Lihamurekepiiras (Meat Loaf in Sour-Cream Pastry)

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

PASTRY
MEAT FILLING
* Use either 3 pounds finely ground meat (beef, pork, ham, lamb or veal or
a combination of any of these), or 4 cups cooked ground or finely chopped
meat
Prepare the pastry: Sift the flour and salt together into a large chilled
bowl. Drop the 1/4-inch bits of butter into the bowl. Working quickly, use
your fingertips to rub the flour and butter together until they have the
appearance of flakes of coarse meal. In a separate bowl, mix together the
egg and sour cream and stir into this the flour-butter mixture, working
with your fingers until you can gather the dough into a soft, pliable ball.
Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate 1 hour. Cut the chilled dough in half and
roll out each half to rectangles of 6 by 14 inches each, setting aside any
scraps.
Butter the bottom of a jelly-roll pan with 1 tablespoon of soft butter.
Lift 1 sheet of the pastry over the rolling pin and unroll it into the pan,
or drape the pastry over the rolling pin, lift it up and unfold it into the
pan.
Prepare the meat filling:
Melt the 4 tablespoons of butter in a 10- to 12-inch skillet. When the foam
subsides, add the chopped mushrooms and cook them over moderate heat,
stirring frequently, for 6 to 8 minutes, or until they are lightly colored.
If you are using ground raw meat, add it to the skillet and cook, stirring
occasionally, for another 8 to 10 minutes, or until the meat loses its read
color and any accumulated liquid in the pan cooks completely away. Scrape
the meat mixture from the skillet (or the mushrooms and already cooked
meat) into a large mixing bowl and stir in the chopped onions, parsley,
cheese and milk. Now gather this meat mixture into a ball and place it in
the center of the dough in the pan. With you hands, pat the meat into a
narrow loaf extending across the center of the dough from one end to the
other. Lift the second sheet of pastry over the pin and gently drape it on
top of the meat loaf; press the edges of the 2 sheets together. Dip a
pastry brush into the combined egg and milk mixture and moisten the edges
of the dough. Press down on the edges all around the loaf with the back of
a fork (the tines will seal the edges securely). Prick the top of the loaf
in several places with a fork to allow steam to escape.
Preheat the oven to 375'F. Gather together into a ball all of the excess
scraps of dough and roll it out to a thin rectangle. With a pastry wheel or
small, sharp knife, cut this dough into long, narrow strips. Brush the loaf
with more of the egg and milk mixture and crisscross the pastry strips over
the top of the loaf in an attractive pattern. Now brush the strips with the
milk and egg mixture and set the jelly-roll pan in the center of the oven.
Bake for 45 minutes, or until the loaf has turned a golden brown. Serve
thick slices of the hot meat loaf, accompanied by a bowl of cold sour cream
and a side dish of lingonberries.
Source: Time-Life Foods of the World: The Cooking of Scandinavia
Posted to MC-Recipe Digest V1 #414 by Linda Place <placel@worldnet.att.net>
on Jan 29, 1997.

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