the birds; split them down the back, season well with pepper and
salt, and brush them over with clarified butter: place them on a
gridiron, and when the fire is perfectly clear, broil them carefully,
taking care they are not at all smoked. When done glaze them nicely
and serve them with a border of fried potatoes or of small balls of
mashed potato fried brown. Mix a teaspoonful of anchovy sauce with
a pat of fresh butter, let it melt on the dish in which the grouse
is to be served. When melted, place the grouse over it, and serve
directly with a squeeze of lemon juice over the bird. It may be done
in the same way, but instead of on the gridiron, which is not always
convenient, the grouse may be placed in a sautépan with a little
butter, setting the pan in the oven and basting them well until done.
Larded.--Lard the breasts in close rows, place slices of streaky
bacon in an oval braising-pan, with vegetables; on these place the
grouse, with enough liquor to cover them, the liquor being composed
of ⅓ French vinegar and ⅔ of good stock; baste them frequently, and
when done set them on a baking-sheet in the oven for a few minutes to
dry the larding; after this glaze and dish them, garnish them with a
border of stewed red cabbages, and on this some very small sausages,
made of chopped calves’ liver, bacon, and breadcrumbs, seasoned with
pepper, salt, lemon peel, chopped fine, a little nutmeg, chopped
parsley, thyme, and bay leaf, and 2 yolks of eggs, mix thoroughly,
and fry, in small round or flat cakes, a nice brown colour. Reduce
the liquor in which the birds were stewed to a glaze, having first
cleared it from all grease, strain it over the birds and serve.
Roast.--Pluck and truss them as a fowl for roasting. They should
be well hung but not high. Draw the inside and well-wipe, but do
not wash them. Place a round of buttered toast in the dripping-pan,
and let the birds roast over it. The fire must be sharp and clear,
and they must be kept well basted the whole of the time they are
cooking. They should be well cooked, but not at all over-done, or
they would be spoilt; they ought to look just a little pink near the
bone when cut. When done remove the toast on to the hot dish, set
the birds on it, and pour over each just enough melted butter to
cover the breast. Fried breadcrumbs may be round them in the dish, or
handed separately. No gravy is sent up with roast grouse; there is
sufficient moisture in the toast. If more than 2 birds are sent up,
one round of toast would not be sufficient; there should be a piece
under each bird just large enough for it to rest upon.
_Guinea Pigs._--Though in England the animal is usually treated as
a pet, in its native country it has been reared for ages as a food
supply. They should be in good condition, and 8-18 months old, as
that is the period when they are in perfection, when older they are
more fit for soup or stock. Kill them by dislocating the neck, and
it is desirable to bleed them in the throat afterwards to avoid
discolouration. The hair should be scalded off, and they must be
emptied in the usual way. They present very much the appearance of
little sucking pigs, and are ready for the best offices of the cook.
They are generally cut up and stewed in a savoury way until the skin
is quite soft and the meat comes easily from the bones. Being small,
they may be tossed up quickly in a great many delicate ways, and
are very useful as a game course when game is out of season. They
are excellent in stews, curry, pies, puddings, brown or white soup,
and make a first rate colourless stock for velouté, &c. They may be
served as entrées in a great many ways. The pure white breed is the
best for table use, as the skin of the darker varieties does not
look so delicate when cooked. The easiest way for anyone to proceed
who wishes to try guinea pig as food is to buy one or two, and hand
them over to their pork butcher to be killed and scalded. It is
essentially a delicacy, and must be paid for as such. (C. Cumberland.)
_Hare_ (Lièvre).--Hares vary much in quality, according to the nature
of their feeding ground. Mountain hares have their admirers, and for
soup are excellent; but for a roast or jug most people justly prefer
the plump natives of the Eastern Counties. When a hare is fresh the
body is stiff, and if she is young the claws will be smooth and
sharp, and the cleft in the lips not spread much. The ear, moreover,
will tear easily. A leveret has a knob or small bone near the
fore-foot; when this disappears it is a hare. In this country it is
customary to dress hare either as a roast, jugged, or in soup. For a
roast it is indispensable that the animal be young; in fact a ¾-grown
hare makes a far more tender and succulent roast than when fully
developed.
Fillets.--Take a fine fat hare, carefully clean and prepare it, then
with a sharp knife take off at the joint the shoulders and legs.
