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13. "Kickshaws"
of Rabbit, Italian Sauce.
Roast lightly three or four young
rabbits, and pick off
all the white meat; mince it very finely with
a sharp
knife, that it may not be ragged; reduce four
spoonfuls of
white sauce with a spoonful of cream, season
it with a little
cayenne pepper and salt ; throw in the rabbit
while the
sauce is hot, set it to cool, then beat up six
yolks of eggs
with a teaspoonful of cream ; pass the eggs through
a
colander to the rabbit, and mix thoroughly; butter
eight
or ten small moulds, and put a piece of white
paper at the
bottom of each ; fill each mould with mince,
and half an
hour before dinner set them in a stew-pan ; pour
boiling
water round them, about half the height of the
mould,
cover the stew-pan close, set it over a stove,
and put some
lighted charcoal on the cover ; when done, turn
the “kick-
shaws" on the dish, and put over them a clear
brown Italian
sauce.
Why " kickshaws " ? you may ask. Well
; turn to Justice
Shallow's instructions to William the cook in
the second part
of " King Henry IV." (Act V., Scene 1), and you
will see that
at any rate the word is an old one. French cooks
call the
above dish " Paupetons de Lapereau," an exceptionally
com-
manding phrase ; but I prefer "kickshaws," which
is at least
Shakespearean, although it is manifestly a corruption
of the
French quelque chose.
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