INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

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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