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Chicken Pie

Take two large chickens, and cut them into neat joints. Put the trimmings, neck, and bones of the legs into a stewpan, with some pepper and salt, a blade of mace, an onion, a bunch of savoury herbs, and a little water, or stock. Let these simmer gently for one hour and a half. They are to make gravy. Line the edges of a pie-dish with a good crust. Put a layer of chicken at the bottom, then a layer of ham cut in slices, and over that some sausage-meat or forcemeat, and some hard-boiled eggs cut in slices. Repeat until the dish is full. Pour over all a cupful of water or white stock, and place a cover on the top. Brush over it the yolk of an egg. Bake in a good oven. When the pie has been in the oven about half an hour, place a piece of paper over the top to prevent the crust from being frizzled up before the meat is sufficiently cooked. When it is ready, raise the cover and pour in the gravy made from the bones. Put a trussing-needle into the pie to ascertain whether it is sufficiently cooked. If it goes through easily, take the pie out. A pie made with two chickens, sufficient for six persons. Probable cost, 6s.