PIES OF COOKED MEAT.
Now let us first take pies made of cooked meats—a useful
class in which connection the following notes concerning a
DOMESTIC PIE will, I think, commend themselves to house-
keepers who know what it is to find a few pounds of good meat
on their hands without an idea of what to do with them.
Once upon a time a question arose touching what could be
done with the remains of a fine saddle of mutton. There was
a piece of good cold-boiled pickled pork in the house, about a
pound of gravy beef could be spared, and the bones and back
of a cold roast fowl were also available. It was decided to turn
them into a pie.
Operations accordingly began by cutting as many slices as
possible from the meat that remained untouched at the tail end
of the saddle: each slice was trimmed free from burnt skin, &c.,
and laid upon a separate plate. About a pound and a half of
these slices having been obtained, all remnants of good lean
that still adhered to the bones were cut off and put into a bowl.
The bones were then broken up, and cast into a large stew-
pan with every atom of skin, fat, gristle, &c., that could be
found left in the dish after the trimming operation. The whole
saddle was thus disposed of.
Into the stew-pan with the mutton bones and scraps, were
now put four ounces of onions, a dozen pepper corns, three
ounces each of turnip and carrots cut up, a bunch of parsley,
a small bit of celery, a clove of garlic, a tablespoonful of mush-
room ketchup, a bouquet of sweet herbs, the aforesaid pound
of gravy beef cut up, and all the remnants of the chicken
thoroughly broken up and roughly pounded.
Having been covered with warm water, boiled, and simmered
gently, in about four hours these various ingredients produced
a pint and a half of very excellent broth which was strained off,
and set to cool.
The lean remnants which had been saved in the bowl were
now pounded with a couple of anchovies in the mortar, and
passed through the sieve. When the broth was quite cold the
fat was skimmed off, and a thick purée made with part of it and
the pounded mutton.
It was now time to pack the pie-dish, which was done in this
way: first a coating of butter and sprinkling of finely minced
parsley, with a lining of the purée, then a double layer of sliced
mutton, over that a layer of sliced lean pork, another of mutton,
and so on alternately, with purée in the crevices here and there:
the surface was garnished with hard-boiled eggs cut into quarters,
and then a breakfast-cupful of the broth was patiently poured
over everything, time being given for the liquid to settle in and
amongst the contents of the pie-dish: when finished, the gravy
came within an inch of the top of the pie: parsley minced small
was shaken over the top layer as a last touch.
The cook now made the paste, and covered in the pie, and
it was baked.
At the end of the baking, after the pie had cooled for half an
hour, the remainder of the broth which had been saved for the
purpose was gently poured in a lukewarm state into it through
the vent in the centre of the crust. An ornamental flower cut
in paste, which had been baked separately, was placed over the
aperture, the crust was glazed, and in due course the dish was
ready for the table.
Observe the absence of any ready-made sauce in the concoc-