_Ingredients._—2 large rabbits, or 3 small ones; a faggot of savoury
herbs, ½ head of celery, 2 carrots, 1 onion, 1 blade of mace, salt
and white pepper to taste, a little pounded mace, ½ pint of cream,
the yolks of 2 eggs boiled hard, the crumb of a French roll, nearly 3
quarts of water. _Mode._—Make the soup with the legs and shoulders of
the rabbit, and keep the nice pieces for a dish or _entrée_. Put them
into warm water, and draw the blood; when quite clean, put them into a
stewpan, with a faggot of herbs, and a teacupful, or rather more, of
veal stock or water. Simmer slowly till done through, add the three
quarts of water, and boil for an hour. Take out the rabbit, pick the
meat from the bones, covering it up to keep it white; put the bones
back in the liquor, add the vegetables, and simmer for two hours; skim
and strain, and let it cool. Now pound the meat in a mortar, with the
yolks of the eggs, and the crumb of the roll previously soaked; rub
it through a tammy, and gradually add it to the strained liquor, and
simmer for 15 minutes. Mix arrowroot or rice-flour with the cream (say
2 dessertspoonfuls), and stir in the soup; bring it to a boil, and
serve. This soup must be very white, and instead of thickening it with
arrowroot or rice-flour, vermicelli or pearl barley can be boiled in a
little stock, and put in five minutes before serving. _Time._—Nearly 4
hours. _Average cost_, 1_s._ per quart. _Seasonable_ from September to
March. _Sufficient_ for 10 persons.
RABBIT, Stewed.
_Ingredients._—1 rabbit, 2 large onions, 6 cloves, 1 small teaspoonful
of chopped lemon-peel, a few forcemeat balls, thickening of butter
and flour, 1 large tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup. _Mode._—Cut the
rabbit into small joints; put them into a stewpan, add the onions
sliced, the cloves, and minced lemon-peel. Pour in sufficient water
to cover the meat, and, when the rabbit is nearly done, drop in a few
forcemeat balls, to which has been added the liver, finely chopped.
Thicken the gravy with flour and butter, put in the ketchup, give one
boil, and serve. _Time._—Rather more than ½ hour. _Average cost_, 1_s._
to 1_s._ 6_d._ each. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons. _Seasonable_ from
September to February.
RABBIT STEWED, Larded.
_Ingredients._—1 rabbit, a few strips of bacon, rather more than 1 pint
of good broth or stock, a bunch of savoury herbs, salt and pepper to
taste, thickening of butter and flour, 1 glass of sherry. _Mode._—Well
wash the rabbit, cut it into quarters, lard them with slips of bacon,
and fry them; then put them into a stewpan with the broth, herbs, and
a seasoning of pepper and salt; simmer gently until the rabbit is
tender, then strain the gravy, thicken it with butter and flour, add
the sherry, let it boil, pour it over the rabbit, and serve. Garnish
with slices of cut lemon. _Time._—Rather more than ½ hour. _Average
cost_, 1_s._ to 1_s._ 6_d._ each. _Sufficient_ for 4 or 5 persons.
_Seasonable_ from September to February.
RABBITS, Stewed in Milk.
_Ingredients._—2 very young rabbits, not nearly half grown; 1½ pint
of milk, 1 blade of mace, 1 dessertspoonful of flour, a little salt
and cayenne. _Mode._—Mix the flour very smoothly with 4 tablespoonfuls
of the milk, and when this is well mixed, add the remainder. Cut up
the rabbits into joints, put them into a stewpan, with the milk and
other ingredients, and simmer them _very gently_ until quite tender.
Stir the contents from time to time, to keep the milk smooth and
prevent it from burning. ½ hour will be sufficient for the cooking of
this dish. _Time._—½ hour. _Average cost_, from 1_s._ to 1_s._ 6_d._
each. _Sufficient_ for 5 or 6 persons. _Seasonable_ from September to
February.
RABBITS, to carve.
In carving a boiled rabbit, let the knife be drawn on each side of the
backbone, the whole length of the rabbit, as shown by the dotted line
3 to 4: thus the rabbit will be in three parts. Now let the back be
divided into two equal parts in the direction of the line from 1 to 2;
then let the leg be taken off, as shown by the line 5 to 6, and the
shoulder, as shown by the line 7 to 8. This, in our opinion, is the
best plan to carve a rabbit, although there are other modes which are
preferred by some.
[Illustration: BOILED RABBIT.]
A roast rabbit is rather differently trussed from one that is meant to
be boiled; but the carving is nearly similar, as will be seen by the
cut. The back should be divided into as many pieces as it will give,
and the legs and shoulders can then be disengaged in the same manner as
those of the boiled animal.
[Illustration: ROAST RABBIT.]
