Pot Roast with Brown Gravy
Ingredients
Directions
Heat the lard in a kettle until hot.
Add the meat and brown it on all sides, being careful not to burn.
Add 1 pint of water and continue adding just enough water to keep it steaming until the meat is tender.
Once tender, reduce the heat and cook down to create gravy.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Meat
- Browning builds savory flavor on the surface, and slow moist cooking tenderizes its connective tissue.
- Lard
- Fat conducts heat for browning the meat and adds richness to the gravy.
The step that matters
Browning the meat on all sides. Browning drives Maillard reactions that create deep savory flavor, but burnt surfaces turn bitter and can taint the gravy, so keep the heat controlled and the fat from scorching.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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