Bohemian-American Cook Book/Game

Interlard and salt the rabbit. Place in a roasting pan three sliced onions, a dash of thyme, one bay leaf, ten whole allspice, eight whole black peppers, two cloves, a clove of garlic, a slice of bacon, and the rabbit, add a little wine vinegar, water and a piece of butter, and roast rather quickly. When it is more than half done, turn it and roast brown, rubbing it frequently ​with cream or butter. When done, cut into pieces. Add flour to the gravy, strain, add cream and simmer a moment or two and serve with the rabbit.

Wash and salt a properly cleaned rabbit. Boil together about fifteen minutes a cup of vinegar, a cup of water, one large sliced onion, a sprig of thyme, two or three bay leayes, a few whole black peppers, a few whole allspice, a piece of ginger and three or four cloves. Cool and pour over the rabbit, which has been cut into pieces. Let it lie thus three or four days in warmer weather, or eight days in cold, turning it each day. When ready to cook it, interlard with strips of bacon and place in a roaster with a piece of butter, two sliced onions and some of the brine. Place the rabbit in the pan with the interlarded side down. While roasting it must be turned frequently and basted with cream and dotted with bits of butter over the top. If the gravy evaporates, add more liquor or sour cream.

Mince or grind the meat from the forequarters of a rabbit with two pounds of pork. If the pork is lean, add three ounces of minced bacon, two slices of bread soaked in wine and squeezed dry and one slice grated, one or two eggs, a dash each of salt, pepper and grated lemon rind. Mix together well, form into a loaf (if possible mold into the form of a rabbit) interlard with bacon and bake with butter and onions, basting frequently. You may bake this with sour cream, in which case the lemon rind is left out.

Cut the forequarters of a rabbit into pieces, place in a saucepan with butter or lard, a dash of thyme, one ​sliced onion, a piece of lemon rind and a bay leaf. Add enough water to cover the rabbit an inch from the top, salt, cover and stew. When the rabbit is nearly done, take it out, strain the gravy, add to it enough vinegar to make it sourish, add butter and flour blended together and a small cup of grated ginger-bread. Brown a teaspoon of sugar, pour into it a little soup and add this to the gravy. Put the rabbit in the gravy, simmer a while and serve.

Cut a young rabbit into small pieces, salt, place in a skillet with minced bacon, two sliced onions, a piece of lemon rind, a sprig of thyme, one bay leaf, a few whole black peppers, three tablespoons of wine vinegar and stew until tender. Then take the meat out and strain the sauce. Blend one tablespoon of butter with one and a half of flour, add the sauce, two cups of sour cream, and the liquor from the rabbit. If necessary, add vinegar, soup or hot water, simmer a while. If the gravy is too sour, sweeten to taste.

Cut up the rabbit into uniform pieces, wash and dry thoroughly with a napkin. Dust with salt, pepper and flour, dip in a beaten egg, then in bread crumbs and fry a golden brown in lard or butter.

Deer, roebuck and antelope are considered venison. Animals two and a half or three years old are best. Venison is usually pickled several days in brine composed of water, vinegar, onion, allspice, cloves, whole black peppers, bay leaves, etc. boiled together ten or fifteen minutes. It is then roasted and the following ​gravy prepared for it: place in a saucepan half a bottle of red wine, add a cup of pepper sauce, as is described in the following recipe, a cup of currant jelly, two tablespoons of vinegar and the pulp of one lemon. Simmer a while, then strain and serve with the meat.

Wash and salt the saddle, place in a kettle, add several bay leaves, a sprig of thyme, a piece of ginger, one sliced onion, a clove of garlic, three or four cloves, carrot, leck, celery and parsley roots, two wineglasses of wine vinegar, cover and stew slowly. When done, place on a platter and serve with the following sauce: blend light brown a piece of butter and two teaspoons of flour, thin with soup or hot water and simmer a while. Place in another saucepan a sliced onion, add a cup of vinegar, a teaspoon of whole black peppers and simmer. Add this to the gravy, simmer a while, skim the fat, salt and strain.

Wash the meat, salt and place in a crock. Pour over it wine, vinegar and water, enough of each to make it agreeably tart, add a few whole black peppers, a few allspice, a few cloves and juniper berries, a few sprigs of thyme, two or three bay leaves, one onion and stew the meat in this until tender. Then take it out and add to the sauce horseradish prepared as follows: grate the rind of half a lemon, add a tablespoon of sugar, the juice of a lemon, half a cup of vinegar and enough grated horseradish to form a thick sauce.

Trim nicely a saddle or leg of venison, interlard with bacon and dust with salt. Place in a crock a sliced ​carrot, two sliced onions, a parsley root, two bay leaves, two cloves and a few whole black peppers. Place the meat in this, add a quart of good vinegar, cover and let it stand until the next day. Then take it out, place it in a roaster, add some of the liquor and a little hot water, dot with pieces of butter or lard and roast until tender. Serve with the sauce which has been skimmed.

Wash and trim the meat and pound it well. Pour vinegar over it, dust with salt and let it stand thus two or three days. When your are ready to cook it, dust with black pepper, salt and interlard with bacon. Place sliced bacon in a roaster, add the meat, roast a while, then add some of the brine, soup or hot water and sprinkle the venison with bread crumbs. Roast until tender, then rub butter over the top, pour a little sour cream into the pan and roast a bit longer. Serve with the gravy. You may omit the cream, if you wish.

