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Mrs. Roundell's Practical cookery book

1898

Page 159 · 1 recipe record on this page

Presented as published in 1898. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
2. Make from scraps of meat, or giblets, a pint of gravy, strengthening it with half an ounce of glaze, and flavouring it with a slice of ham, or bacon, or bacon rind, an onion, a dessertspoonful of herbs, and a tablespoonful of mushroom ketchup. A tablespoonful of Marsala may be added, when the gravy has simmered for an hour. Then strain into a bowl, and take off all fat. 3. Butter the pie-dish, and sprinkle finely-chopped parsley over the bottom. Do not pack the pie too tightly, and arrange between the pieces of meat or bird minced cooked mushrooms, and grated or thinly-sliced ham or tongue, and slices of bacon. Season well with herb-pepper. Garnish the surface with halves or quarters of hard-boiled eggs, and strew finely-minced parsley over all. 4. Pour in half a pint of the jelly gravy through a funnel very gently. The gravy should not fill the pie, but you should be just able to see it between the pieces of meat an inch from the top. GENERAL DIRECTIONS 233 5. Wet tlie rim of tlie pie-dish, and place over it a band of paste an inch and a quarter wide and a quarter of an inch thick. This will prevent any shrinking in baking. 6. Dip a brush in water, and wet the pastry band all round. Put on the pastry cover of the Pie, pressing it firmly to the band. Then pass a knife round the outer edge of the cover to trim it neatly, making the edges slope well outwards. 7. Always leave a hole an inch square at the top of the crust. This allows the gas generated in the cooking to escape, and forms the opening through which the remainder of the gravy is to be poured. The hole can be finally closed if liked by a fletiron of ornamental pastry baked separately. This may be made by cutting a few leaves with their stalks out of pastry a quarter of an inch thick. Any fanciful device should be avoided. 8. Bake the Pie slowly ; an hour and a half is a generally suitable time. It is a good plan to cover the crust witb a buttered paper as soon as it has nicely browned, so as to pre- vent it from becoming too dark. Towards the end of the baking brash over the crust with an egg, beaten together with two forks, to glaze it. This can quickly be brushed on with a clean feather. 9. Half an hour before the Pie is baked pour in the other half-pint of gravy, doing it slowly and gently through a funnel. If the Pie is to be cold, let it cool for half an hour after baking, and then pour in the gravy. (Full instructions for Pie-crust are given in Chapter XVII.) If the above directions are carefully followed Pies of all sorts can be turned out thoroughly good. Beef-Steak Pie. — ( Family Recipe .) — Take a pound and a quarter or a pound and a half of really tender beef-steak, and cut it into rather thin slices. Divide these again into slices four inches long and two and a half inches wide. Lay them on a board, and season the upper part of each slice well with herb pepper. Now lay on each slice, as may be preferred, a thin small slice of fat, or a cooked sauce oystei’, or half a cooked mushroom, or a thin slice of cold bacon. Roll the slice of beef- steak round whatever is selected for the lining, and pack the 234 PIES AND MEAT PUDDINGS Beef-Steak Pie