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Rabbit Pie

Take two fine wild rabbits, cut them into joints, and lay them in a little lukewarm salted water, so as to cleanse them from all unnecessary blood. Dry them in a clean cloth, flour them nicely, and season with cayenne and salt; then arrange these joints neatly in a suitable-sized pie-dish; parboil the livers, and beat them in a mortar with their weight of fat bacon, a few bearded oysters, sweet herbs, and parsley chopped fine, a dust of flour, and a few bread-crumbs; with an egg make this up into small balls, and distribute these in the dish with some artichoke bottoms cut into dice. With your rabbit place also one pound of fat pork that has been at least a week in pickle; cut the pork into small pieces, and judiciously place these with the balls and rabbit. Grate over all half a good-sized nutmeg, and then add half a pint of port wine and the same quantity of water. Cover with a tolerably thick good crust, and bake an hour and a half or more in a moderate oven; when nearly done, place over the crust, to prevent its becoming too brown, a buttered paper. If time will permit, the rabbits will be much better relished if the nutmeg and wine are placed over them the night before they are wanted, so as to allow the meat to absorb the flavour. A small piece of tender rump steak placed at the bottom of the dish is also an improvement to the gravy, though a good cook should never be without a stock-pot, so as to have gravy at command when needed, either to add to a pie when the baking is finished or for serving with poultry or game.