Make a sharp cut lengthways on each side close to the backbone,
take off the slices of meat; also bone the legs; take the liver and
scald it; then heat a pan on the fire, place in it 2 or 3 slices of
fat bacon; when the drip or essence is boiling put in the meat cut
from the back and that of the legs; it must be cut into pieces. Add
2 minced shallots and a little pepper and salt; fry of a nice brown
colour. Meanwhile make some good hare stuffing, made into little
balls, with a well-beaten egg; fry them also of a nice colour. Mince
the liver finely, and stew it in some good gravy, flavour with 2
tablespoonfuls mushroom ketchup, a little taragon or chili vinegar,
salt, pepper, and a little lemon juice; thicken with a bit of butter,
into which some flour has been rubbed, when ready pour this over the
hare fillets and let all boil up. Serve very hot, garnish with crisp,
hot sippets of fried bread alternately with stuffing balls and a few
slices of lemon.
Jugged.--(_a_) The carcase and rest of the hare cut into joints,
fry with some bacon until browned; take it out, dust over the meat
some pounded dry parsley, thyme, savory, and a little pounded mace
and allspice. Mince 2 shallots, put all into a jug or jar, cover
the meat with some brown stock, add pepper and salt. Close the jug
with a bladder, and place it over the fire in a saucepan of boiling
water. Let it boil well for some 3 hours, more or less according to
age of hare. When tender take the meat out, strain off the fat from
the gravy, thicken with a little flour, boil it up, place the hare in
a deep dish, and pour the gravy over. Care should be taken to keep
the saucepan full of boiling water all the time. Some add to the
seasoning given the juice of a lemon and ½ gill claret instead of
stock. This, however, takes away the hare flavour.
(_b_) Put 1 lb. gravy beef in an earthenware stew mug, a bunch of
herbs, consisting of celery top, parsley, sweet marjoram stems, and
an onion, stuck with 6 cloves. Season each joint of the hare with a
little pounded mace, pepper, and salt, lay them in the stew-mug, and
cover with spring water, put on the lid, and place in the oven to
stew for 2½ hours or longer. When quite done, lift out each joint in
a hot soup tureen, strain the gravy, and thicken it with flour and a
little butter; boil it up, add ¼ pint port wine, pour over the hare
and serve.
(_c_) After skinning, let it soak in water for several hours,
changing it 3 or 4 times. Then cut it up and wash it again; drain
it in a colander. Put it in a jar with a sheep’s milt, lemon thyme,
parsley, a very little sweet marjoram, nutmeg, mace, pepper and salt
to taste. Tie it down with a cloth, and put it into a saucepan of
water up to the neck. Boil for 3-4 hours, according to the size of
the hare. Mix a little flour with Indian soy, ketchup, or any sauce
that is approved of. Put it into a jar, and boil for another ¼ hour.
Add forcemeat balls if preferred. (E. P.)
(_d_) This may be made with hare only, but the flavour is much
improved by cooking some beefsteak with it in the proportion of 1½
lb. to a good sized hare. In any case about 1 lb. or rather less of
fat streaky bacon should be added, cut into small slices. The beef
should be cut up into small pieces, and the hare into joints. Flour
these well on both sides, and sprinkle with black pepper and a little
salt; lay them in alternate layers in a jar that will stand in a
large saucepan of cold water. To this add a small onion stuck with 6
cloves, a very little allspice, and a bunch of sweet herbs tied in
muslin. The best pieces of hare should be at the bottom. Pour into
the jar about a pint of cold water, set the saucepan on the fire,
and let it stew for about 4 hours after the water boils. Just before
taking up add a tablespoonful of ketchup and ½ glass port wine. The
beef and bacon will have almost disappeared, and if preferred, may
be quite removed by straining the gravy over the hare, after having
nicely arranged the several joints on the dish in which it is to
be served; care must be taken to keep it very hot while straining.
Should any of this dish be left from dinner, it will be quite as good
when warmed up if it be again put into the jar and set in a saucepan
of water to boil as before; as soon as it is quite hot through it
should be taken off the fire, as it of course does not require any
more cooking. Forcemeat balls should be made and fried in butter to
serve in the dish with the jugged hare, keeping them hot in the oven
until wanted.
(_e_) In France, _civet de lièvre_ is a well-known stew of hare,
varying in some important particulars from the national English jug.
Having cased your hare, put by the liver, lungs, and heart, taking
care to throw away the gall, and mix the juice of a lemon with the
hare’s blood. Joint the hare into neat pieces, seasoning each with
salt and pepper.
