be eaten cold, though it may be served hot, with a garnish all round. In this latter case make a roux or thickening, with a little flour and butter; when of a very light colour, moisten it with the liquor in which the hare has been stewed, and let it boil enough for the flour to be done, and then send it up, plain as it is.

N. B.-If you wish the jelly to look bright, break a couple of eggs into it before it is hot; beat it over the fire till it begins boiling, then lay it aside with a cover and a little fire over it; when limpid, drain it through a cloth, and let it cool, to be used occasionally.

Proceed as above. When the hare is stewed, remove the vegetables and the bones, take all the flesh, as well as the bacon, place it in a mortar and pound it very fine; when you find it becomes smooth, rub it through a sieve, then put this paste in some small pot, and place it in the oven covered with paper; when it becomes very hot, take it out, and let it cool; melt some butter, and pour it over the paste to prevent its drying, and cover it with paper to preserve it. This is a very good thing for breakfast or lun

cheon.

499. Civet of Hare, served as Soup.

Skin and empty the hare, but take care to keep the blood. Cut off the two legs, and divide them into two or three pieces; cut the body into equal parts, and be particular in preserving the blood. Take half a pound of the breast of bacon, cut it into small square pieces about an inch thick, blanch them in water, and put them into the stewpan, with a small lump of butter; let them fry till they are of a fine brown; then take out the bacon, and put the pieces of hare into the stewpan; stew them in the butter till firm; then take them out and make some roux, or thickening, with a little flour, which must not be kept too long on the fire. Moisten with about a quart of broth and a pint of red wine; put in the pieces of hare, the bacon, a bunch of parsley, &c. seasoned with pepper, salt, spices, and a few white onions, to give a relish, to

Let the

gether with some trimmings of mushrooms. whole boil for an hour, and try whether the pieces of hare are done. Skim the fat off the sauce; then put the members into a clean stewpan, one after another, as also the bacon; then skim the sauce well, reduce it to a good substance, that it may stick round the hare; and put the sauce over the members through a tammy. You must have ready some white onions fried in butter till they are of a light brown; then stew them in a little consommé (stock-broth). Have likewise some mushrooms stewed in butter, and put them with the onions to take off the butter. At this period the blood and liver, that have been kept apart, are to be poured into the sauce as thickening. You must not let the sauce boil, or else the blood would in some measure curdle, and the sauce would not be of the same dark brown colour. Civet must appear as black as possible: then put in the onions and mushrooms, and send up highly seasoned. The consommé in which you have boiled the onions and the mushrooms, must be boiled down and put with the sauce.

Sometimes you take all the flesh of the worst bits, as the shoulders, the legs, the head, &c. leaving merely the back, cut in four or five pieces, then take out the bones; pound the flesh very fine, and rub it through a tammy moistened with the sauce. In this case, you should pound the onions, mushrooms, &c., and warm the soup in the bain marie (hot-water bath, Note to No. 44); leaving in it, however, the best pieces of the fillets. This is a delicious soup.

500. Fillets of Hare, with the Blood.

When a hare has been skinned, thrust your knife all along the spine, always taking care to lean towards the bone.Detach with your fingers the fillet from the neck down to the legs; leave the thick fleshy part of the leg; then introduce your knife, the sharp side towards the tender part of the fillet, and your thumb towards the skin; press with your thumb on the sharp side of the blade of the knife, in order that it may not cut the part which contains the sinews; then pull towards you the fillet, and the

sinew will remain attached to the leg. This operation being performed, lay the fillets on the table, and flatten them with the back of your knife; put them into a sautépan with melted butter, and dust a little salt and pepper over them. At dinner-time fry the fillets lightly, drain the butter, and scollop the fillets; put them into a civet sauce, which you have made with the remnants, as it will require at least a couple of hares to make scollops.Mind you preserve the blood of both, in order that the sauce may be black, or of a dark brown. The members may serve for soup. When you wish to make soup, take the parts from which you have cut the fillets, and make a civet; the sauce is to be made by the same process(See Civet, No. 499.)

The best and shortest method is to sauté (fry lightly) the fillets whole, and scollop them after they are finished; it is better, as it retains the gravy, and is made quicker.

501. Fillets of Hare en Chevreuil-(like Roebuck). Take the fillets of three hares, according to the size of your dish, detach the fillets, and lard them with bacon. cut very equally; then put them into a deep vessel, with salt and pepper, a little parsley, two onions cut into slices, a bay-leaf, a little thyme, a glass of vinegar, and half a glass of water. Let all this steep for a couple of days, and then drain the fillets, and lay them in a sauté-pan, or frying-pan, with a little butter: bake them under-done, and glaze them with a light glaze, as they are always dark enough. Send them up with a poivrade (brown sharp sauce, No. 27).

You should observe what has already been noticed, that larded is not the proper word-piqué is the term; larded is when you lard the meat quite through; but piqué is what is seen every day at the poulterer's.-(See page 182, note.)

502. Pain of Hares-(Hare Bread.)-Boudins of Hares (Hare Puddings.)—Roasted Hares. The author will merely remark, that boudins, quenelles, minces, &c. can be made of hares, although in England

it is more customary to serve them roasted. They are, however, very good when dressed as first course dishes. Hares for roasting ought always to be tender. After being skinned, make a stuffing in the following manner:take a good handful of crumbs of bread, with the same quantity of beef-suet well chopped, a little chopped parsley, a little thyme, salt, pepper, two eggs, a little butter, a little milk, and a shalot; mix up these well into an oval shape, with which stuff the belly of the hare, and sew it up. Stick the fore legs under the belly, and double the hind legs under the belly also, then skewer them well: the head stands erect as if the hare was running; skin the ears. If it is an old hare, it will be good for nothing; if young, three-quarters of an hour will do it. Serve it up with gravy, and some currant jelly in a sauce boat; mind that you stop the spit with the belly towards the fire, or else the stuffing will not be done. Some persons like a poivrade under it.-(See Brown Sharp Sauce, No. 27.)

503. Hare Soup.

Take two hares, young ones are the best; skin them, and wash the inside well; separate the limbs, legs, shoulders, &c., and put them into a stewpan with two or three glasses of port wine, two onions stuck with four cloves, a bundle of parsley, a bay leaf, a couple of sprigs of thyme, ditto of sweet basil, marjorum, and a few blades of mace: put the whole over a slow fire on the stove. When this has simmered for an hour, moisten with some very good boiling broth, till the meat is entirely covered with it; then let the whole simmer gently till the meat is quite done.— Strain the meat, put the broth through a hair sieve: put the crumb of a two-penny loaf to soak in the broth. Take all the flesh of the hare from the bones, and pound it in a mortar till fine enough to be rubbed through a sieve, moisten with the broth, and season according to your palate. You must not make the soup too thick; and be particularly careful, when you have occasion to warm it up again, not to let it boil, as boiling spoils it.

Observe, whenever you wish to make hare soup in per

fection, you should preserve all the blood in a basin; when you are ready to serve up keep the soup very hot, and pour the blood to it till it is thickened. Take care that the soup does not curdle. This addition will make the soup black. Do the same with the scollops, &c.

504. Another way of making Hare Soup.

On another occasion, you may select some of the best pieces, as the rump, shoulders, &c.; as soon as they are done enough, take out what you intend to put whole into the soup, and put it into a stewpan with some of the liquor, to prevent it from drying and getting black. When your soup is quite ready, and you are going to serve up, put the reserved pieces into the tureen, and pour the soup

over.