Raised Pork Pie

Take a pound of meat, fat and lean, from the chump end of a fine fore loin of pork, and cut it into neat dice, mix a tablespoonful of water with it, and season with a large teaspoonful of salt and a small one of black pepper.

To make the crust, boil a quarter of a pound of lard or clarified dripping in a gill and a half of water, and pour it hot on to one pound of flour, to which a good pinch of salt has been added. Mix into a stiff paste, pinch off enough of it to make the lid, and keep it hot. Flour your board, and work the paste into a ball, then with the knuckles of your right hand press a hole in the centre, and mould the paste into a good round or oval shape, taking care to keep it a proper thickness. Having put in the meat, join the lid to the pie, which raise lightly with both hands so as to keep it a good, high shape, cut round the edge with a sharp knife, and make the trimmings into leaves to ornament the lid, and having placed these on, with a rose in the centre, put the pie on a floured baking-sheet and brush it over with yolk of egg. The crust of the pie should be cool and set before putting it into the oven, which should be a moderate heat. When the gravy boils out the pie is done; an hour and a half will bake a pie of this size. Make a little gravy with the bones and trimmings of the pork, it must be strong enough to jelly, and be nicely seasoned with pepper and salt. When the pie is cold remove the rose from the top, make a little hole, insert a small funnel, and pour in as much gravy as the pie will hold, which will be about a gill. Replace the rose on the top, and put the pie on a dish with a cut paper.

If preferred, the pie can be made in a tin mould, but the crust is nicer raised by the hand. A great point to observe is to begin moulding the crust whilst it is hot, and to get it finished as quickly as possible.

Baked Soles

Small soles called "slips" are excellent baked, and are generally to be bought at a reasonable price. Scrape, but do not skin, the soles; dissolve a little butter in a baking tin, pass the white side of the fish through it, sift very fine dry bread-crumbs seasoned with pepper and salt over this, lay the sole black side downward in the baking-dish, and bake in a quick oven for twenty minutes. If when done the soles are not browned the salamander must be used. As a breakfast dish the soles should be served without any sauce.

Omelette Aux Fines Herbes

Break three eggs into a basin, with a pinch of salt and three dessert spoonfuls of milk or cream, beat them for three minutes, and mix in a small teaspoonful of green parsley, a shred of shalot minced as finely as possible, and, if attainable, a small pinch of green chervil, also minced. Put an ounce of butter into a clean, bright frying-pan, and let remain over the fire until it begins to brown, pour in the omelet mixture, and hold the pan still over a moderate fire for half a minute, then with a fork keep stirring in the middle or at the edges until the omelet is beginning to set over the whole surface, and is taking colour on the under side. Shake round and round until you find the omelet quite loose in the pan, and a nice brown, then slide half of it on to a dish, and with a slight jerk turn over the other half, so as to have the omelet of a neat oval shape. Take care not to cook the omelet too much, it ought to be lightly set on the inner side. An omelet to be successfully cooked should not be more than a minute and a half over the fire; if subjected to too great a heat it will be burned, and if, on the other hand, it be too slowly cooked it will be tough. Some practice will be required to gain proficiency in the art of making omelets, and it is well for beginners not to attempt a larger number than three eggs. The pan should be of a small size for this number of eggs, as the omelet must not be thin like a pancake. Attention is directed to the method of stirring an omelet: if this is done over the whole surface the result will be a hard, leather-like composition; whereas if the omelet-mixture is only gently stirred at the edges, the pan being slightly held on one side to facilitate the operation, it will eat like a light yet solid custard. Nothing can be simpler, when once acquired, than this method of making omelets; it is, however, difficult to describe in writing. The omelet must be served the moment it is done.