Take ¾ lb. lean bacon, chop it and plunge it into boiling water for
5 minutes, then throw it into a stewpan with 1½ oz. butter until
it takes colour, when put the pieces of hare into the pan, and add
a large onion stuck with cloves, a few peppercorns, and a little
thyme, bay leaf, &c. Fry the meat for 12-15 minutes, and when its
moisture is reduced add a bottle of red wine and reduce the liquid
to ¾. Sprinkle the meat with a little flour, fill up with good hot
stock, and stir the sauce until it boils. Cover the stewpan, and
let it simmer over a moderate fire for 3-3½ hours. When the hare is
done, take up the pieces and put them into another stewpan. Add to
the sauce a glass of port wine or a little gravy, pass it through
a sieve, and reduce it over a brisk fire. Thicken with the hare’s
blood, let the sauce boil up, and pour it over the meat, adding at
the same time 1-1½ doz. mushrooms (previously trimmed, blanched,
and stewed in butter and lemon juice). Let simmer gently for a few
minutes, and dish up garnished with small onions “glazed.”
Roast.--The trussing of a hare for roasting requires great attention.
It is of the last importance that the ears and tail be carefully
skinned, and that the ears be propped up with a skewer to keep
them in an erect position. In casing a hare it is always well to
preserve the blood, as this is an useful adjunct by no means to be
thrown recklessly away. When the hare is properly trussed, prepare
a stuffing as follows: Take the crumb of a penny loaf rubbed fine,
¼ lb. chopped beef suet, a little fresh butter, some parsley, sweet
herbs, and a rather liberal proportion of lemon peel chopped fine.
Season with pepper, salt, and a little powdered nutmeg. Remove the
gall carefully from the liver, chop the liver very fine, and mix
it together with the other ingredients of the stuffing, adding at
the same time the yolks of 2 eggs and a glass of red wine. Fill the
cavity with the stuffing, and sew or skewer it up. Then put the
hare to roast before a sharp fire for about an hour--according to
size--and baste it thoroughly well with butter, or, still better,
put 1 qt. milk and ½ lb. butter into the dripping-pan, and baste
constantly. When done the hare must be finally basted with butter,
sprinkled with salt, and dredged with flour till it froths. Then
serve it in a hot dish with gravy under, and gravy and red currant
jelly served separately. Leverets may be roasted in the same way,
but will not require more than 35-40 minutes’ cooking. Both hares
and leverets may be larded previously to roasting, on the back and
thighs, and when one is so unlucky as to have a full-grown hare to
roast, this process of larding should never be omitted. When it is
desired to get two dishes, an _entrée_ and a roast, out of a hare,
the animal should be cut in two, the hindquarters larded, stuffed,
and roasted as above, and the forequarters cut in pieces, stewed with
a pint of water, a gill of red wine, an onion stuck with cloves, a
fagot of sweet herbs, a blade of mace, and a little pepper. When the
hare is done take it out, then put a large lump of butter into a
stewpan, melt it, put in a spoonful of flour, stir till it is smooth,
and then by degrees pour in the strained gravy. Stir it well, put in
the hare and a little ketchup, season with pepper and salt, give it a
shake, serve hot, and garnish with lemon.
Salmis.--When the hare is trussed, fasten slices of fat bacon over
the back, and lightly roast it, basting constantly to prevent its
getting dry. Let the hare get cold, then divide the meat into neat
pieces, using all the bones and trimmings to make gravy. Put these on
to boil, with 1 lb. gravy meat cut small and fried, 4 onions fried, a
carrot, a turnip, a slice of lean ham, a lump of sugar, and a small
teaspoonful of salt and of black pepper, add 2 qt. water, and boil
gently for 3 hours; then strain, cool, and take off all fat. This
done, put the gravy into a stewpan, and boil it without the lid until
it is reduced to a pint, and is very rich and thick, then stir in the
juice of a lemon, and a gill of claret. Put the hare into the gravy,
and let it stand for an hour, taking care it does not boil or even
simmer.
Shape.--The remains of jugged hare may be used much in the same way
as the veal. Remove the meat from the bones and pound it. Warm the
gravy, adding a large glass of port, a tablespoonful of red jelly,
and ½ oz. Nelson’s gelatine, making about 1¼ pints. Take a quart
mould, ornament with small forcemeat balls, stir the strained gravy
into the pounded meat, and, when nearly cold, pour on the balls. When
set, turn out and ornament with rings of lemon and parsley, putting
(last thing) a few dabs of jelly on the top.
