To Roast a Hare is a traditional British recipe, based on Hannah Glasse's recipe of 1747, for a classic dish of a hare with a suet stuffing that's roasted to cook. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: To Roast a Hare.
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This is a traditional British recipe redacted from Hannah Glasse's 1747 volume The Aft of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, the classic Georgian cookbook.
To roaſt a hare.
TAKE your hare when it is caſed, and make a pudding ; take a quarter of a pound of ſewet, and as much crumbs of bread, a little parſley ſhred fine, and about as much thyme as will lie on a ſixpence, when ſhred ; an anchovy ſhred ſmall, a very little pepper and ſalt, ſome nutmeg, two egg, and a little lemon-peel. Mix all theſe together and put it into the hare. Sew up the belly, ſpit it, and lay it to the fire, which muſt be a good one. Your dripping-pan must be very clean and nice. Put in two quarts of milk and half a pound of butter into the pan : keep baſting it all the while it is roaſting, with the butter and milk, till the whole is uſed, and your hare will be enough. You may mix the liver in the pudding, if you like it. You muſt firſt parboil it, and then chop in fine.
Modern Redaction
Hannah Glasse is often accredited with the saying first catch your hare. This precise phrase does not actually occur in any of her recipes, but the closest we get to it is the statement TAKE your hare when it is caſed found in the recipe above. The word cased actually means 'skinned' but it's often, erroneously, taken to be the word 'catched'. Hence the saying 'first catch your hare', though it's actually a clear case of misapprobation.
Modern Redaction
Ingredients:
1 oven-ready hare or rabbit
For the Stuffing:
115g shredded suet
115g breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
freshly-grated nutmeg, to taste
1 hare or rabbit liver, parboiled and finely chopped (optional)
2 eggs
2 tbsp freshly-grated lemon zest
2l whole milk
225g butter
Method:
In a bowl, combine the suet, breadcrumbs, thyme, anchovy fillets, the hare liver (if using) and seasonings. Mix thoroughly then add the eggs and lemon zest. Mix well and use this mixture to stuff the belly of the hare. Sew closed the belly flaps then sit the hare on a trivet in a roasting dish. Pour over the milk and butter then lightly cover the hare with foil and transfer to an oven pre-heated to 180°C.
Cook for between 50 and 90 minutes (depending on the size of the hare), basting frequently with the milk and butter mix to keep the animal moist. When done, remove from the oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before removing and slicing the stuffing and cutting the hare into serving pieces. Serve hot, accompanied by the pan juices as a sauce.
