Cookery for every household

hand and with the right trim neatly round the edges. When trimming take short quick strokes, always cutting away from you, and inclining the knife in such a way that the edges of the crust will have a considerable outward slope. Then flour the first finger of the left hand and keep pressing the back of it down on the rim of the pastry, while with the back -of a floured knife you tap the edges smartly all round, making them look like the leaves of a book. To scallop them, draw the back of the knife sharply across them at intervals of about £ inch, drawing the knife upwards and inwards, while with the thumb of the left hand you keep pressing the pastry just in front of the knife downwards and outwards. Make a hole in the centre of the pie with a knife and brush over with beaten egg, omitting the outer edge. Roll out the trimmings of the pastry and cut out leaves for decorating. To Make Leaves. — This may be done with fancy cutters, or in the following simple way. Cut the pastry into strips about 1 £ inch wide. Then divide these obliquely into diamond-shaped pieces. Mark each with the back of a knife to imitate the veins of a leaf. From seven to nine of these leaves will be required for a centre ornament, and they should radiate from the hole in the centre of the pie towards Meat Pie ready for Oven the edge of the dish. The pie may be further decorated by having one or two roses, or a tassel, put in the centre, but care must always be taken not to fill up the hole. To Make a Rose. — Take a small piece of pastry about the size of a nutmeg and work into it as much dry flour as it will take up. Then roll it out as thin as a sheet of paper and cut a square. Fold in four so as to make a smaller square, and then lay this over the point of the first finger, folding down the edges all round. Cut a cross in the centre of the pastry, remove it from the finger, squeeze the edges together, and open out the petals. To Make a Tassel. — Roll out a small piece of pastry in a strip, about 1J inches in width. Cut this strip across like a fringe to about one half its width and then roll up. When the pie is decorated, brush it over with a little beaten egg or with egg and milk, and it will be ready for baking. To Bake and Serve the Pie. — Place the pie on a baking tin or Yorkshire pudding tin, and put it in a hot oven the first half hour, or until the crust is risen and set, and beginning to brown. Then move it to a cooler part, 60 that the meat may cook more slowly. As soon as the crust is dark enough it should be covered with a double piece of paper until the pie is cooked. The meat may be tested by running in a skewer through the hole in the top. As soon as the pie is done, remove it from the oven. Heat some good stock or gravy and pour it in through a filler, or out of a small cream jug. Wipe the dish v ith a wet cloth and garnish with parsley before serving. 1452. Beefsteak and Kidney Pie (Pfit6 de Bifteck et Rognons) Time to bake, 1 £ to 2 hours. Sufficient for 4 or 5 persons. Probable cost, 2s. to 2s. 6 d. 1 lb. beef (cut thin). 2 sheep’s kidneys. 1 hard-boiled egg. 1 tea-sp. chopped parsley. Salt, pepper. 1 table-sp. flour. £ tea-sp. Jamaica pepper. 1 dessert-sp. ketchup. 4 table-sps. stock or water. Flaky, rough-pufi, or dripping pastry.