3. With small game the fuel should be wood, but whatever fuel be used the fire ought to be made up in suchwise as to produce more flame than glowing embers.
[254—OVEN ROASTS]
The degree of heat used for each roast must be regulated according to the nature and size of the latter after the manner of spitted roasts.
An oven roast, in the first place, should always be placed on a meatstand, and this should be of such a height that at no given moment during the cooking process the meat may come in contact with the juices and fat which have drained from it into the utensil beneath. Failing a proper stand, a spit resting upon the edges of the utensil may be used.
No liquid of any kind, gravy or water, need be put in the baking-pan. The addition of any liquid is rather prejudicial [118] ]than otherwise, since by producing vapour which hangs over the roast it transforms the latter into a stew.
Remarks.—Whether spitted or in the oven, a roast must always be frequently basted with a fatty substance, but never with any other liquid.
[255—THE GRAVY OF ROASTS]
The real and most natural gravy for roasts is made from the swilling of the baking- or dripping-pan, even if water be used as the diluent, since the contents of these utensils represent a portion of the essential principles of the roast fallen from it in the process of cooking. But to obtain this result neither the utensils nor the gravy ought to have burned; the latter should merely have solidified, and for this reason a roast cooked in a very fierce oven ought to be laid on a pan only just large enough to hold it, so that the fat may not burn.
The swilling can in any case only produce a very small quantity of gravy, consequently, when it happens that a greater quantity is required, the need is met beforehand by preparing a stock made from bones and trimmings of a similar nature to the roast for which the gravy is required. The procedure for this is as follows:—
Place the bones and trimmings in a pan with a little fat and literally roast them. Then transfer them to a saucepan, moisten so as to cover with tepid, slightly-salted water, and add thereto the swillings of the pan wherein they were roasted. Boil, skim, and set to cook gently for three or four hours, according to the nature of the products used. This done, almost entirely remove the grease, strain through muslin, and put aside for the purpose of swilling the dripping- or baking-pan of the roast.