Cut the hare into neat little pieces. Pry these slightly, just enough to brown them, in a frying-pan in a little butter. Make a jar hot in the oven. Then throw the pieces of hare into the jar, with a small stick of cinnamon, half a dozen cloves, and a large glass of port wine.

Tie a cloth over the jar tight; put a plate on the cloth, and something heavy on the plate; and let the pieces remain in the jar till they are cold. Slice up an onion, and fry it in the frying-pan that fried the hare. When it is brown, pour into the frying-pan some rich brown gravy (see Gravy) that has had but little brown thickening in it, and let it boil up for a little while. Then strain off the gravy into a basin; press the onion in the strainer; let the gravy stand a little while; take off the fat. Then pour the gravy on to the hare in the now cold jar, stand the jar in a pie-dish with some hot water in it, and let it thus stew in the oven for two or three hours; or put the jar in a saucepan, and let the water simmer. At the finish the gravy may be thickened with a little corn-flour, but don't let the hare be in the gravy when it boils. Serve a few forcemeat balls of veal forcemeat (see Veal Forcemeat) with the hare. Moisten the veal forcemeat with raw beaten egg. Roll them into balls the size of a marble, dip them in flour, and throw them into boiling water. This will set them. Drain them, and warm them up in the jugged hare the last thing. Serve red currant jelly with jugged hare separate.

Roast Hare

The only drawback to roast hare is, that it is apt to be dry. Cut some thin slices of fat bacon, and cover the inside of the hare nearest the back. Fill the hare with veal stuffing (see Veal Stuffing), and sew it up. Roast (see No. 3), and baste constantly. If the hare is baked, it should be covered with thin fat bacon, tied round it. When done, take off the bacon and brown the outside with a red-hot shovel. Serve rich brown gravy (see Gravy), and red currant jelly with roast hare. Put a very little gravy in the dish with the hare, but serve the gravy separate in a tureen. The carver is sure to splash the gravy if there is much in the dish. Time to roast, one to one and a half hours, according to size; the same to bake, if covered with fat.

How To Carve Roast Hare

Insert the point of the knife under the shoulder, and cut from that down to the rump, along the sides of the backbone. The slices should be moderately thick. Another way of carving hare is to remove the shoulders and legs, and cut the back crosswise into four or five pieces. This, however, can only be done when the hare is very young, or when it has been boned. When cooking is set about on a grand scale, the backbone of hares, and especially of old hares, is usually taken out, thus rendering the labour of carving much easier. To separate the leg, put the knife between the leg and the back, and give it a little turn inwards at the joint, which you must try to hit and not to break by force. The shoulders must be taken off by cutting in a circular line round them. The last are known as the sportsman's pieces; some prefer them, but generally they are thought little of, and are served only when the other portions of the hare are exhausted. The most delicate part is the back; after that come the thighs. When every one is helped, take off the head. The upper and lower jaw should be divided by inserting the knife between them; this will enable you to lay the upper part of the head conveniently on the plate. That being done, cut it in two. The ears and brains are highly prized by connoisseurs. With each slice of hare some of the stuffing should be served, and some of the gravy should accompany it. This is an important point, for roast hare is naturally dryish, and requires the aid of plenty of gravy to be properly relished.

ROAST HARE.

Hare Soup

Hare soup can be made, and is of course best made, from a fresh hare; but it is more often made from the remains of jugged or roast hare. In this case, cut out the best pieces of meat from the back, put them aside, and put the bones and the rest of the hare to boil in some good stock, No. 1 or 3. (See No. 10.) The quantity must depend upon what is left. Also, put in with it a dessertspoonful of mixed sweet herbs; also, if possible, chop up a small piece of lean ham. When it has boiled some time, strain it off, take out the bones, and scrape the meat off them, and rub all the meat and ham through a wire sieve into a basin. (See No. 21.) Add the soup to this, and colour with a few drops of "Caramel." (See No. 19.) Don't make the soup thick. Dissolve also a teaspoonful of red currant jelly in the soup, and add a glass of port wine.

If the soup is made from roast hare, the flavourings for jugged hare (see Jugged Hare) must be added: such as cloves, a little cinnamon, and extra onion. Season with pepper and salt.