James Silverton wrote:
> cybercat wrote on Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:53:33 -0500:
>
>
>> "Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in
>> message ...
>>> In article
>>>
>>> .com>, Goro > wrote:
>>>
>>>> A friend of mine recently made a standing rib roast and
>>>> attempted to make the accompanying jus for it and it didn't turn out
>>>> at all. He used the Emeril recipe (i don't have
>>>> it, sorry) and the result was terrible. The liquid in the
>>>> roasting pan all evaporated and burned and the result was a quite
>>>> nasty bit. My friend used a pyrex pan (I guess
>>>> instead of a proper roasting pan he used a 16x9 baking
>>>> dish). I thought that might be the problem, though I'm not sure.
>>>>
>>>> Does anyone have any insight into this that I could pass on?
>>>>
>>>> thx
>>>> -goro-
>>>
>>> I made some for Christmas dinner's beast roast. I used beef base
>>> with water in a small saucepan and simmered a grated
>>> carrot and some celery and some onion, I believe, for maybe
>>> 5-10 minutes, then strained out the vegetables. It was very good.
>>> Dilute it with water (and a wee dram of red wine,
>>> maybe?) so it's not overly salty-tasting. --
>
>> How weird. Why didn't the roast make its own?
>
>
> I guess people use terms like juice and gravy differently. If I had
> something "au jus" I would expect the stuff to have been produced from
> the meat and not thickened tho' I'd allow some seasoning. Anything else
> is "gravy" to me.

You got that right. "Jus" is just French for juice as in
"pan juices". Roast beef au jus is just roast beef with some
of the pan juices on it. Anything else is gravy.
You don't make "jus", the roast makes it. Gravy you have to make.
Kate

--
Kate Connally
“If I were as old as I feel, I’d be dead already.”
Goldfish: “The wholesome snack that smiles back,
Until you bite their heads off.”
What if the hokey pokey really *is* what it's all about?