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DIRECTIONS FOR SAVOURY PIES.

Balls made this way are remarkably light; but being greasy, some people prefer them with less suet and eggs.

Little Eggs for Turtle.-Beat three hard yolks of eggs in a mortar, and make into a paste with the yolk of a raw one, roll it into small balls, and throw them into boiling water for two minutes to harden.

Browning, to Colour and Flavour Made Dishes.Beat to powder four ounces of double-refined sugar, put it into a very nice iron frying-pan, with one ounce of fine fresh butter, mix it well over a clear fire, and when it begins to froth, hold it up higher; when of a very fine dark brown, pour in a small quantity of a pint of port, and the whole by very slow degrees, stirring all the time, Put to the above half an ounce of Jamaica, and the same of black pepper, six cloves of shalots peeled, three blades of mace bruised, three spoonfuls of mushroom, and the same of walnut ketchup, some salt, and the finely pared rind of a lemon; boil gently fifteen minutes, pour it into a basin till cold, take off the scum, and bottle for use.

Casserol, or Rice, Edging for a Currie, or Fricassee. -After soaking and picking fine Carolina rice, boil it in water, nd a little salt, until tender, but not to a mash; drain, and put it round the inner edge of the dish, to the height of two inches; smooth it with the back of a spoon, and wash it over with yolk of egg, and put it into the oven for three or four minutes, then serve the meat in the middle.

PIES, PUDDINGS, AND PASTRY.

SAVOURY PIES.

(FRUIT PIES WILL BE PLACED UNDER THE HEAD PASTRY.) Observations on Savoury Pies.

THERE are few articles of cookery more generally liked than relishing pies, if properly made; and they may be made so of a great variety of things. Some are best eaten when cold, and, in that case, there should be no suet put into the forcemeat that is used with them. If the pie is either made of meat that will take more dressing, to make it extremely tender, than the baking of the crust will allow; or if it is to be served in an earthen pie-form; observe the following preparation :

Take three pounds of the veiny piece of beef (for instance) that has fat and lean; wash it, and season it with salt, pepper, mace, and allspice, in fine powder, rubbing them well in. Set it by the side of a slow fire, in a stew-pot that will just hold it; put to it a piece of butter, about two ounces, and cover it quite close; let it just simmer in its own steam till it begins to shrink. When it is cold add more seasoning, forcemeat, and eggs: and if it is in a dish, put some gravy to it before baking; but if it is only in crust, do not put the gravy till after it is cold and in jelly, as has been

EEL PIE--COD PIE-LOBSTER PIE.

103

described in page 93. Forcemeat may be put both under and over the meat, if preferred to balls.

Eel Pie.-Cut the eels in lengths of two or three inches, season with pepper, and salt, and place in a dish, with some bits of butter, and a little water; and cover it with paste.

Cod Pie.-Take a piece of the middle of a small cod, and salt it well one night next day wash it; season with pepper, salt, and a very little nutmeg, mixed; place in a dish, and put some butter on it, and a little good broth of any kind into the dish.

Cover it with a crust; and when done, add a sauce of a spoonful of broth, a quarter of a pint of cream, a little flour and butter, a grate of lemon and nutmeg, and give it one boil. Oysters may be added.

Mackerel will do well, but do not salt them till used.

Parsley picked and put in, may be used instead of oysters.

Sole Pie.-Split some soles from the bones, and cut the fins close; season with a mixture of salt, pepper, a little nutmeg and pounded mace, and put them in layers, with oysters. They eat excellently. A pair of middling-sized ones will do, and half a hundred of oysters. Put in the dish the oyster liquor, two or three spoonfuls of broth, and some butter. When the pie comes home, pour in a cupful of thick cream.

Shrimp Pie, excellent.-Pick a quart of shrimps; if they are very salt, season them with only mace and a clove or two Mince two or three anchovies; mix these with the spice, and then season the shrimps. Put some butter at the bottom of the dish, and cover the shrimps with a glass of sharp white wine. The paste must be light and thin. They do not take long baking.

Lobster Pie.-Boil two lobsters, or three small, take out the tails, cut them in two, take out the gut, cut each in four pieces, and lay in a small dish, then put in the meat of the claws and that you have picked out of the body; pick off the furry parts from the latter, and take out the lady; the spawn, beat in a mortar: likewise all the shells: set them on to stew with some water, two or three spoonfuls of vinegar, pepper, salt, and some pounded mace: a large piece of butter, rolled in flour, must be added when the goodness of the shells is obtained; give a boil or two, and pour into the dish strained; strew some crumbs, and put a paste over all; bake slowly, but only till the paste be done.

