[Modern cookery, in all its branches

cover on the mould and arrange these equally upon it, leaving them a little rough on the surface. Bake the pasty in a moderate oven from three-quarters of an hour to an hour and a quarter, according to its size and its contents. Pin a folded napkin neatly round the mould, before it is served, and have ready a hot dish to receive the cover, which must not be lifted off until after the pasty is on the table. Chicken, or veal and oysters ; delicate pork chops with a seasoning of sage and a little parboiled onion, or an eschalot or two finely minced ; partridges or rabbits neatly carved, mixed with small mushrooms, and moistened with a little good stock, will all give excellent varieties of this dish, which may be made likewise with highly seasoned slices of salmon freed from the skin, sprinkled with fine herbs or intermixed with shrimps ; clarified butter, rich veal stock, or good white wine, may be poured to them to form the gravy. To thicken this, a little flour should be dredged upon the fish before it is laid into the mould. Other kinds, such as cod, mullet, mackerel in fillets, salt fish (previously kept at the point of boiling until three parts done, then pulled into flakes, and put into the mould with hard eggs sliced, a little cream, flour, butter, cayenne, and anchovy - essence, and baked with mashed parsneps on the top), will all answer well for this pasty. Veal, when used for it, should be well beaten first : sweetbreads, sliced, may be laid in with it. For a pasty of moderate size, two pounds, or two and a half of meat, and from three to four of potatoes, will be sufficient ; a quarter of a pint of milk or cream, two small teaspoonsful of salt, and from one to two ounces of butter must be mixed up with these last.* CASSEROLE OF RICE, Proceed exactly as for Gabrielle s pudding (see Chapter XXI.), but substitute good veal broth or stock for the milk, and add a couple of ounces more of butter. Fill the casserole when it is * A larger proportion of cream and butter well dried into the potatoes over a gentle fire after they are mashed, will render the crust of the pasty richer and finer. S52 modern Cookery* [chap, xviit. emptied, with a rich mince or fricassee, or with stewed oysters in a bechamel sauce. French cooks make a very troublesome and elaborate affair of this dish, putting to the rice to make it “ mellow ,” a great deal of pot-top fat, slices of fat ham, &c., which must afterwards be well drained off, or picked out from it ; but the dish, made as we have directed, will be found excellent eating, and of very elegant appearance, if it be moulded in a tasteful shape. It must have a quick oven to colour, without too much drying it. The rice for it must be boiled sufficiently tender to be crushed easily to a smooth paste, and it must be mashed with a strong wooden spoon against the sides of the stewpan until all the grains are broken. It may then, when cool, be made like a raised pie with the hands, and decorated with a design formed on it with a carrot cut into a point like a graver. For a large casserole, a pound of rice and a quart of gravy will be required : a bit of bread is sometimes used in filling the mould, cut to the shape, and occupying nearly half the inside, but always so as to leave a thick and compact crust in every part.