Meatloaf en croute 980

Andy Katz

While its been awhile since i have patronized them, several restaurants in the SF bay area have had this dish on the menu at one time or another, there used to be a German themed restaurant in Berkeley that was run by a Chinese family and they made some interesting variations on the standard menu, they often made a turkey loaf in pastry crust.

Mmmm i do like a good shepherds pie.

The venison loaf recipe i have calls for marinating the venison, i find it takes the edge off the gamy aspect of venison, which, even though i was raised ¿n the stuff i really don't like it.

Think of a very large fish cake. Ever add a bit of anchovy or mashed fish mashed potatoes, i know it sounds odd but its acutaly pretty good.

Me mum could make it worth eating but its not a very appetizing recipe to read.

Here are a few i have on file. The first 2 are very good and the 3rd while o.k. i have had a better version of as Julia Childs "Torte Milinaise" layers of ham and cheese and pancetta and spinach in pastry.

pork pie ----------

3 lb. ground lean pork

2 cups diced onions

4 cooking apples, peeled, cored & diced

2 tsp. mace

2 tsp. salt i cut this in half

1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

2 eggs beaten

2 cups fine fresh bread crumbs

1 recipe french lining pastry

3 hard boiled eggs, halved

1 recipe English glaze

Place pork in a dutch oven, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until fat is rendered. Drain off fat. Stir in onions, apples, mace, salt and pepper. Stir in eggs and bread crumbs, mix well.

Roll out pastry, 1-4 inch thick, on a floured surface, line 10 x 4 inch spring form loaf pan or 9 inch round spring form pan with the pasty, seal edges together to prevent leaking.

Pack half the pork mixture in pan, arrange egg halves, cut side down, on pork mixture, pack in remaining pork mixture. Moisten rim of pastry with cold water, fit on top pastry. Pinch edges together. If desired, roll out pastry trimmings, cut part of the trimming into 1 inch wide strips to fit around edge of pie, braid or twist strips or cut into a fringe, moisten top edges of pie and apply braid or fringe, brush top of pie with English glaze.

Bake in a preheated 400 F oven for 15 minutes, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees; bake for 1 hour longer. Let cool slightly, Place on a serving dish; remove sides of pan. Serve with a peperonata sauce, if desired. ---------------

Old English pork pie -------------------------

1 lb ground lean pork

1-8 tsp. sage

1 egg lightly beaten

salt

freshly ground black pepper

1-2 cup all purpose flour

1 pound lean pork

8 slices of bacon, diced

1 cup chopped spanish onion

2 tbs. butter

1-2 tsp. thyme

1-4 tsp. cinnamon

2 tbs. finely chopped parsley

1 & 1-4 cup red wine

1 & 1-4 cup beef broth

1-2 recipe basic savory short pastry

English glaze

Combine the ground pork, sage, egg, 1-2 tsp. salt, and 1-4 tsp. pepper in a mixing bowl and mix well.

Shape into 1 inch balls. Combine the flour, 1-2 tsp. of salt and 1-4 tsp. of pepper. Dredge the balls with the flour mixture. Cut the pork into 1-2 inch strips, then dredge with the remaining flour mixture.

Fry the bacon in a skillet until browned, then remove bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling. Brown the pork balls, the the pork strips in the drippings. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on paper toweling to drain.

SautŽ the onion in the butter until lightly browned. COmbine the pork strips, onion, thyme, cinnamon, parsley, wine and broth in a 2 inch deep 9 inch cbutterole.

Mix well then arrange the pork balls over the top. Cover bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until the pork is fork tender, adding more broth if needed. Remove from the oven and cool thoroughly.

Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to 1-8 inch thickness and trim to fit the top of the cbutterole. Place on the cooled cbutterole & brush with the glaze.

Cut 1-2 inch strips of the remaining pastry and twist then arrange the twists around slightly moistened edge and center. Brush the trim with the glaze, bake in a preheated 375 F oven for 25 minutes or until browned and serve immediately.

Ham and herb pie --------------------

1 recipe basic savory short pastry

1-4 cup finely diced cooked ham

2 eggs

1 & 1-4 cup milk

2 tsp. onion juice

1-8 tsp. white pepper

1-2 tsp. salt

1-2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp. finely chopped chives

1 tsp. finely chopped parsley

1-8 tsp. dried tarragon leaves

Pinch of thyme leaves

Roll out 1-4 of the pastry 1-8 inch thick on a floured surface, then fit into a 9 inch flan pan. Trim off excess pastry with rolling pin. needle bottom of pastry lightly with fork but not quite all the way through. Refrigerate any remaining pastry for future use. Spread ham evenly over pastry. Combine the eggs and milk in a medium mixing bowl and bet with a fork until well mixed. Add remaining ingredients and beat until combined. Pour carefully over ham.

Place flan pan on a cookie sheet. Bake in a pre heated 400 degree oven for 5 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake for 1 hour longer or until center is set. Cool on rack for 15 min then remove flan ring. If desired sprinkle top loosely with thinly sliced gruyere cheese ----------------------------------

As usual, if there are any question, especially about the pastry or "English Glaze" just let me know. Also let me know if you are interested in pork fillets in puff pastry or sausage rolls. --- JL