Eel Pie

Ingredients

• Six eels
• one half pound lean ham
• one half pound suet
• one tea-spoonful salt
• one grain cayenne
• one half tea-spoonful pepper
• one salt-spoonful mace
• one salt-spoonful nutmeg
• the rind of half a lemon
• one half tea-spoonful chopped parsley
• one half tea-spoonful mixed herbs
• one egg
• one large sprig parsley
• two cloves
• half a bay leaf
• one half tea-spoonful arrowroot
• one half pint cream
• one small bunch savoury herbs
• one pint stock

Method

1. 1

   Skin the eels and cut them into 2-inch pieces.

2. 2

   Boil in cold water for 45 minutes.

3. 3

   In a separate saucepan, boil stock with parsley, cloves, bay leaf, and half the salt for 30 minutes, then strain and reduce to half a pint.

4. 4

   Mix arrowroot and cream until smooth, then add to the stock and boil for 10 minutes.

5. 5

   Finely chop ham and suet, mix with remaining salt, pepper, cayenne, mace, nutmeg, lemon peel, and herbs, binding with the egg.

6. 6

   Place forcemeat in a pie dish, add eel pieces, pour over stock and cream, cover with puff paste, and bake for 25 minutes.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Handbook of practical cookery (1886) by Matilda Lees Dods, page 27. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

EEL PIE. 31 one salt-spoonful salt, one salt-spoonful pepper, one tea- spoonful lemon-juice, one dessert-spoonful cream or milk, one half ounce butter. Remove all the meat from the lobster, cut it in small pieces, melt in a small sauce-pan the butter, and throw in the onion, which must first be soaked over night in boiling water, dried in a towel, and chopped very finely. When the onion takes a pale brown colour, stir in the curry powder and pepper and salt. Smooth out all the lumps in the powder, and add by degrees (stirring well meanwhile) the stock. When this boils, throw in the pieces of lobster, and cook all very slowly for half an hour or three-quarters. When ready to serve, draw the pan from the fire, and stir in the cream or milk and lemon-juice, and do not again allow it to boil. Serve the curry on a very hot dish, and send to table with quarter of a pound boiled rice in a separate hot dish. Direc- tions for boiling the rice will be found on page 237. NOTE. — A little more than half of a pound of tinned lobster may be used instead of the fresh lobster. Eel Pie. — Six eels, one half pound lean ham, one half pound suet, one tea-spoonful salt, one grain cayenne, one half tea-spoonful pepper, one salt-spoonful mace, one salt-spoonful nutmeg, the rind of half a lemon, one half tea-spoonful chopped parsley, one half tea-spoonful mixed herbs, one egg, one large sprig parsley, two cloves, half a bay leaf, one half tea-spoonful arrowroot, one half pint cream, one small bunch savoury herbs, one pint stock

Cook this with the app: pantry check, scaling, and the assistant.