of Jwt water. ^ The appearance of a roast is very much improved by dredging with flour after each basting, commencing about half an hour before the meat is done. Do this with the flour after dredging evenly all over, first seasoning with salt. When the flour has be- come thoroughly browned, which will be in about ten minutes, baste and dredge again ; continue thus until done, then season witn pep- per and the meat will be sent to table covered with a handsome brown crust.^ Do not baste after the last dredging, and never baste after dredging until the flour has become thoroughly browned. If wanted nicely frothed, baste with butter the last time, then dredge with flour. Although we consider the above much the better method of roasting meat, some prefer to omit the dredging entirelv, and others begin to dredge with the first basting. Some good cooks first cover the bottom of pan rather lightly with flour, then put meat on trivet in pan and place in oven until the flour is browned ; sufiicient water is then added to cover bottom of pan, the oven is closed for about ten minutes, when the meat is basted with the liquid in pan and dredged with salt, pepper and flour ; this is repeated every fifteen minutes until roast is done. The claim is made that though the steam from the water and the salting of the meat both have a ten- dency to draw out the juices, by beginning thus early to dredge with flour a paste is formed over the meat which keeps in the juices and also enriches the roast. Whichever method is followed, be sure that the oven is hot when the meat is put in and the heat kept steady throughout. The meat-rack or trivet is a necessity no housekeeper should attempt to do without, and its cost is small. It keeps the meat from the bottom of pan and prevents scorching, or the soaking out of the juices when water is used. An excellent marinade for basting roast meats is made by chopping some fat bacon with a clove of garlic and sprig of parsley, adding salt, pepper, tablespoon vinegar, and four of oil

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