Cassell's dictionary of cookery

Rabbit, Pilau of.— Skin, wash, and empty a fat young rabbit, and cut it up into ten or twelve pieces. Rub each one of these with a savoury mixture made by mixing the juice of two large onions with a tea-spoonful of salt, half a tea-spoonful of powdered ginger, and the juice of a lemon. The onion juice may be obtained by bruising the onions, and draining off the juice. Boil a pound of rice in a quart of stock broth till it is half dressed. Whilst it is simmering melt four ounces of good fat or butter in a saucepan, and in this fry the pieces of rabbit till the}' are lightly browned, and also two sliced onions. Put the meat into a deep earthen jar. Lay the onions upon it, and cover with the rice. Add four cloves, eight peppercorns, a pinch of salt, and one or two inches of thin lemon rind, and pour half a pint of milk over the whole. Tie three or four folds of paper over the top of the jar, and bake in a moderate oven. If required, add a little broth or a little more milk when the rabbit is half done. When the rabbit is sufficiently dressed, pile the rice on a dish, place the pieces of rabbit upon it, and serve very hot. Time to bake, about three-quarters of an hour. Probable cost, 3s. Sufficient for five or six Rabbit, Piquant.— Skin, draw, and thoroughly cleanse a fresh young rabbit. Cut it open down all its length, lay it flat upon a table, and skewer it well to keep it in shape. Sprinkle a little pepper and salt over it, and lay it in an oval pan just large enough to hold it, with five or six ounces of bacon fat, dripping, or butter. Fry it till it is three-parts dressed. Take it up, drain it, and let it cool, brush over with oiled butter, and egg and bread-crumb it twice. A little time before it is wanted, put it into a brisk oven, and babe until it is lightly browned. Serve on a hot dish, and send to table with a little piccalilli, or any other suitable pickle and a sauce prepared as follows : — Pound three shallots in a mortar, and with them a tea-spoonful of chopped tarragon, and a little pepper, salt, and unmixed mustard. Two or three gherkins, and a little chopped chervil and burnet, may be added if they are at hand. Beat the raw yolk of an egg quite free from white in a basiu, and when it begins to thicken stir in very gradually six table-spoonfuls of salad oil. The oil must be added > first in drops, afterwards in tea-spoonfids, and the sauce must be well beaten between every addition until it is very thick. Stir in by degrees two tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one table-spoonful of Chili vinegar, and the pounded mixture, and beat it again. Heep the sauce in a cool place till wanted, and serve in a tureen. If tarragon-leaves cannot be had, a tea-spoonful of tarragon vinegar may be used instead. Time, half an hour to fry a small rabbit ; twenty minutes to bake it. Probable cost of rabbit, 7d. to 9d. per pound. Sufficient for two or three persons.