Meat Pies
giblets; cut the leg in 2, the wing and neck into 3, and the gizzard into 4 pieces. Preserve the liquor, and set the giblets by till cold; otherwise the heat of the giblets will spoil the paste you cover the pie with; then season the whole with black pepper and salt, and put them into a deep dish; cover it with paste, rub it over with yolk of egg, ornament, and bake it an hour and a half in a moderate oven. In the mean time take the liquor the giblets were stewed in, skim it free from fat, put it over a fire in a clean stewpan, thicken it a little with flour and butter, or flour and water, season it with pepper and salt and the juice of half a lemon; add a few drops of browning, strain it through a fine sieve, and, when you take the pie from the oven, pour some of this into it through a funnel. Some lay in the bottom of the dish a moderately thick rump-steak. If you have any cold game or poultry, cut it in pieces, and add it to the above.
Rump Steak Pie.
Cut 3 pounds of rump steak, that has been kept till tender, into pieces half as big as your hand; trim off all the skin, sinews, and every part which has not indisputable pretensions to be eaten, and beat them with a chopper. Chop very fine half a dozen eschalots, and mix them with half an ounce of pepper and salt mixed; strew some of the mixture at the bottom of the dish, then a layer of steak, then some more of the mixture, and so on till the dish is full; add half a gill of mushroom catsup, and the same quantity of gravy, or red wine; cover it as in the preceding receipt, and bake it two hours.
Large oysters parboiled, bearded, and laid alternately with the steaks, their liquor reduced and substituted instead of the catsup and wine, will be a variety.
Chicken Pie.
Parboil and then cut up neatly two young chickens; dry them; set them over a slow fire for a few minutes. Have ready some veal stuffing or forcemeat; lay it at the bottom of the dish, and place in the chickens upon it, and with it some pieces of dressed ham; cover it with paste.
Bake it from an hour and a half to two hours.
When sent to table add some good gravy, well seasoned and not too thick.
Duck pie is made in like manner, only substituting duck stuffing instead of the veal. The above may be put into a raised French crust, and baked. When done take off the top, and put a ragout of sweetbread to the chicken.
Rabbit Pie.
Made in the same way, but make a forcemeat to cover the bottom of the dish, by pounding a quarter pound of boiled bacon with the livers of the rabbits; some pepper and salt, some pounded mace, some chopped parsley, and an eschalot, thoroughly beaten together; and you may lay some thin slices of ready-dressed ham or bacon on the top of your rabbits.
Raised French Pie.
Make about 2 pounds of flour into a paste, as directed; knead it well, and into the shape of a ball; press your thumb into the centre, and work it by degrees into any shape (oval or round is the most general) till about five inches high; put it on a sheet of paper, and fill it with coarse flour or bran; roll out a covering for it about the same thickness as the sides; cement its sides with the yolk of egg; cut the edges quite even, and pinch it round with the finger and thumb; yolk-of-egg it over with a paste-brush, and ornament it in any way as fancy may direct, with the same kind of paste. Bake it of a fine brown color, in a slow oven, and when done cut out the top, remove the flour or bran, brush it quite clean, and fill it up with a fricassee of chicken, rabbit, or any other entrée most convenient. Send it to table with a napkin under.
Raised Ham Pie.
Soak four or five hours a small ham; wash and scrape it well; cut off the knuckle, and boil it for half an hour; then take it up and trim it very neatly. Take off the rind and put it into an oval stewpan, with a pint of Madeira or Sherry, and enough veal stock to cover it. Let it stew for two hours, or till three-parts done; take it out and set in a cold place; then raise a crust as in the foregoing receipt, large enough to receive it; put in and ornament. It will take about one hour and a the ham, and around it the veal forcemeat; cover half to bake in a slow oven. When done take off the cover, glaze the top, and pour round the following sauce, viz.: take the liquor the ham was stewed in; skim it free from fat; thicken with a little flour and butter mixed together, a few drops of browning, and some cayenne pepper.
The above is a good way of dressing a small ham, and has a good effect cold for a supper.
