Ingredients.—3 or 4 lbs. of veal cutlets, a few slices of bacon or ham, seasoning of pepper, salt, nutmeg, and allspice, forcemeat, 2 lbs. of hot-water paste, ½ pint of good strong gravy. Mode.—To raise the crust for a pie with the hands is a very difficult task, and can only be accomplished by skilled and experienced cooks. The process should be seen to be satisfactorily learnt, and plenty of practice given to the making of raised pies, as by that means only will success be insured. Make a hot-water paste by recipe, and from the mass raise the pie with the hands; if this cannot be accomplished, cut out pieces for the top and bottom, and a long piece for the sides; fasten the bottom and side-piece together by means of egg, and pinch the edges well together; then line the pie with forcemeat, put in a layer of veal, and a plentiful seasoning of salt, pepper, nutmeg, and allspice; for, let it be remembered, these pies taste very insipid unless highly seasoned. Over the seasoning place a layer of sliced bacon or cooked ham, and then a layer of forcemeat, veal seasoning, and bacon, and so on until the meat rises to about an inch above the paste; taking care to finish with a layer of forcemeat, to fill all the cavities of the pie, and to lay in the meat firmly and compactly. Brush the top edge of the pie with beaten egg, put on the cover, press the edges, and pinch them round with paste-pincers. Make a hole in the middle of the lid, and ornament the pie with leaves, which should be stuck on with the white of an egg; then brush it all over with the beaten yolk of an egg, and bake the pie in an oven with a soaking heat from 3 to 4 hours. To ascertain when it is done, run a sharp-pointed knife or skewer through the hole at the top into the middle of the pie, and if the meat feels tender, it is sufficiently baked. Have ready about ½ pint of very strong gravy, pour it through a funnel into the hole at the top, stop up the hole with a small leaf of baked paste, and put the pie away until wanted for use. Should it acquire too much colour in the baking, cover it with white paper, as the crust should not in the least degree be burnt. Mushrooms, truffles, and many other ingredients, may be added to enrich the flavour of these pies, and the very fleshy parts of the meat may be larded. These pies are more frequently served cold than hot, and form excellent dishes for cold suppers or breakfasts. The cover of the pie is sometimes carefully removed, leaving the perfect edges, and the top decorated with square pieces of very bright aspic jelly: this has an exceedingly pretty effect. Time.—About 4 hours. Average cost, 6s. 6d. Sufficient for a very large pie. Seasonable from March to October.
RAISED PIE.
RAISIN CHEESE.
Ingredients.—To every lb. of raisins, allow ½ lb. of loaf sugar; pounded cinnamon and cloves to taste. Mode.—Stone the raisins; put them into a stewpan with the sugar, cinnamon, and cloves, and let them boil for 1½ hour, stirring all the time. Let the preparation cool a little, pour it into a glass dish, and garnish with strips of candied lemon-peel and citron. This will remain good some time, if kept in a dry place. Time.—1½ hour. Average cost, 9d. Sufficient.—1 lb. for 4 or 5 persons. Seasonable at any time.
RAISIN PUDDING, Boiled. (Plain and Economical).
Ingredients.—1 lb. of flour, ½ lb. of stoned raisins, ½ lb. of chopped suet, ½ saltspoonful of salt, milk. Mode.—After having stoned the raisins and chopped the suet finely, mix them with the flour, add the salt, and when these dry ingredients are thoroughly mixed, moisten the pudding with sufficient milk to make it into a rather stiff paste. Tie it up in a floured cloth, put it into boiling water, and boil for 4 hours: serve with sifted sugar. This pudding may also be made in a long shape, the same as a rolled jam-pudding, and will not require quite so long boiling;—2½ hours would then be quite sufficient. Time.—Made round, 4 hours; in a long shape, 2½ hours. Average cost, 9d. Sufficient for 8 or 9 persons. Seasonable in winter.
RAISIN PUDDING, Baked. (Plain and Economical.)
Ingredients.—1 lb. of flour, ¾ lb. of stoned raisins, ½ lb. of suet, a pinch of salt, 1 oz. of sugar, a little grated nutmeg, milk. Mode.—Chop the suet finely; stone the raisins and cut them in halves; mix these with the suet, add the salt, sugar, and grated nutmeg, and moisten the whole with sufficient milk to make it of the consistency of thick batter. Put the pudding into a pie-dish, and bake for 1½ hour, or rather longer. Turn it out of the dish, strew sifted sugar over, and serve. This is a very plain recipe, and suitable where there is a family of children. It, of course, can be much improved by the addition of candied peel, currants, and rather a larger proportion of suet: a few eggs would also make the pudding richer. Time.—1½ hour. Average cost, 9d. Sufficient for 7 or 8 persons. Seasonable in winter.