_Larks_ (Mauviettes).--The following recipes for cooking larks are
mainly from the pen of A. G. F. Eliot-James:--
Broiled.--Chop some parsley very fine, mixing it with butter, pepper,
and salt. Stuff the birds with this, tie them at both ends, and broil
on a gridiron over a clear fire or gas. Serve on slices of fried
bread on a very hot dish, and send melted butter to table with them.
Croustade.--A favourite _entrée_. The birds are prepared by being
boned and stuffed (q.v.), after which they are baked in a croustade
of fried bread, with a rich sauce.
In Cases.--Bone the larks skilfully, put the livers on one side,
and set the bones and trimmings to boil in some good stock, broth,
or even water, with carrots, onions, parsley, pepper, salt, a few
cloves, a bay leaf, and a few pieces of ham or bacon. When well
reduced, train this gravy, and put it by. Cut up the larks’ livers,
as also some fowls’ livers, or some calf’s liver, all in small dice;
do the same with half their quantity of bacon. Fry a few shallots a
light yellow in plenty of butter, then put in the liver and bacon,
with minced parsley, pepper, and salt, and a little powdered spices.
Toss the whole on the fire for a few minutes, then turn out on a
sieve, and pass them through while hot. Have some paper cases ready
oiled, put a layer of this _farce_ in each, then a moderate-sized
piece in each lark, roll up the birds neatly, and place one in each
case, with a thin slice of fat bacon over it. Bake them in the oven
not longer than 10-15 minutes. At the time of serving, thicken the
gravy by mixing a little flour with some butter, and then adding
the gravy to it. Fill the cases with gravy, and stew a little
finely-minced parsley over each. The pieces of bacon may be removed
or not before serving.
Pie.--Pluck, singe, draw, and truss 1 doz. larks, save the trails,
chop them fine, mixing with them some scraped bacon, 6 mushrooms,
some sage, parsley, and sweet herbs, all finely chopped, with pepper,
salt, nutmeg, and mace. Mix all thoroughly well together, divide into
12 portions, and stuff the birds with it. Spread over the bottom of
a pie dish fat bacon pounded to a paste, with a seasoning of pepper,
salt, and sweet herbs, with a little mace and nutmeg. Put in the
larks, sprinkling some more seasoning over them. Fill up any hollows
with scraped or pounded bacon; lay some thin slices of fresh butter,
and then over them some very thin slices of fat bacon. Have ready
some rich pastry, of which form the top crust; egg it over and bake.
When ready, lift the crust, remove the bacon, and pour in some rich
gravy; replace the crust, heat up again, and serve.
Potted.--An excellent breakfast dish. The birds must be very
carefully picked, singed, and drawn, dried well, and seasoned inside
and out with pepper, salt, and mace, then put into a stone jar with
plenty of butter, tied down, and baked in a moderate oven. When quite
cooked, the gravy should all be drained off, and the larks put into
potting jars. Have clarified butter poured over them, be closely tied
down, and kept in a dry place.
Roast.--The most usual method of dressing larks is, of course, by
roasting. For plain roasting, they are simply plucked, singed, drawn,
and trussed, have thin slices of bacon pinned over their breasts, and
are set down before a brisk fire, being basted the whole time. The
last 5 minutes or so the bacon is removed, and bread crumbs sprinkled
over them until they are well covered. They are, of course, tied to
the spit or else strung on a wooden skewer. The best way is to put
each bird on a separate skewer, as they then get more thoroughly
basted than when several are close together on one stick. They
should be served on a layer of well-fried breadcrumbs, and the dish
prettily garnished. Some people omit the breadcrumbs while roasting.
The bacon should in that case be left on until quite the last thing,
and the breast just frothed up with a little flour before serving.
Either butter or bacon fat can be used for basting; if the latter,
substitute butter for it for the last five minutes.
Stew.--(_a_) Pluck, singe, and truss 1 doz. fine larks; peel a large
onion, stick 6 cloves into it, and put it into a stewpan with some
melted fat bacon, toss it about a little, remove the onion, add some
fresh mushrooms finely chopped, and some truffles; put in the larks,
and toss all the ingredients together over the fire for a short time.
Pour in some well made veal gravy and stew over the fire until the
larks are quite tender. Chop a spoonful of parsley very fine, beat
up the yoke of an egg in ¼ pint cream, and add to it by degrees the
parsley; put this into the stewpan with the larks, stir it together,
and then allow to stand; remove all fat, and squeeze in some lemon
juice just before serving.