Raised Pork Pie.
Make a raised crust, of a good size, with paste, about four inches high; take the rind and chinebone from a loin of pork, cut it into chops, beat them with a chopper, season them with pepper and salt and powdered sage, and fill your pie; put on the top and close it, and pinch it round the edge; rub it over with yolk of egg, and bake it two hours, with a paper over to prevent the crust from burning. When done, pour in some good gravy, with a little ready-mixed mustard and a teaspoonful of catsup.
Scotch Minced Collops.
Take 2 pounds of the fillet of beef, chopped very fine; put it in a stewpan, and add to it pepper and salt and a little flour; add a little good gravy, with a little catsup and Harvey sauce, and let it stew for twenty minutes over a slow fire. Serve up very hot, garnished with fried sippet of bread. This quantity of beef makes a good-sized dish.
Beefsteak Pudding.
Get rump steaks, not too thick; beat them with a chopper; cut them into pieces about half the size of your hand, and trim off all the skin, sinews, etc.; have ready an onion peeled and chopped fine, likewise some potatoes peeled and cut into slices a quarter of an inch thick; rub the inside of a basin or an oval plain mould with butter, sheet it with paste as directed for boiled puddings; season the steaks with pepper, salt, and a little grated nutmeg; put in a layer of steak, then another of potatoes, and so on till it is full, occasionally throwing in part of the chopped onion; add to it half a gill of mushroom catsup, a tablespoonful of lemon pickle, and half a gill of water or veal broth; roll out a top, and close it well to prevent the water getting in; rinse a clean cloth in hot water, sprinkle a little flour over it, and tie up the pudding; have ready a large pot of water boiling, put it in, and boil it two hours and a half; take it up, remove the cloth, turn it downwards in a deep dish, and when wanted take away the basin or mould.
Vol au Vent.
Roll off tart paste till about the eighth of an inch thick; then with a tin cutter made for that purpose (about the size of the bottom of the dish you intend sending to table), cut out the shape, | chicken pie may be made by omitting the plover's and lay it on a baking plate with paper, rub it over with yolk of egg; roll out good puff-paste an inch thick, stamp it with the same cutter, and lay it on the tart paste, then take a cutter two sizes smaller, and press it in the centre nearly through the puff-paste; rub the top with yolk of egg and bake it in a quick oven about twenty minutes, of a light brown color; when done take out the paste inside the centre mark, preserving the top, put it on a dish in a warm place, and when wanted, fill it with a white fricassee chicken, rabbit, ragout of sweetbread, or any other entrée you wish.
To make a Perigord Pie.
Take half a dozen partridges, and dispose of their legs in the same manner as is done with chickens, when intended to be boiled. Season them well with pepper, salt, a small quantity of cloves, and mace beaten fine. Cut 2 pounds of lean veal, and 1 pound of fat bacon into small bits, and put them into a stewpan with a pound of butter, together with some shallots, parsley, and thyme, all chopped together. Stew these till the meat appears sufficiently tender. Then season it in the same manner as directed for the partridges. Strain and pound the meat in a mortar till it is perfectly smooth, then mix the pulp in some of the liquor in which it has been stewed.
The pie-crust being raised, and ready to receive the partridges, put them in with the above-mentioned forcemeat over them, and over that lay some thin slices of bacon. Cover the pie with a thick lid, and be sure to close it well at the sides, to prevent the gravy from boiling out at the place where the joining is made, which would occasion the partridges to eat dry. This sized pie will require three hours' baking, but be careful not to put it in a fierce heated oven. A pound of fresh truffles will add considerably to the merits of this excellent pie.
Beefsteak and Oyster Pie.
