Rules for Making Gravy
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Place the roast on a warm dish.
Pour the drippings into a small bowl, leaving behind the brown particles.
Make the gravy
Add ½ cup boiling water and ¼ teaspoon salt to the drippings.
Heat over the fire, stirring with a spoon until it boils.
Crush the brown scraps with the spoon while stirring.
Serve
Strain the gravy around the joint or serve in a sauceboat.
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
- Drippings from roast
- Carry the roast's fat and browned flavour, giving the gravy its savoury taste and body.
- Boiling water
- Thins the drippings into a pourable sauce and dissolves the flavourful residue.
The step that matters
Crush the brown scraps with the spoon while stirring. The browned particles hold concentrated roasted flavour and colour. Crushing and stirring them into the hot liquid releases these compounds, so leaving them in the bowl leaves the gravy pale and bland.
“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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