Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Probable cost of rabbits, 7d. to 9d. jier pound. Rabbit (Venetian way) . — Take three or more young rabbits ; skin and empty them nicely, then cut them into pieces in the following way : — Take off the shoulders, then the head from the neck, divide the back in four parts ; take off the legs on each side of the saddle, and cut them into two pieces. Have ready half a pottle of mushrooms chopped very fine, with parsley and shallots, also chopped fine. Put a small lump of butter into a stewpan with a little rasped bacon ; put the sweet herbs on the fire with a little salt, pepper, and allspice ; let them stew for a short time on a slow fire. When sufficiently fried, put in the rabbits, make them get firm with these sweet herbs till they are sufficiently done. Take the limbs out from the seasoning, lean the stewpan sideways to skim the fat that comes uppermost, put a spoonful of sauce toumee, or if you have none, add to it a small tea-spoonful of flour, moistened with a spoonful or two of consomme, let it boil a few minutes, and make a thickening of the yolks of four eggs ; add the juice of a lemon and a little cayenne pepper ; stir the sauce well ; if it happens to be too thick, make it thinner with a spoonful of broth ; keep it quite hot, throw the members into the sauce again, and send up quite hot. This sauce must be rather highly seasoned. — Tide. Rabbit, (Rare-bit), Welsh —Take a slice of bread about half an inch thick. Cut off the crust, toast it lightly, and butter it. Cut it in halves, and lay upon each half a slice of good Stilton or Cheshire cheese. Put the toasts in a cheese-toaster before a clear fire, and let them remain until the cheese is equally done. Serve the rabbit, or rare-bit, very hot, with pepper, salt, and made mustard. Some cooks toast the cheese partially in a Dutch oven, before laying it on the toast. Time to toast the cheese, a few minutes. The length of time varies with the quality of the cheese. {Sec also Earo-bit, Welsh, and Cheese, Toasted). Rabbit with Cucumber.— Cut the meat from the remains of a cold roast rabbit into neat strips, and lay it aside. Slice a fine cucumber very thinly. Sprinkle a little salt over it, and lay it between two dishes for an hour. Drain the water from it, pour over it a sjioonful or two of vinegar, and let it remain for another hour. Pour off the vinegar, and put the slices of cucumber into a saucepan with two ounces of fresh butter, a bunch of parsley, a sprig of thyme, a bay-leaf, and either an onion or a small bunch of chives. Shake the saucepan over the fire, till the cucumber is slightly browned. Dredge a little flour over it, pour upon it a quarter of a pint of good gravy or stock made from bones, and let it simmer gently for half an hour. Take out the herbs, season the sauce with pepper and salt, put in the pieces of rabbit, and let them get quite hot. The sauce must not boil after the rabbit is put in. Pile the rabbit on a dish, and pour the sauce over it. Serve very hot. Time, half an hour to simmer the sauce; a few minutes to heat the pieces of rabbit.