Cut 3 pounds of fillet of beef or rump steaks into large scallops, fry them quickly over a very brisk fire so as to brown them before they are half done; then place them on the bottom of the dish, leaving the centre open in two successive layers; fill the centre with four dozen oysters, previously parboiled and bearded, season with pepper and salt, and pour the following preparation over the whole. When the scallops of beef have been fried in a sauce or fryingpan, pour nearly all the grease out, and shake a tablespoonful of flour into it; stir this over the fire for one minute, and then add a pint of good gravy or broth, two tablespoonsful of mushroom catsup, and an equal quantity of Harvey sauce, and the liquor of the oysters; stir the whole over the fire, and keep it boiling for a quarter of an hour. Half an hour after this sauce has been poured into the pie, cover it with puff paste in the usual way, bake it for an hour and a half, and serve.
Chicken Pie, a la Reine.
Cut 2 chickens into small members, as for fricassee; cover the bottom of the pie-dish with layers of scallops of veal and ham placed alternately; season with chopped mushrooms and parsley, pepper and salt, then add a little white sauce; next place in the dish the pieces of chicken in neat order, and round these put a plover's egg in each cavity; repeat the seasoning and the sauce, lay a few thin slices of dressed ham neatly trimmed on the top; cover the pie with puff-paste, ornament this with pieces of the same cut into the form of leaves, etc., egg the pie over with a paste-brush, and bake it for one hour and a half. A very good eggs, mushrooms, ham, and the sauce; substituting for these the yolk of eggs boiled hard, chopped parsley, bacon, and a little mushroom catsup, some common gravy, or even water.
Beefsteak and Oyster Pudding.
Line a two-quart pudding basin. with some beefsuet paste; fill this lining with a preparation similar to that described for making beefsteak and oyster pie, except that the sauce must be more reduced. When the pudding is filled, wet the edges of the paste round the top of the basin with a paste-brush dipped in water, cover it with a piece of suet-paste rolled out to the size of the basin, fasten it down by bearing all round the edge with the thumb, and then with the thumb and forefinger, twist the edges of the paste over and over so as to give it a corded appearance. This pudding must be either steamed or boiled three hours; when done turn it out of the basin carefully, pour some rich brown gravy under it and serve.
Kidney Pudding.
Cut two pounds of sheep's or lamb's kidneys into scallops, put them into a basin with some chopped parsley, shallot, and a little thyme, and season with pepper and salt; then add a large gravyspoonful of good sauce, and the juice of half a lemon; mix these ingredients well together.
Line a basin with suet-paste, and fill the pudding with the foregoing preparation; cover it in the usual way, steam or boil it for two hours and a half, and when sent to table pour under it some rich brown gravy, to which has been added a little Indian soy, and serve.
Eggs, au Gratin.
Boil the eggs hard, and when done take off the shells, cut them in slices, and set them aside on a plate. Next, put a large tablespoonful of white sauce into a stewpan to boil over the stove fire, and when it is sufficiently reduced, add 2 ounces of grated Parmesan cheese, a small pat of butter, a little nutmeg, pepper, the yolks of 4 eggs, and the juice of half a lemon; stir this quickly over the stove until it begins to thicken, and then withdraw it from the fire. Place the eggs in close circular rows, in the dish, spread some of the preparation in between each layer, observing that the whole must be dished up in the form of a dome; smooth the surface over with the remainder of the sauce, strew some fried bread-crumbs mixed with grated Parmesan cheese over the top, put some fried croutons of bread or pastry round the base, and set them in the oven to bake for about ten minutes, then send to table.
Omelet, with fine Herbs.
Break 6 eggs in a basin, to these adda gill of cream, a small pat of butter broken in small pieces, a spoonful of chopped parsley, some pepper and salt; then put 4 ounces of fresh butter in an omelet-pan on the stove fire; while the butter is melting, whip the eggs, etc., well together until they become frothy; as soon as the butter begins to fritter, pour the eggs into the pan, and stir the omelet as the eggs appear to set and become firm; when the whole has become partially set, roll the omelet into the form of an oval cushion, allow it to acquire a golden color on one side over the fire, and then turn it out on its dish; pour a little thin sauce, or half glaze under it, and serve.
Omelet, with Parmesan Cheese.
Break 6 eggs into a basin, then add a gill of cream, 4 ounces of grated Parmesan cheese, some pepper, and a little salt; beat the whole well