The encyclopaedia of practical cookery

(3) Cut off the meat from the shoulders and legs of a Hare, and put them in a mortar with an equal quantity of fresh bacon ; then sprinkle in a little seasoning, pound well, and rub it through a sieve. Cut half of a calf’s liver in slices, put them in a frying-pan with a little hog’s lard or butter, sprinkle over with salt and pepper, and fry until set. Take them out, and when cold chop up, add them to the Hare forcemeat, pound well for ten minutes or so, and pass it through a sieve again. Cut the fillets of a Hare in small squares, add to them their equal bulk of bacon, blanched and cut in dice, and a few sliced truffles ; season well, and mix them in with the forcemeat. Put some strips of bacon at the bottom of a potting-pan, put the forcemeat mixture over it, cover with slices of bacon, and again with a round of paste, put the pan on a baking-sheet in a rather slow oven, and bake from an hour-and-a-half to two hours. Take it out, and when cool it is ready for use. (4) Remove the head from the fore-part of a Hare, and cut the fore-part into small pieces. Line the bottom of a stone or earthenware jar with pieces of unsmoked bacon ; put in the pieces of Hare, with one bay-leaf, two or three cloves, a piece of stick mace, and a small quantity of salt and pepper. Pour 1 breakfast-cupful of red wine over the Roasted Hare. — (1) Select a Hare, and let it hang up for four or five days to make the flesh eatable, for if cooked fresh the meat is hard and tough. Skin and draw it, preserving the blood. Cut off the upper end of the body transversely under the fore-legs, and cut the breast its full length so as to disengage the back. Cut out or break all the hind-leg bones, chop off the feet, and pass one leg through the sinew of the other at the knuckle. Take off the sinewy skin of the fillets, and lard them with bacon, also the fleshy part of the legs (see Fig. 934), fixing them with skewers so that they will lie perfectly flat on a dish. Pass a long skewer right through the Hare, fix it on the spit, and moisten the larded parts with a little softened butter. Put a pan under the Hare to catch the drippings caused by the cooking, baste it frequently, and when it has roasted for forty-five minutes or so, sprinkle it over with salt. Take it off the spit, remove the skewers, put it on a dish, and serve with piquant sauce made with the blood and dripping in a tureen. (2) Let a Hare hang as long as possible, for it cannot be hung too long. It is better for not being paunched for a few days unless the weather is warm and muggy ; and in no case is it advisable to paunch it when first killed. Keep the inside wiped dry, and well peppered. If the Hare is very old, soak it for a couple of hours in water-and-vinegar. Stuff the belly with plenty of well-seasoned stuffing made as below, put the Hare at some distance from the fire, and roast gradually, because being of a very dry and hard For details respecting Culinary Processes, Utensils, Sauces, <L‘C., referred to, see under their special heads. H ares — continued.