Potted Hare is a traditional British recipe, based on Mrs Beeton's recipe of 1861, for a classic luncheon or breakfast dish of boiled hare packed into a ramekin and topped with clarified butter. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Potted Hare.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from the redoubtable Mrs Beeton's 1861 volume Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, the classic Victorian cookbook. This recipe traditionally uses duck or goose giblets (at least in the original version) but also works very well with turkey giblets.
Original Recipe
1028. INGREDIENTS — 1 hare, a few slices of bacon, a large bunch of savoury herbs, 4 cloves, 1/2 teaspoonful of whole allspice, 2 carrots, 2 onions, salt and pepper to taste, 1 pint of water, 2 glasses of sherry.
Mode.–Skin, empty, and wash the hare; cut it down the middle, and put it into a stewpan, with a few slices of bacon under and over it; add the remaining ingredients, and stew very gently until the hare is tender, and the flesh will separate easily from the bones. When done enough, take it up, remove the bones, and pound the meat, with the bacon, in a mortar, until reduced to a perfectly smooth paste. Should it not be sufficiently seasoned, add a little cayenne, salt, and pounded mace, but be careful that these are well mixed with the other ingredients. Press the meat into potting—pots, pour over clarified butter, and keep in a dry place. The liquor that the hare was stewed in, should be saved for hashes, soups, &c. &c.
Time.–About 21/2 hours to stew the hare.
Seasonable from September to the end of February.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 hare
600ml water
8 slices of streaky bacon
2 carrots, coarsely chopped
2 onions, coarsely chopped
250ml dry sherry
1 large bunch of savoury herbs, coarsely chopped
4 cloves
1/2 tsp whole allspice berries
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper and ground mace (optional)
clarified butter (ghee), melted
Method:
Prepare the hare (or get your butcher to do it) then split down the middle (along the backbone). Use half the bacon to line the base of a saucepan, arrange the hare halves on top then layer the remaining bacon on top of the hare.
Add the vegetables, herbs and spices then pour over the water and sherry. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer, secure the lid tightly and cook for about 90 minutes, or until the hare is tender and the flesh separates easily from the bones.
Remove the meat and bacon from the pan, allow to cool until they can be handled then strip the hare flesh from the bones. Combine the hare meat and bacon in a mortar and pound to a completely smooth paste. Adjust the seasonings to taste and, if desired, add a little cayenne pepper and ground mace.
Press the meat into ramekins with the back of a spoon then pour over enough clarified butter to cover and seal. Set side until the butter solidifies then cover with clingfilm (plastic wrap) and refrigerate.
The liquid from cooking the hare should be strained and saved as a stock.
