Practical home cookery

The following recipe will, I think, be found well adapted to improve, and not destroy or overcome, the flavour of the hare : — Take ^ lb. of beef suet, and chop it very finely, with 2 oz. of raw lean ham ; add a teaspoonful of chopped fresh parsley and 2 tea-spoonfuls of dried mixed savoury herbs, or i, if these savoury herbs are fresh. These herbs are sold ready mixed, in bottles, which is the simplest method, and are composed principally of marjoram, basil, thyme, etc. As the herbs get drier, more must be used, but, as I have said, if quite fresh, i tea-spoonful ; if very dry, 2 ; the cook consequently must use her judgment for intermediate stages. Add to this, to continue the stuffing, J of the rind of a lemon (this latter should be chopped very fine) ; add a little cayenne pepper and salt, about 5 oz. of bread-crumbs, and 2 whole eggs. The whole quantity should be well pounded in a mortar. Some persons add the liver of the hare to the stuffing ; if the liver is quite fresh this may be done, but not unless ; and if the hare has been kept a proper time, the liver is very often the part that exhibits most the what shall we call it ? — ravages of time, and in such case should on no account be used. This stuffing must be placed in the hare, taking care to wipe the inside first, and sewn up ; the hare should then be hung up before the fire, at a greater distance than meat would be ordinarily ; plenty of dripping should be ready melted in the dripping-pan, and the cook should keep hasting as often as possible ; this latter is the secret of having the hare moist, and without that hard dry coating outside which we mentioned. As for the time a hare takes to roast, it is almost impossible to say a small one taking an hour, and a very large one nearly two. Much depends, also, on the fire, and the distance the hare is kept from it in the early stages. Bear in mind, however, that underdone can be remedied, and overdone can’t. An inexperienced cook can cut into the joint at the back, about where the hind leg joins the body, and look ; or stick a little piece of firewood in after the knife, and judge by the colour whether it is done or not. On the average, an hour to an hour and a quarter will be ample. Near the finish, however, take away the dripping-pan and get a little butter ; baste the hare with this to finish, putting the hare near the fire so as to froth the butter, and at the same time dredge the hare with some flour, so as to get it a nice brown colour, and serve some good rich, hot gravy with it in a separate tureen. As hare is an awkward joint to carve, it will be found best not to pour gravy over it, for the sake of the table-cloth and the feelings of the carver. Red-currant jelly should always be handed round with hare, and the gravy wiU be much improved by a few cloves, a tiny piece of cinnamon being boiled in it and then strained off ; add also half a glass of rich port wine, and by rich I mean not a dry wine, but rather port -wine dregs. The last spoonful of port in the bottle should always be reserved for purposes of tills kind.