To Roast a Hare

Ingredients

• a hare
• a quart or more of new milk
• a large lump of butter
• two tablespoonsful of the finest currant jelly
• half a pint of rich brown gravy

Method

1. 1

   Wash the hare thoroughly, soak in vinegar if necessary, and rinse.

2. 2

   Fill with forcemeat, truss, and baste with lukewarm salted water.

3. 3

   Pour milk into the pan and baste until nearly dried up.

4. 4

   Add butter, flour the hare, and continue basting until browned.

5. 5

   Serve with brown gravy and currant jelly.

As published

This recipe was extracted from Modern cookery, in all its branches (1884) by Eliza Acton, page 263. The excerpt below is the record exactly as published.

TO ROAST A HARE. [In season from September to the 1st of March.] After the hare has been skinned, or cased, as it is called, wash it very thoroughly in cold water, and afterwards in warm. If in any degree overkept, or musty in the inside, which it will sometimes be when emptied before it is hung up and neglected afterwards, use vinegar, or the pyroligneous acid, well diluted, to render it sweet ; then again throw it into abundance of water, that it may retain no taste of the acid. Pierce with the point of a knife any parts in which the blood appears to have settled, and soak Hare trussed. them in tepid water, that it may be well drawn out. Y/ipe the hare dry, fill it with the forcemeat No. 1, Chapter VIII., sew it up, truss and spit it firmly, baste it for * Minced collops of venison may be prepared exactly like those of beef ; and 7enison-cutlets like those of mutton : the neck may be taken for both of these. + Having been inadvertently omitted from its proper place, this receipt is transferred to the end of the present Chapter. CHAP. XV.] GAME. 285 ten minutes with lukewarm water mixed with a very little salt ; throw this away, and put into the pan a quart or more of new milk ; keep it constantly laded over the hare until it is nearly dried up, then add a large lump of butter, flour the hare, and continue the basting steadily until it is well browned ; for unless this be done, and the roast be kept at a proper distance from the fire, the outside will become so dry and hard as to be quite uneatable. Serve the hare when done, with good brown gravy (of which a little should be poured round it in the dish), and with fine red currant jelly. This is an approved English method of dressing it, but we would recom- mend in preference, that it should be basted plentifully with butter from the beginning (the strict economist may substitute clarified beef- dripping, or marrow, and finish with a small quantity of butter only) ; and that the salt and water should be altogether omitted. First-rate cooks merely wipe the hare inside and out, and rub it with its own blood before it is laid to the fire ; but there is generally a rankness about it, especially after it has been many days killed, which, we should say, renders the washing indispensable, unless a coarse game-flavour be liked. If to If hour. ROAST HARE. (, Superior Receipt.') A hare may be rendered far more plump in appearance, and infi- nitely easier to carve, by taking out the bones of the back and thighs, or of the former only : in removing this a very sharp knife should De used, and much care will be required to avoid cutting through the skin just over the spine, as it adheres closely to the bone. Nearly double the usual quantity of forcemeat must be prepared : with this restore the legs to their original shape, and fill the body, which should previously be lined with delicate slices of the nicest bacon, of which the rind and edges have been trimmed away. Sew up the hare, truss it as usual ; lard it or not, as is most convenient, keep it basted plentifully with butter while roasting, and serve it with the customary sauce. We have found two tablespoonsful of the finest currant jelly, melted in half a pint of rich brown gravy

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