Home › The Principles of Cookery › Leveret, Braised

Leveret, Braised

Truss the leveret like a hare, and fill it with a forcemeat made as follows. Grate very finely two ounces of stale crumb of bread, season with a salt-spoonful of salt, a salt-spoonful of pounded sugar, half a salt-spoonful of pepper, half a salt-spoonful of finely-minced lemon-rind, and half a salt-spoonful of grated nutmeg; add a shallot, chopped small, a tea-spoonful of chopped parsley, and half a tea-spoonful of sweet herbs. When these ingredients are thoroughly mixed, work them together with a dessert-spoonful of brandy and two ounces of clarified butter. Fill the leveret with the forcemeat, and sew it up securely. Place two or three slices of bacon at the bottom of the braising-pan. Fasten two or three more on the back of the leveret, and put it legs downwards into the pan. Pour over it half a pint of good gravy, and add a small onion, finely minced, a sliced carrot, a glassful of sherry, and two table-spoonfuls of mushroom ketchup. Cover the pan closely, and simmer gently for two hours. Take out the leveret. Press the vegetables through a sieve, put them back into the gravy, thicken it with two tea-spoonfuls of flour, mixed smoothly with a little cold water, return both leveret and gravy to the stewpan, and simmer for about a quarter of an hour longer. Serve very hot. Probable cost of leveret, 4s. Sufficient for five or six persons.