Wash three pounds of venison, place it in a saucepan, add water, vinegar, wine, salt, a few each of allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves, sliced onion, and simmer until tender. Melt two tablespoons of rendered butter in a saucepan; when hot, add two tablespoons of flour, a handful of fresh crumbs of rye bread, and brown all together. Thin this with a little of the liquor in which the venison is stewing, add the strained gravy and finely minced lemon rind. If you wish, you may add to the gravy a few gingersnaps or a piece of hard gingerbread a few moments before it is done.

Wash two shoulders, take the bones out and sprinkle the cavities with minced onion, minced parsley, salt and ​pepper, and then roll cach piece up, tie around with strong white thread, interlard the surface with strips of bacon and salt. Place in a saucepan sliced carrots and onion, a few whole black peppers, two cloves, a bay leaf and a piece of good lard. Put the meat in this, add a little vinegar and soup and simmer slowly until tender. When it is tender, take it out, remove the thread and place the meat on a platter. Add a few tablespoons of soup to the gravy, simmer a few moments, skim, strain and pour over the meat. You may serve in addition to this, separately, pepper sauce as shown in recipe No. 313.

Wash the liver, trim off all skins, and slice thin. Place a little butter in a saucepan, an onion finely minced, a dash of pepper and add the liver. When fried on both sides, dust with flour, add a little vinegar and salt, and and allow it to simmer a bit.

Prepare the cutlets as you would mutton cutlets, dust with salt, dip in melted butter and bake in the oven, or on the stove in a skillet. To the liquor add vinegar and pepper sauce, simmer down until thick, and serve with the cutlets.

Cut a leg of venison into nice slices, soak them two hours in the following: vinegar and water to taste, sliced onion, sliced lemon, two or three bay leaves, a few whole black peppers and allspice. Then take them out, dust with salt and fry in melted butter. Serve with pepper or other sharp sauce.

Steak cut from young bear is very good and tastes almost like beefsteak. Dust with salt and broil or fry in butter like beefsteak. Serve with anchovy, mustard or other sharp sauces. Bear tongue is prepared the same as mutton tongue.

Clean the quail thoroughly, cut in halves and place on a well greased broiler, the inner side down. When broiled a nice brown, dust with salt and pepper and rub with butter. Serve on toast. Snipe are prepared the same way.

Dress and wash the quail, dust lightly with salt, cover with bacon and grape leaves, and tie around with thread. Place them in a roasting pan, dot with bits of butter, baste with soup and bake a light brown. When done, take off the covering, pour over them the strained liquor and serve. Quail may also be stuffed in the usual way. When roasting the quail, you may add a sliced onion, green parsley and mushrooms, and when they are nearly done, a small glass of red wine.

Dust the quail with salt and pepper, fry slightly in butter, then dust with flour, add water and wine (half of each) one bay leaf, half an onion, and salt. Stew, turning occasionally. When the quail is tender, place them in a dish, set same in a warm place and prepare the sauce by allowing it to simmer down thick, and then strain it. Other game birds may be prepared this way.

Dress and clean the quail, dust with salt, cover with sliced bacon and tie around with thread. Grease a skillet with butter, place the quail in it, add a small sliced onion, a sliced carrot, one bay leaf, two cloves, several whole black peppers, water, a small glass of white wine, cover and stew 15 minutes over a slow fire. Then take the quail out, pour over them the strained sauce, surround with peas, stewed cabbage or colewort, and serve.

These may be prepared in the same manner as quail.

Boil together 10 or 15 minutes one part of vinegar to two of water, several whole peppers, one sliced onion, one sliced carrot, a strip of lemon rind and a dash of salt. When cool, pour it over thoroughly cleaned wild ducks, which you have placed in a crock or stone jar, and let them stay in this several days, turning once cach day. When ready to cook the ducks, dry thoroughly, salt, interlard the breasts with strips of bacon (4 to 6 rows), place them in the roasting pan, dot with bits of butter and roast until tender, basting occasionally with cream and the brine in which they have been pickled. When done, take out, pour the strained gravy over them, and serve.

Soak the cleaned ducks in cold water half an hour, then interlard with strips of bacon. Put in a saucepan one sliced onion, one sliced carrot, a parsley and celery root, a bay leaf, a piece of ginger, several whole black peppers; a few juniper berries, a few cloves, and several ​thin slices of ham. Place the duck, properly salted, in this, add a little water, and stew slowly, occasionally basting. Prepare a sauce of fresh mushrooms, add the strained liquor to it, then pour all over the duck and let it stand in a hot place 15 minutes. You may make a sauce of the strained liquor, thickened with flour and butter browned together, and then thinned with soup to the proper consistency, if you wish.

Young geese may be roasted, older ones will have to be stewed. They are prepared the same as wild ducks, although in the case of an old goose it is best to skin it, as the skin adds an unpleasant flavor to the meat.

Clean and salt young wild pigeons, place in a crock or stone jar, pour over them wine and vinegar, add a sliced onion, several bay leaves, a few strips of lemon rind, and let it stand thus two days. When ready to cook the pigeons dry them with a cloth, interlard the breasts with strips of bacon, place in a roasting pan, dot with bits of butter, and roast, basting frequently with cream and the liquor in which they have been pickled. Then brown butter and flour, thin with the pickling liquor, add the liquor in the roasting pan, sweet or sour cream, and boil together until smooth.

Clean, cut off the heads, and salt. Put a piece of butter in a roasting pan, a sliced onion, and add the birds, breasts down. Bake in a quick oven about 15 minutes, and when they are beginning to brown, sprinkle with grated bread crumbs. When done, add several tablespoons of soup, and serve.