Classic Culinary Arts:

Cold Game Pie Recipe

Make three pints of forcemeat. (See forcemeat for game.) Cut all the meat from two partridges or grouse, and put the bones on to boil with three quarts of water and three pounds of a shank of veal. Fry four large slices of fat salt pork, and as soon as brown, take up, and into the fat put one onion, cut in slices. When this begins to turn yellow, take up, and put the meat of the birds in the pan. Dredge well with salt, pepper and flour, and stir constantly for four minutes; then take up, and put away to cool. Make a crust as directed for raised pies. Butter the French pie mould very thoroughly, and line with paste. Spread upon the paste--both upon the sides and bottom of the mould--a thin layer of fat salt pork, then a layer of forcemeat, one of grouse, again one of forcemeat, and so on until the pie is filled. Leave a space of about half an inch at the edge of the mould, and heap the filling in the centre. Moisten with half a cupful of well-seasoned stock. Roll the remainder of the paste into the shape of the top of the mould. Wet the paste at the edge of the mould with beaten egg; then put on the top, and press the top and side parts together. Cut a small piece of paste from the centre of the top crust, add a little more paste to it, and roll a little larger than the opening, which it is to cover. Cut the edges with the jagging iron, and, with the other end of the iron, stamp leaves or flowers. Place on the top of the pie. Bake in a slow oven three hours and a half. While the pie is baking the sauce can be prepared. When the bones and veal have been cooking two hours, add two cloves, a bouquet of sweet herbs and the fried onions. Cook one hour longer; then salt and pepper well, and strain. The water should be reduced in boiling to one quart. When the pie is baked, take the centre piece from the cover, and slightly press the tunnel into the opening. Pour slowly one pint of the hot gravy through this. Put back the cover, and set away to cool. The remainder of the gravy must be turned into a flat dish and put in a cold place to harden. When the pie is served, place the mould in the oven, or steamer, for about five minutes; then draw out the wires and open it. Slip the pie on to a cold dish, and garnish with the jellied gravy and parsley. This is nice for suppers or lunches. All kinds of game and meat can be prepared in the same manner.