Cookery for every household

Solid meat should be cut in small pieces, or in thin slices and rolled up, game and poultry into neat little joints and the large bones removed. It must then be carefully seasoned according to the kind of meat used. Pies that are to be served cold may always be more highly seasoned than those which are served hot. A little grated lemon rind is always an improvement when white meat is being used. Chopped onions must always be added with caution, and not at all if objected to. Sometimes it will be found sufficient to rub the pie dish with a piece of onion before commencing to pack it. The meat should be packed rather loosely in the pie dish, and piled high in the centre like a dome. An egg cup or pie funnel is sometimes put in the centre. A little liquid, water, stock, or gravy, Pie Funnel should then be poured in. If any bones and trimmings have been taken from the meat, these may be made into a little stock while the pie is cooking, and then used for filling up the pie before serving. It is very important that a pie should have good gravy. When it is to be served cold this gravy should be a jelly, and a little gelatine should be dissolved in the stock if necessary. Whenever possible, good and tender meat should be used for making a pie ; but if a tough and coarser kind has unavoidably to be employed, it should be partially cooked before the crust is put on. This cooking must be done in such a way as to lose none of the flavour of the meat. The best plan is to cover the pie dish, when it is filled with the meat, with another dish or close-fitting lid, and to place it in a moderate oven for 1 hour or longer. Or, the prepared meat may be put into a closed jar and steamed for an hour or so. In all cases the contents of a meat pie must be quite cold before the covering of paste is put on. To Cover and Bake a Meat Pie For a plain pie, to be eaten hot, dripping crust does very well ; but for a superior pie, either rough puff or flaky pastry is more suitable. The quantity made with £ lb. of flour will be about the requisite amount for the following recipes. Roll out the pastry into an oblong shape and about I inch in thickness. From this cut a strip about l\ inches in width, or rather wider than the rim of the pie dish. Then wet the rim of the dish with cold water and lay this neatly on. Where a join is made, wet one of the edges to make them stick. Do not overlap the pieces, or one part of the edge will be thicker than the other. Wet this strip of pastry with cold water and lay on the larger piece of pastry to cover the top of the pie. Press this piece of pastry well on, easing it in slightly and. not dragging it over the dish. With a sharp knife cut off the larger pieces of pastry hanging round the dish, then hold the dish up in the left