Good Gravy is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic rich gravy made from a beef, butter, vegetable, herb and spice reduction flavoured with catsup. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Good Gravy.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Hannah Glasse's 1747 volume The Aft of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, the classic Georgian cookbook.
Original Recipe
Take twelve penny-worth of coarſe lean beef, which will be ſix or ſeven pounds, cut it all to pieces, flour it well, take a quarter of a pound of good butter, put it into a little pot or large deep ſtew-pan, and put in your beef : keep ſtirring it, and when it begins to look a little brown, pour in a pint of boiling water ; ſtir it all together, put in a large onion, a bundle of ſweet herbs, two or three blades of mace, five or ſix cloves, a ſpoonful of whole pepper, a cruſt of bread toaſted, and a piece of carrot ; then pour in four or five quarts of water, ſtir all together, cover cloſe, and let it ſtew till it is as rich as you would have it ; when enough, ſtrain it off, mix it with two or three ſpoonfuls of catchup, and half a pint of white wine ; then put all the ingredients together again, and put in two quarts of boiling water, cover it cloſe, and let it boil till there is about a pint ; ſtrain it off well, add it to the firſt, and give it a boil together. This will make a great deal of rich good gravy.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
3kg stewing beef, chopped
4 tbsp plain flour
115g unsalted butter
600ml water, boiling
1 large onion, halved
1 large bunch of sweet herbs
3 blades of mace
5 cloves
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 slice of white bread, toasted until quite dark
1 carrot, quartered
4l water
3 tbsp mushroom catsup
300ml white wine
2l water, boiling
Method:
In a bowl, toss the beef with the flour to coat. Melt the butter in a large stewpan then add the beef and fry gently, stirring constantly, until it begins to turn brown. Add the 600ml boiling water and stir until smooth then add the onion, herbs, spices, bread and carrot. Stir to mix then add the 4l water.
Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer then cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook gently for about 4 hours, or until all the flavour has been extracted from the beef. Strain off the liquid into a bowl and mix in the catsup and white wine. Return the strained solids to the pan and add 2l boiling water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer then cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook for 3 hours.
When done, strain the liquid into a pan (discard the solids) then pour in the stock, wine and catsup mix from the first boiling. Bring the ingredients to a boil and reduce to about 1l. Use as a base for gravies.
