Plain cookery recipes

Soak the rabbit in cold water with a little salt for about three-quarters of an hour. Make the stuffing. Remove the eyes, liver, kidneys, lungs, and heart from the rabbit. Wash it, and cleanse thoroughly. Fill up the inside of the rabbit with the stuffing and sew it up, truss into shape, place it on a roasting-tin, and cover it with a piece of greased paper to keep the rabbit moist while cooking. Bake about one hour, basting frequently. When nearly done remove the paper, baste the rabbit well, and let it brown nicely. When cooked remove the trussing string, place on a hot dish, pour round it the gravy (see Roast Beef) or half a pint of brown sauce. Garnish with bacon rolls and serve. Roast Hare. Prepare and cook in the same way as rabbit. Serve with forcemeat balls and red-currant jelly. For cooking of balls, see Beef Olives. Roast Chicken. To draw a Fowl or Chicken. — Pluck the feathers, then singe the fowl to remove the small hairy feathers. Lay the fowl on its breast, make an incision along the back of the neck from the body to the head, cut off the head, separate the skin from the neck and fold the skin back over the breast, then cut off the neck close to the body. Draw out the crop carefully and then the windpipe. Wipe the piece of skin to remove the blood. With a sharp knife enlarge the opening at the other end of the bird, about an inch upwards, from the middle. Draw out all the inside of the bird, taking care not to break the gall bladder, which is attached to the liver. Wipe the opening with a damp cloth. Preserve the neck and the giblets for soup or gravy. To truss a Fowl for Roasting. — Cut off the toes at the first joint. Draw the sinews. Put the legs in a basin of boiling water for a few minutes ; the skin can then be easily peeled off. Place the fowl on its breast ; fold the skin over the opening at the neck on to the back ; turn in the wing, with the end outside, in the shape of a triangle : the points will then keep the loose skin in its place. Push back the legs close to the sides of the bird. Have a trussing-needle and long piece of string ; pass the needle through the joint of the wing, then through the second joint of the leg, then through the body and other leg and wing. Draw the string through. Turn the bird breast-side down and cross the string over the back, then bring down and tie the legs with the tail or “ parson’s nose ” firmly together. Tie a greased paper over the legs to prevent charring, and roast. (See Roast Beef.) Remove the gall bladder from the liver carefully. Remove the fat from the gizzard ; cut it open, and remove the inside and coarse skin. Wash liver, gizzard, neck, and feet, which may be put on to make stock for gravy. If the fowl is lean, put a small piece of butter or dripping inside. If liked, fowl may be stuffed. (See Roast Veal.) Serve with bread sauce (see Sauces), gravy, and rolls of bacon. Boiled Mutton* Three or four pounds of Boiling water to cover, mutton. One teaspoonful salt. One carrot, turnip, onion.