Lapercau a la Soubise.—Wash the rabbit well, taking care to remove any trace of blood, especially about the head and neck, and allow it to soak for half an hour or so in warm milk, as this improves it immensely. Now place it in a pan with five or six good-sized onions, a good spray of parsley, thyme, and marjoram, two cloves, five or six peppercorns (white), and salt. Cover it all with hot water, bring it sharply to the boil, skim thoroughly, and then allow it only to simmer (for twenty-five minutes if the rabbit is young, longer if old) till cooked. Now lift out the rabbit, keep it hot, and meanwhile strain the liquor in which it cooked and thicken it like melted butter with an ounce each of butter and flour previously cooked together till smooth, rub the onions through a sieve, adding a little of the milk in which the rabbit was soaked, to assist the opera-tion. Now work together gradually the rabbit liquor, the onion puree, and as much of the soaking milk as may be necessary for the right amount of sauce to cover the rabbit entirely, let it boil up, and continue stirring it over the fire till it reaches the right consistency, then dish the rabbit, pour the sauce smoothly over it, and serve with tiny rolls of crisped bacon. Some people prefer to cook the rabbit altogether in milk, using the soaking milk for this, and adding a little cream or a pat of fresh butter to the sauce just at the last.
To truss a rabbit for boiling, after it is skinned, washed, and, if liked, soaked, slip a threaded trus-sing needle through the end of the hind leg, which should be brought forward, and then through the end of the front leg, which should be bent back, and draw it through the body and out through the two legs on the other side, brought into the same position. Now bring the needle back the same way, and pass it through the rabbit's jaws, the head being twisted round backwards, and pressed against the creature's side, and tie the two ends of string firmly together. When cooked, the string can easily be pulled out. For roasting, the rabbit should be set up like a hare, the ears, which are cropped close to the head for boiling, being left on. Cooked thus, a rabbit is excellent with many sauces, specially tomato or mushroom, but do not forget the bacon.