A remarkably fine Fish Pie. Boil two pounds of small eels; having cut the fins quite close, pick the flesh off, and throw the bones into the liquor, with a little mace, pepper, salt, and a slice of onion; boil till quite rich, and strain it. Make forcemeat of the flesh, an anchovy, parsley, lemon peel, salt, pepper, and crumbs, and four ounces of butter warmed, and lay it at the bottom of the dish. Take the flesh of soles, small cod, or dressed turbot, and lay them on the forcemeat, having rubbed it with salt and pepper; pour the gravy over and bake.

Observe to take off the skin and fins, if cod or soles.

Pilchard and Leek Pie.-Clean and skin the white part of some large leeks; scald in milk and water, and put them in layers

104

BEEF STEAK PIE-CALF'S HEAD PIE.

into a dish, and between the layers, two or three salted pilchards, which have been soaked for some hours the day before. Cover the whole with a good plain crust. When the pie is taken out of the oven, lift up the side crust with a knife, and empty out all the liquor; then pour in half a pint of scalded cream.

Beef Steak Pie.-Prepare the steaks as in page 44, and when seasoned and rolled with fat in each, put them in a dish with puff paste round the edges; put a little water in the dish, and cover it with a good crust.

:

Veal Pie.-Take some of the middle, or scrag, of a small neck; season it; and either put to it, or not, a few slices of lean bacon or ham. If it is wanted of a high relish, add mace, Cayenne, and nutmeg, to the salt and pepper; and also forcemeat and eggs and if you choose, add truffles, morels, mushrooms, sweetbreads cut into small bits, and cock's-combs blanched, if liked. Have a rich gravy ready to pour in after baking. It will be very good without any of the latter additions.

A Rich Veal Pie.-Cut steaks from a neck or breast of veal; season them with pepper, salt, nutmeg, and a very little clove in powder. Slice two sweetbreads, and season them in the same manner. Lay a puff paste on the ledge of the dish; then put the meat, yolks of hard eggs, the sweetbreads, and some oysters, up to the top of the dish. Lay over the whole some very thin slices of ham, and fill the dish with water; cover, and when it is taken out of the oven, pour in at the top, through a funnel, a few spoonfuls of good veal gravy, and some cream to fill up; but first boil it up with a tea-spoonful of flour. Truffles, &c. if approved.

Veal (or Chicken) and Parsley Pie.-Cut some slices from the leg or neck of veal; if the leg, from about the knuckle. Season them with salt: scald some parsley that is picked from the stems, and squeeze it dry; cut it a little, and lay it at the bottom of the dish; then put the meat, and so on, in layers. Fill the dish with new milk, but not so high as to touch the crust. Cover it, and when baked, pour out a little of the milk, and put in a pint of good scalded cream. Chicken may be cut up skinned, and made in the same way.

Veal Olive Pie.-Make the olives as directed in page 53; put them round and round in the dish, making the middle highest. Fill it up almost with water, and cover it. Add gravy, cream, and flour.

Calf's Head Pie.-Stew a knuckle of veal till fit for eating with two onions, a few isinglass shavings, a bunch of herbs, a blade of mace, and a few pepper-corns, in three pints of water. Keep the broth for the pie. Take off a bit of the meat for the balls, and let the other be caten, but simmer the bones in the broth till it is very good. Half boil the head, and cut it in square bits; put a layer of ham at the bottom; then some head, first fat then lean, with balls and hard eggs cut in half, and so on till the dish be full; but be particularly careful not to place the pieces close, or the pie will be too solid, and there will be no space for the jelly. The meat must be first pretty well seasoned with

PORK PIE-MUTTON PIE-SQUAB PIE.

105

pepper and salt, and a scrape or two of nutmeg. Put a little water and a little gravy into the dish, and cover it with a tolerable thick crust; bake it in a slow oven, and when done, pour into it as much gravy as it can possibly hold, and do not cut it till perfectly cold; in doing which, observe to use a very sharp knife, and first cut out a large bit, going down to the bottom of the dish; and when done thus, thinner slices can be cut: the different colours, and the clear jelly, have a beautiful marbled appearance.

A small pie may be made to eat hot, which with high seasoning, oysters, mushrooms, truffles, morels, &c., has a very good appearance.

The cold pie will keep many days. Slices make a pretty sidedish.

Instead of isinglass, use a calf's foot, or a cow-heel, if the jelly is not likely to be stiff enough.