RAISED PIE, of Poultry or Game.
_Ingredients._—To every lb. of flour allow ½ lb of butter, ½ pint
of water, the yolks of 2 eggs, ½ teaspoonful of salt (these are for
the crust); 1 large fowl or pheasant, a few slices of veal cutlet, a
few slices of dressed ham, forcemeat, seasoning of nutmeg, allspice,
pepper and salt, gravy. _Mode._—Make a stiff short crust with the above
proportion of butter, flour, water, and eggs, and work it up very
smoothly; butter a raised-pie mould, and line it with paste. Previously
to making the crust, bone the fowl, or whatever bird is intended to be
used, lay it, breast downwards, upon a cloth, and season the inside
well with pounded mace, allspice, pepper, and salt; then spread over
it a layer of forcemeat, then a layer of seasoned veal, and then one
of ham, and then another layer of forcemeat, and roll the fowl over,
making the skin meet at the back. Line the pie with forcemeat, put in
the fowl, and fill up the cavities with slices of seasoned veal, and
ham, and forcemeat; wet the edges of the pie, put on the cover, pinch
the edges together with the paste-pincers, and decorate it with leaves;
brush it over with beaten yolk of egg, and bake in a moderate oven for
4 hours. In the mean time, make a good strong gravy from the bones,
pour it through a funnel into the hole at the top; cover this hole with
a small leaf, and the pie, when cold, will be ready for use. Let it be
remembered that the gravy must be considerably reduced before it is
poured into the pie, as, when cold, it should form a firm jelly, and
not be the least degree in a liquid state. This recipe is suitable for
all kinds of poultry or game, using one or more birds, according to
the size of the pie intended to be made; but the birds must always be
boned. Truffles, mushrooms, &c., added to this pie, make it much nicer;
and, to enrich it, lard the fleshy parts of the poultry or game with
thin strips of bacon. This method of forming raised pies in a mould
is generally called a _timbale_, and has the advantage of being more
easily made than one where the paste is raised by the hands; the crust,
besides, being eatable. _Time._—Large pie, 4 hours. _Average cost_,
6_s._ 6_d._ _Seasonable_, with poultry, all the year; with game, from
September to March.
RAISED PIE, of Veal and Ham.
_Ingredients._—3 or 4 lbs. of veal cutlets, a few slices of bacon or
ham, seasoning of pepper, salt, nutmeg, and allspice, forcemeat, 2
lbs. of hot-water paste, ½ pint of good strong gravy. _Mode._—To raise
the crust for a pie with the hands is a very difficult task, and can
only be accomplished by skilled and experienced cooks. The process
should be seen to be satisfactorily learnt, and plenty of practice
given to the making of raised pies, as by that means only will success
be insured. Make a hot-water paste by recipe, and from the mass raise
the pie with the hands; if this cannot be accomplished, cut out pieces
for the top and bottom, and a long piece for the sides; fasten the
bottom and side-piece together by means of egg, and pinch the edges
well together; then line the pie with forcemeat, put in a layer of
veal, and a plentiful seasoning of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice;
for, let it be remembered, these pies taste very insipid unless highly
seasoned. Over the seasoning place a layer of sliced bacon or cooked
ham, and then a layer of forcemeat, veal seasoning, and bacon, and
so on until the meat rises to about an inch above the paste; taking
care to finish with a layer of forcemeat, to fill all the cavities of
the pie, and to lay in the meat firmly and compactly. Brush the top
edge of the pie with beaten egg, put on the cover, press the edges,
and pinch them round with paste-pincers. Make a hole in the middle of
the lid, and ornament the pie with leaves, which should be stuck on
with the white of an egg; then brush it all over with the beaten yolk
of an egg, and bake the pie in an oven with a soaking heat from 3 to
4 hours. To ascertain when it is done, run a sharp-pointed knife or
skewer through the hole at the top into the middle of the pie, and if
the meat feels tender, it is sufficiently baked. Have ready about ½
pint of very strong gravy, pour it through a funnel into the hole at
the top, stop up the hole with a small leaf of baked paste, and put the
pie away until wanted for use. Should it acquire too much colour in the
baking, cover it with white paper, as the crust should not in the least
degree be burnt. Mushrooms, truffles, and many other ingredients, may
be added to enrich the flavour of these pies, and the very fleshy parts
of the meat may be larded. These pies are more frequently served cold
than hot, and form excellent dishes for cold suppers or breakfasts.
The cover of the pie is sometimes carefully removed, leaving the
perfect edges, and the top decorated with square pieces of very bright
aspic jelly: this has an exceedingly pretty effect. _Time._—About 4
hours. _Average cost_, 6_s._ 6_d._ _Sufficient_ for a very large pie.
_Seasonable_ from March to October.
[Illustration: RAISED PIE.]