Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Rabbit Pie (another way) . — Put into the bottom of a baking-dish a few slices of ham or beef ; cut the rabbit into as many bits as you like ; season each bit with salt, pepper, pounded spices, &c. ; put them in a dish as close as possible, add a glassful of broth if you have any ; if not, a wine-glassful of water and a drop of white wine ; cover this dish quite close with a good crust, beat an egg in a gallipot, and with a paste-brush rub it twice over the paste, and bake in a hot oven for an hour and a half, when the pie will be ready for serving. Whether hot or cold, this dish is excellent. Remember that if the rabbit pie is to be eaten cold it must be much more highly seasoned than when made to be eaten hot. Rabbit Pie, Plain.— Be careful to choose a young rabbit. Skin, empty, and wash it, and cut it into ten or twelve neat joints. If the head is put into the pie, split it into halves, and lay the pieces in lukewarm water for half an hour. Drain and diy them, put them into a large pie-dish, the inferior joints at the bottom, and put with them three or four slices of fat bacon. Mix a tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-spoonful of white pepper, and half a blade of powdered mace, and sprinkle this powder over the rabbits ; a little minced onion may be added, if liked. Barely cover the rabbits with cold stock or water. Lay a plate on the dish, and bake the rabbits in a moderate oven till they are three- parts cooked. Let the dish cool, cover it with pastry in the usual way, ornament it prettily, and make a hole in the centre, brush it over with egg, and bake in a well-heated oven till the pastry is done enough. Serve it either hot or cold. Some cooks slice potatoes thinly, and lay them in the bottom of the dish before they put in the rabbit. Time, three-quarters of an hour to bake the pie. Probable cost, 2s. 8d. Sufficient for four or five persons. Rabbit Pie, Plain (another way). — Prepare the rabbit as before, cut it into neat joints, and lay these in water for an hour, dry them well, and season each one with salt and pepper. Cut three-quarters of a pound of bacon into neat squares. Lay the inferior joints of the rabbit at the bottom of a deep dish, put upon them two or three pieces of bacon, and three parts fill the dish with alternate layers of rabbit and bacon. Dredge a little flour, and sprinkle a little chopped parsley and a little minced shallot lightly over each layer, and put two bay-leaves on the top. Pour in half a pint of stock or water, cover the pie with pastry in the usual way, brush over with egg, make a hole in the top, and bake in a well-heated oven. Turn it about, that it may bake equally, and, if necessary, place a piece of paper upon it to keep it from burning. When done enough, pour into it one or two spoonfuls of nicely-flavoured gravy, and serve hot or cold. Time to bake, an hour and a half. Probable cost, 2s. 6d. Suflicient for five or six persons.