must be kept crisp. Send up with the Pompadour sauce (No. 65) in the middle. 492. Attereaux of Rabbits à l'Italienne—(the Take the fillets of four young rabbits; cut them into pieces of an inch square: then have some mushrooms, parsley, and shalots, chopped fine; put them to fry gently in a small bit of butter over a slow fire till they are done, then put the bits of rabbits to fry gently in those herbs; and when nearly done, drain them, and season them with a little salt and pepper; take the sweet herbs with which they have been stewed, and make a sauce for attelets in the following manner:-put a spoonful of flour to the herbs, and mix it well with a wooden spoon; moisten with a few spoonsful of good consommé (stock-broth); let the whole boil till the flour is quite done; skim off the butter; reduce the sauce thick, and then thicken it with the yolks of two eggs; throw into this the square pieces you have prepared; then let them get quite cold; next take some silver skewers, have a few pieces of calf's udder ready done, of half the breadth of the pieces of rabbits, but not so thick; run a skewer first through one of the pieces of rabbit, dipped into the sauce, and next through a piece of the udder, and so on; observing, however, to have a piece of rabbit at each end. Do not stuff the attelet too full, for some of it must project at each end. Put plenty of the sauce, and give a square shape to the above preparation; then dip it into crumbs of bread; next, when of a good shape, into an omelet well seasoned and into crumbs of bread a second time; then fry it till of a fine colour, and send up with a brown Italian sauce (No. 24), mixed with a little glaze of rabbit, or the white sharp sauce. There are many dishes of rabbits, which I omit mentioning in this present edition; such as the bressole, pains of rabbits, profitrolles, &c. &c. which are now quite out of fashion, for fashion prevails in our art as in all others. A veteran cook may still make good dishes, which yet will not attract. In the common way, many entrées may be made with the legs of rabbits; but as many dishes of game are not to be sent up at a time, provided you have fillets, it is better to use the legs for farces, or petits patés, or croquettes, &c. &c. 493. Rabbits and Onions. As this dish is of the English school, it will not require many observations; but the author would recommend that old rabbits be never used, as they always spoil both the taste and the look. Take one or two rabbits, skin them and skewer them as for boiling; put them into warm water in order to extract all the blood: when they are very white, boil them in boiling water and a little salt, to prevent them from skimming. An hour is sufficient to boil them if they are young: the sauce is made as follows:-peel a dozen of white onions, cut the tops and the tails off, then cut them into six pieces each, put them to boil in boiling water and a little salt; when nearly done, drain them on a sieve, put them into a clean towel, squeeze out the water, then chop them very fine on the table; put them into a stewpan, with half a quarter of a pound of butter, let them fry to drain the water away: then put half a spoonful of flour, mix well together, and moisten with cream or milk, but cream is preferable: next let this sauce boil down on a sharp fire, put some salt and pepper to it, and make it rather thick. Drain the rabbits, and cover them with this sauce. soup 494. Rabbit Soup. This is made almost in the same way as the soup à la reine (Queen's soup, No. 126). Take the fillets of four rabbits to make an entrée, and with the legs and shoulders make the soup as follows:-put them into warm water to take out the blood; when quite clean, put them into a stewpan with a bundle of parsley and a ladleful of good broth; put all this to simmer over a slow fire; when done through, moisten with some good broth Season it of a good taste, and let it boil for an hour only if you let it boil too long, the soup will be brown next take the meat out of the broth, drain it, and let it cool, then pick all the meat from the bones, and put it into the mortar, with four yolks of eggs boiled hard, and the crumb of a penny loaf soaked in a little broth; pound all this very fine; rub it through a tammy, moisten with the broth, and when done, add to it a pint of double cream that has boiled; mix altogether, and serve up. Take particular notice, that this soup must be very white; sometimes you give it with vermicelli, sometimes with pearl barley, sometimes with rice; on all occasions, each of these articles must be done separately in broth, and put into the soup afterwards. If you have an abundance of rabbits, you may also use the fillets, as the soup will then be whiter and better. 495. Fillets of Rabbits à la Ude—(Ude's way.) Take the fillets of five rabbits, and make some quenelles (see No. 145) with the legs and inside fillets, seasoned rather high; then split the fillets in two (first cutting one side of the fillet so as to make it wider, and then the other side); when the fillet is very wide, spread some salt and pepper lightly over it, then put some of the quenelles in the aperture; then wrap up the fillets together to hide the quenelles; have some sauce for attelet (No. 55), the same as the fillets à la Pompadour, cover it with crumbs in the same manner, and fry it of a very good colour in a frittee (not too hot), allowing space enough to the fillets and the quenelles to be thoroughly done. This is a very good and delicate dish, but requires great care to bring it to perfection; serve under it a very clear brown Italian sauce (No. 24) well seasoned. N. B. Make the fillets as flat as you can, because they are more easy to dress on the dish. 496. Rabbit Pie. like; Put into the bottom of a baking-dish a few slices of ham, veal, or beef; cut the rabbit into as many bits as you season each bit with salt, pepper, pounded spices, &c. ; put them in a dish as close as possible; add a glass of broth, if you have any, if not a wine-glass of water and a drop of white wine; cover this dish quite close with a good crust, and bake it in a hot oven for an hour and a half, then use it: whether hot or cold you will find this dish very good. If you would give the crust a good appearance, you must mould one whole egg in a gallipot, and beating it with a brush, dress the paste with it all over. CHAP. XIV. HARES AND LEVERETS. It is proper to observe, that hares are fit to be sent up to a nobleman's table only when they still shew their age. In order to judge of this, feel the first joint of the fore claw: if you find a small nut, the animal is still young: should this nut have disappeared, turn the claw sideways, and if the joint crack, that is a sign of its being still tender; if not, it is only fit to be made en daube (see hare en daube, No. 497); or en civet (see Civet of Hare, No. 499); but if very tough, a daube is preferable; yet it is a very insignificant dish, particularly as it requires high seasoning; it is too nourishing to be sent up to the table of any nobleman, or of a real epicure. 497. Hare en Daube-(Stewed Hare). After having skinned, emptied, and washed off the blood of a hare, cut it through the middle. Have ready layers of bacon well seasoned with chopped parsley, spices, salt, and pepper. Lard the hare as thick as you can; put slices of bacon into the bottom of a stewpan, cover them with the bits of hare, tie up a large bundle of parsley, seasoned with thyme, bay-leaves, sweet basil, a clove, and common spices, a few carrots, four large white onions, two calf's feet, and a few pieces of breast of bacon; season the whole with salt, pepper, &c. and a few roots of parsley. Moisten with a couple of spoonsful of broth, and a pint of white wine; cover the whole with a round of buttered paper, to prevent the hare from getting dry; close it hermetically, and let it stew for three hours as gently as possible: then take it off the fire; drain the hare; skim the liquor, strain it through a sieve, and let it cool, that it may |