Rabbit Pie
INGREDIENTS for medium-sized pie.-1 rabbit, a few slices of ham or bacon, salt and white pepper to taste, 2 blades of pounded mace,½ teaspoonful of grated nutmeg, a few forcemeat balls, 2 hard-boiled eggs, 1/2 pint of gravy, puffcrust. AVERAGE COST, 2s. 6d. Cut up the rabbit (which should be young), remove the breast-bone and bone the legs. Put the rabbit, slices of ham, forcemeat balls and hard-boiled eggs, by turns, in layers, and season each layer with pepper, salt, pounded mace and grated nutmeg. Pour in about pint of water, cover RABBIT, ROAST. with crust, and bake in a well-heated oven for about 1½ hour. Should the crust acquire too much colour, place a piece of paper over it to prevent it from burning. When done, pour in at the top, by means of the hole in the middle of the crust, a little good gravy, RABBIT PIE. which may be made of the breast and leg bones of the rabbit and 2 or 3 shank-bones, flavoured with onion, herbs and spices.
TIME.-1 hour.
SEASONABLE from September to February.
Note. The liver of the rabbit may be boiled, minced and mixed with the forcemeat balls, when the flavour is liked.
Rabbit or Hare, Ragoût of.- INGREDIENTS for dish for 5 persons.-1 rabbit, 3 teaspoonfuls of flour, 3 sliced onions, 2 oz. of butter, a few thin slices of bacon, pepper and salt to taste, 2 slices of lemon, 1 bay-leaf, 1 glass of port wine.
AVERAGE COST, 2s.
Slice the onions, and put them into a stewpan with the flour and butter; place the pan near the fire, stir well as the butter melts, till the onions become a rich brown colour, and add, by degrees, a little water or gravy till the mixture is of the consistency of cream. Cut some thin slices of bacon; lay in these, with the rabbit, cut into neat joints; add a seasoning of pepper and salt, the lemon and bayleaf, and let the whole simmer until tender. Pour in the port wine, give one boil, and serve.
TIME. - About hour to simmer the rabbit.
SEASONABLE from September to February.