The pickled tongues of former calves' heads may be put in to vary the colour, instead of, or besides ham.

Excellent Pork Pies, to eat Cold.-Raise common boiled crust into either a round or oval form, as you choose: have ready the trimming and small bits of pork cut off when a hog is killed; and if these are not enough, take the meat off a sweet bone. Beat it well with a rolling-pin; season with pepper and salt, and keep the fat and lean separate. Put in layers quite close up to the top: lay on the lid: cut the edge smooth round, and pinch it; bake in a slow soaking oven, as the meat is very solid. Directions for raising the crust will be given hereafter. The pork may be put into a common dish, with a very plain crust, and be quite as good. Observe to put no bone or water into pork pie; the outside of the pieces will be hard, unless they are cut small and pressed close.

Mutton Pie.-Cut steaks from a loin or neck of mutton that has hung; beat them, and remove some of the fat. Season with salt, pepper, and a little onion; put a little water at the bottom of the dish, and a little paste at the edge; then cover with a moderately thick paste. Ör raise small pies, and breaking each bone in two to shorten it, season, and cover it over, pinching the edge. When they come out, pour into each a spoonful of gravy made of a bit of mutton.

Squab Pie.-Cut apples as for other pies, and lay them in rows with mutton chops: shred onion, and sprinkle it among them, and also some sugar.

Lamb Pie.-Make it of the loin, neck, or breast; the breast of house lamb is one of the most delicate things that can be eaten. It should be very lightly seasoned with pepper and salt; the bone taken out, but not the gristles; and a small quantity of jelly gravy be put in hot; but the pie should not be cut till cold. Put two spoonfuls of water before baking.

Grass lamb makes an excellent pie, and may either be boned or not, but not to bone it is perhaps the best. Season with only

106

CHICKEN PIE-GREEN GOOSE PIE-DUCK PIE.

pepper and salt; put two spoonfuls of water before baking, and as much gravy when it comes from the oven.

Note.-Meat pies being fat, it is best to let out the gravy on one side, and put in again by a funnel, at the centre, and a little may be added.

Chicken Pie.-Cut up two young fowls; season with white pepper, salt, a little mace, and nutmeg, all in the finest powder; likewise a little Cayenne. Put the chicken, slices of ham, or fresh gammon of bacon, forcemeat balls, and hard eggs, by turns in layers. If it is to be baked in a dish, put a little water; but none if in a raised crust. By the time it returns from the oven, have ready a gravy of knuckle of veal, or a bit of the scrag with some shank-bones of mutton, seasoned with herbs, onion, mace, and white pepper. If it is to be eaten hot, you may add truffles, morels, mushrooms, &c., but not if to be eaten cold. If it is made in a dish, put as much gravy as will fill it; but, in a raised crust, the gravy must be nicely strained, and then put in cold as jelly. To make the jelly clear, you may give it a boil with the whites of two eggs, after taking away the meat, and then run it through a fine lawn sieve.

Rabbits, if young and in flesh, do as well: their legs should be cut short, and the breast bones must not go in, but will help to make the gravy.

Green Goose Pie.-Bone two young green geese, of a good size; but first take away every plug, and singe them nicely. Wash them clean; and season them high with salt, pepper, mace, and allspice. Put one inside the other; and press them as close as you can, drawing the legs inwards. Put a good deal of butter over them, and bake them either with or without crust; if the latter, a cover to the dish must fit close to keep in the steam. It will keep long.

Duck Pie.-Bone a full-grown young duck and a fowl; wash them and season with pepper and salt, and a small proportion of mace and allspice, in the finest powder. Put the fowl within the duck, and in the former a calf's tongue pickled red, boiled very tender and peeled. Press the whole close; the skins of the legs should be drawn inwards, that the body of the fowls may be quite smooth. If approved, the space between the sides of the crust may be filled with a fine forcemeat made according to the second receipt given for making forcemeat in page 100. Bake it in a slow oven, either in a raised crust, or pie-dish with a thick crust, ornamented.

The large pies in Staffordshire are made as above: but with a goose outwards, then a turkey, a duck next, then a fowl; and either tongue, small birds, or forcemeat in the middle.

Giblet Pie.-After very nicely cleaning goose or duck giblets, stew them with a small quantity of water, onion, black pepper, and a bunch of sweet herbs, till nearly done. Let them grow cold; and if not enough to fill the dish, lay a beef, veal, or two or three mutton steaks, at bottom. Put the liquor of the stew to bake with the above; and when the pie is baked pour into it a large teacupful of cream, Sliced potatoes added to it eat extremely well,