Or Brown Sauce for ragoût, Game, Poultry, Fish, &c.
.)—If you want gravy, put in a thick and well-tinned stewpan a thin slice of fat ham or bacon, or an ounce of butter, and a middling-sized onion; on this lay a pound of nice juicy gravy-beef (as the object in making gravy is to extract the nutritious qualities of the meat, it must be beaten so as to reduce the containing vessels, and scored to render the surface more susceptible to the action of the water); cover the stewpan. Set it on a slow fire; when the meat begins to brown, turn it about, and let it get slightly browned (but
take care it is not at all burnt
): then pour in a pint-and-a-half of boiling water, set the pan on the fire;—when it boils, carefully catch the scum, and then put in a crust of bread toasted brown (don't burn it), a sprig of winter savoury, or lemon thyme and parsley, a roll of thin-cut lemon peel, a dozen berries of allspice, and a dozen of black pepper; cover the stewpan close, let it
stew very gently
for about two hours, then strain it through a sieve into a basin.
If you wish to thicken it, set a clean stewpan over a slow fire, with about an ounce of butter in it; when it is melted, dredge into it (by degrees) as much flour as will dry it up, stirring them intimately; when thoroughly mixed, pour in a little of the gravy,— stir it well together, and add the remainder by degrees; set it over the fire, let it simmer gently for fifteen or twenty minutes longer, and skim off the fat, &c., as it rises; when it is about as thick as cream, squeeze it through a tamis or fine sieve, and you will have a fine rich brown sauce, at a very moderate expense, and without much trouble.
Observe
—If you wish
to make it still more relishing