(_b_) (À la Florence).--Pluck, singe, and trim 8 larks; prepare
a forcemeat of chopped mushrooms and parsley, grated ham and
breadcrumbs, pepper and salt to taste--the mushrooms should
predominate over the other ingredients; mix with butter. Place the
larks in a stewpan, cover with rich veal stock, adding salt and
pepper to taste, and a little colouring. Stew very gently for about
¾ hour. Have ready in a basin the following sauce: The yoke of an
egg beaten up in a small glass of sherry, with the juice of half a
lemon and a little cayenne, thicken with arrowroot or flour; rub some
mashed potatoes through a sieve, make a wall of them round a rather
deep dish, hold a salamander over for a few moments just to colour
them, set the larks in the centre, place the dish in the oven to keep
hot while you strain the stock, to which add the sauce, and stir over
the fire in a lined saucepan until nearly boiling; then pour over the
larks, garnish the dish with slices of lemon, and serve as hot as
possible.
Stuffed. Baked.--Take 8-10 fine larks, pluck, singe, and draw them.
Prepare the following stuffing: Mince very fine the white meat of a
chicken, also a slice of boiled ham and a slice of raw bacon, chop
some sage leaves, and mix all these ingredients together, with a
little pepper and salt and some finely pounded mace. Divide this
forcemeat into two parts, stuff the birds with one, and reserve the
other to use in the following manner: Cut as many slices of bacon as
there are birds, spreading over each slice some of the forcemeat;
then place a lark on each slice of bacon and wrap it up in it. Lay
them side by side in a baking-pan, put a cover over it, and bake in a
moderate oven. When the larks are done, dish them on a very hot dish,
pouring over them some rich veal gravy with a little lemon juice
squeezed into it. Garnish with slices of lemon and serve.
Vol-au-vent.--For this dish the birds are boned and stuffed as if for
serving in paper cases. They are then sent to table in a vol-au-vent
case, with a rich white game sauce and mushrooms or truffles.
_Ortolans._ Fried.--Truss as for roasting; dip each bird in the yolk
of eggs well beaten, and then sprinkle over thickly with breadcrumbs,
fry in boiling lard, or butter, or oil. Serve on fried breadcrumbs
mixed with a savoury powder made of mushrooms or truffles. The bread
for the crumbs should have been soaked in lemon-juice and port wine.
In cases.--The birds for this dish are baked in paper cases. First
pick, singe, and bone them, cut ¼ lb. bacon into small pieces, and
put it in a sautépan with 2 shallots, 2 bay leaves, some parsley,
thyme, and marjoram, 1 doz. whole peppercorns, and salt, fry until
brown; then add ½ lb. calf’s liver, cut in pieces, cook this till
brown; then turn the contents of the pan into a mortar and pound
them, rub through a sieve, place back in the mortar and repound,
adding the yolks of 3 hard-boiled eggs, when thoroughly mixed add
6 truffles chopped fine. Stuff the ortolans with this mixture, and
place each bird in a well-oiled paper case, brush over with oil, and
put into a quick oven. Make a rich sauce of the bones of the birds,
half a pint of good gravy stock, and a glass of port wine, reduce to
about a gill, and when the birds are ready to serve, pour a spoonful
of this sauce over each, sending to table as hot as possible.
Roast.--Let the birds hang till quite tender, then pluck and singe,
but do not draw, truss as you would quail, wiping them carefully
all over first of all. Wrap each bird in a young, freshly-gathered
vine leaf, and tie them on a bird spit, put down at a moderate
distance from a brisk fire, and roast, according to size, 20-25
minutes. Place under the birds, in the dripping-pan, slices of toast
to catch the trail, baste incessantly with butter during the time
they are roasting, dish up on the toast, and serve on a very hot
dish. Some people sprinkle the birds over with fine breadcrumbs just
before serving, and serve on breadcrumbs, made from bread soaked in
lemon-juice and port wine, instead of toast. Send to table with them
a well-made orange or lemon gravy, prepared thus: Simmer in some good
stock, about ½ pint, 4 or 5 strips orange or lemon peel (whichever
flavour is preferred), a few basil leaves, the juice of the lemon or
orange, salt and pepper to taste, and a glass of port wine; allow all
these ingredients to simmer 15 minutes, strain, heat again, and serve
as hot as possible in a sauce tureen with a cover. Bacon should never
be wrapped round ortolans; it destroys their delicate flavour.