Page:Australian enquiry book of household and general information.djvu/39

Rh be converted into extract by chopping or pounding fine, every particle of goodness is drawn from them, as well as the glutine matter that is in the bone. When you have a large boiler full of pounded bone and meat, cover it well with cold water, and let it boil till reduced to the strongest jelly. Strain off the liquid and let it stand till cold, then remove all fat, put into jars and tie down from the air. Three or four tablespoonfuls of this should make enough soup for five or six people. Add boiling water to it, and any vegetables, seasoning, etc., preferred.

Time : Twelve hours’ steady boiling.

Thickening for Soups and Gravies. —Put ½ lb. of good butter, and the same quantity of flour in an enamel stew-pan over the fire, and as the butter melts stir in the flour thoroughly with a spoon, do not let the fire be too hot or it will burn the mixture. Continue stirring till it takes a light brown colour, or about the colour of chocolate. A teaspoonful of this will thicken gravy, which should be boiling when it is added. This thickening will keep for a long time if kept in a close stoppered jar. Always skim after mixing in brown thickening.

White Thickening is butter and flour mixed as above, but not allowed to turn brown, and it is used for white soups and white sauces, which needs no skimming when it is put in.



ERY few cooks know how to make good gravy, and fewer still even go to the trouble of making any, but a greasy thick mixture with water and flour in the baking pan, after the joint has been removed on to the dish. With every joint sent to the table, a small tureen of nice rich gravy should be served, and to make it properly you require a little extra meat, or the pieces cut off when the joint is trimmed will do. If possible, a piece of shin of beef is the very best for the purpose.

Rich Brown Gravy.—The following is a rich brown gravy, suitable for all kinds of brown meats, and can be made and used when wanted. So long as a coating of fat is left over it, it will keep for three or four days. Put a couple of pounds of shin of beef into a stew pan, and if you have it, a slice or two of lean ham or bacon, any bones and trimmings of cooked meat, all well peppered and seasoned with salt. Pour about a cup of water into the pan, and let it simmer gently till the gravy begins to run from the meat; then add more water, keeping the pan on one side of the fire, so that it only simmers, and the goodness is gradually drawn out of the meat. When the meat is reduced to rags, strain off the gravy into a basin, and stand it away till cool, and the fat hardens. This can be removed, the gravy heated in a small saucepan, thickened, if liked, with a little smoothly blended flour, and coloured with a spoonful of colouring. Serve in a gravy tureen.

Common Gravy.—The ordinary way of making gravy for a joint is right enough, provided every particle of fat is first poured out of the pan. When