Mince, and brown in a small saucepan, with a slice of butter, two ounces of mild onion,. When it begins to brown, stir to it a teaspoonful of flour, and in five or six minutes afterwards, pour in by degrees the third of a pint of good brown gravy; let this simmer fifteen minutes; strain it, bring it again to the point of boiling, and add to it a teaspoonful of made mustard mixed well with a glass of port wine. Season it with cayenne and pepper and salt, if this last be needed. Do not let the sauce boil after the wine is added, but serve it very hot.
Onions, 2 oz.; butter, 1-1/2 oz.: 10 to 15 minutes. Flour, 1 teaspoonful: 5 to 6 minutes. Gravy, 1/3 pint: 15 minutes. Mustard, 1 teaspoonful; port wine, 1 glassful; cayenne pepper; salt. See also Christopher North’s own sauce, page [119].
ORANGE GRAVY FOR WILD FOWL.
Boil for about ten minutes, in half a pint of rich and highly-flavoured brown gravy, or Espagnole, half the rind of a Seville orange, pared as thin as possible, and a small strip of lemon-rind, with a bit of sugar the size of a hazel-nut. Strain it off, add to it a quarter pint of port or claret, the juice of half a lemon, and a tablespoonful of Seville orange-juice: season it with cayenne, and serve it as hot as possible.
Gravy, 1/2 pint; 1/2 the rind of a Seville orange; lemon-peel, 1 small strip; sugar, size of hazel-nut: 10 minutes. Juice of 1/2 a lemon; Seville orange-juice, 1 tablespoonful; cayenne. See also Christopher North’s own sauce, page [119].
MEAT JELLIES FOR PIES AND SAUCES.
A very firm meat jelly is easily made by stewing slowly down equal parts of shin of beef, and knuckle or neck of veal, with a pint of cold water to each pound of meat; but to give it flavour, some thick slices of lean unboiled ham should be added to it, two or three carrots, some spice, a bunch of parsley, one mild onion, or more, and a moderate quantity of salt; or part of the meat may be omitted, and a calf’s head, or the scalp of one, very advantageously substituted for it, though the flavouring must then be heightened, because, though very gelatinous, these are in themselves exceedingly insipid to the taste. If rapidly boiled, the jelly will not be clear, and it will be difficult to render it so without clarifying it with the whites of eggs, which it ought never to require; if very gently stewed, on the contrary, it will only need to be passed through a fine sieve, or cloth. The fat must be carefully removed, after it is quite cold. The shin of beef recommended for this and other receipts, should be from the middle of the leg of young heifer beef, not of that which is large and coarse.
Middle of small shin of beef, 3 lbs.; knuckle or neck of veal, 3 lbs.; lean of ham, 1/2 lb.; water, 3 quarts; carrots, 2 large, or 3 small; bunch of parsley; 1 mild onion, stuck with 8 cloves; 2 small bay-leaves; 1 large blade of mace; small saltspoonful of peppercorns; salt, 3/4 oz. (more if needed): 5 to 6 hours’ very gentle stewing.
Obs.—A finer jelly may be made by using a larger proportion of veal than of beef, and by adding clear beef or veal broth to it instead of water, in a small proportion at first, as directed in the receipt for consommé, see page [98], and by pouring in the remainder when the meat is heated through. The necks of poultry, any inferior joints of them omitted from a fricassee or other dish, or an old fowl, will further improve it much; an eschalot or two may at choice be boiled down in it, instead of the onion, but the flavour should be scarcely perceptible.