Page:Art of Cookery 1774 edition.djvu/179

Rh a little whole pepper; cover it close, and let it boil softly over a flow fire till above half is wafted, then drain it off. When the pastry comes out of the oven, lift up the lid, and pour in the gravy. When your venison is not fat enough, take the fat of a loin of mutton, steeped in a little rape vinegar and red wine twenty-four hours, then lay it on the top of the venison, and close your pasty. It is a wrong notion of some people to think venison cannot be baked enough, and will first; bake it in a false crust, and then bake it in the pasty; by this time the fine flavour of the venison is gone. No, if you want it to be very tender, wash it in warm milk and water, dry it in clean cloths till it is very dry, then rub it all over with vinegar, and hang it in the air. Keep it as long as you think proper, it will keep thus a fortnight good; but be sure there be no moistness about it; if there is, you must dry it well and throw ginger over it, and it will keep a long time. When you use it, just dip it in lukewarm water, and dry it. Bake it in a quick oven; if it is a large pasty, it will take three hours then your venison will be tender, and have all the fine flavour. The shoulder makes a pretty pasty, boned and made as above with the mutton fat. A loin of mutton makes a fine pasty: take a large fat loin of mutton, let it hang four or five days, then bone it, leaving the meat as whole as you can: lay the meat twenty-four hours in half a pint of red wine and half a pint of rape vinegar; then take it out of the pickle, and order it as you do a pasty, and boil the bones in the fame manner, to fill the pasty, when it comes out of the oven.

CLEANSE your head very well, and boil it till it is tender; then carefully take off the flesh as whole as you can, take out the eyes and slice the tongue; make a good puff-paste crust cover the dish, lay on your meat throw over it the tongue, lay the eyes cut in two, at each corner. Season it with a very little pepper and salt, pour in half a pint of the liquor it was boiled in, lay a thin top-cruft on, and bake it an hour in a quick oven. In the mean time boil the bones of the head in two quarts of liquor, with two or three blades of mace, half a quarter of an ounce of whole pepper, a large onion, and a bundle of sweet-herbs. Let it boil till there is about a pint, then strain it off, and add two spoonfuls of catchup, three of red wine, a piece of butter as big as a walnut rolled in flour, half