Miss Corson's practical American cookery and household management

In the middle of the top crust, cut a little slit, to permit the escape of the steam while the pie is being baked. Bake the pie in a moderate oven for about two hours ; when the crust is nearly brown enough, cover it with buttered paper. When the pie is done, serve it hot in the dish in which it was baked. SIDE-DISHES (ENTREES). 299 FRICASSEE OF RABBITS. Carefully skin a pair of rabbits ; draw them ; wash the inside with half a cupful of vinegar, and save it, together with the blood, after straining them through a fine cloth to free them from any fur which might get mixed with them ; wipe the rabbits with a wet cloth to free them from fur, and cut them in small pieces about two inches square, and roll them in flour seasoned with salt and pepper ; peel and slice one Spanish onion or half a dozen white ones ; put them into a frying-pan with two tablespoonfuls of butter and the rabbits, and quickly brown them ; then pour in a cupful of milk and sufficient boiling water to cover them, season them with salt and cayenne, cover the frying-pan, and stew them gently for about half an hour, or until they are tender, then serve the fricassee very hot. Rabbits and squirrels may be roasted and baked like hare. VENISON IN CHAFING-DISH. Use small slices of venison about a quarter of an inch thick. Put into a chafing-dish butter and currant-jelly in equal parts, enough to cover the bottom of the dish. Season the venison with salt and pepper, lay it in the dish, cook it for three minutes on each side, and then serve it. As this dish can be prepared at the table, it is very desirable. FOREST CITY SAUCE. A delicious sauce for venison can be made by smoothly blending a tablespoonful of dry mustard with half a glass of currant-jelly. Keep the sauce in a cool place until it is wanted for the table. FRIZZLED VENISON. Shave about a pound of venison from the leg, or from any lean part of the carcass ; put in a frying-pan over the fire a heaping tablespoonful of butter and two of currant-jelly, and when they are hot put in the shaved venison; season it rather highly with pepper and salt, and cook it for about five minutes, stirring it frequently ; serve at once very hot. The venison may be frizzled at the table in a chafing-dish. PASTRY FOR MEAT AND GAME PIES. Use half a pound of butter to a pound of flour; chop one-half the butter into the flour; add a level teaspoonful of salt, and enough cold water to mix it to a smooth paste, just soft enough to roll out. If ice- water is used, and the pastry is mixed with a knife instead of the hand, it can be kept cooler, and will be lighter and more delicate than if mixed with the hands. In all the making, touch the pastry as little and as lightly as possible with the hands, because heating it and pressing heavily upon it make it dense and tough. After the pastry is mixed, and rolled about half an inch thick, dredge it with'flour, cut half the remaining butter in slices, and lay it on the pastry, leaving a space of about an inch all around the edges ; dredge the butter with flour, turn the edges in all around to enclose the outside layers of butter, and then double the pastry, and again roll it out about half an inch thick ; put the rest of the butter on it in slices, dredge it with flour, fold in the edges, double it, and roll it out