Ingredients

(Serves 4-6)

Dough
75 g butter
2.5 dl milk
25 g yeast cake (or 1 package of dried yeast)
0.75 dl sugar
7 dl wheat flour

Filling
1 large yellow onion
400 g ground meat (mixed beef and pork)
200 g cooked rice (left-over rice is fine)
2 dl cream
1 egg
salt and pepper

Procedure

(1) Make the dough: melt the butter and add milk. Heat the mixture to 37 deg. C. Crumble the yeast into a bowl. Add the butter-and-milk mixture and whip it until the yeast as dissolved. Add sugar, salt and flour and stir until it becomes a dough. Cover the bowl, and let rise in a warm place for about 40 minutes.

(2) While the dough rises, chop the onion into very small pieces, and put in a large frying pan. Add the ground meat immediately and saut e for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the cooked rice and saute this mixture another 5 minutes. Add the cream, season to taste with salt and pepper, and turn off the heat. Let the frying pan stand on the stove, covered, until the dough is ready. Preheat the oven to 225 deg. C

(3) Roll out the dough so it fits in a 30×40 cm baking dish. Put the dough into the dish so that the dough covers the whole dish (this is the most difficult part; don’t be discouraged if you have to roll out the dough again).

(4) Add the filling on top of the dough. Whip the egg and spread it over the filling. Bake it on the bottom rack in the oven for about 20 minutes.

(5) When the pie has cooled off a bit; cut it into pieces that are 3 by 15 centimeters (the traditional size of lihapiirakka in Finland). Serve.

Notes: While eating lihapiirakka, you can try the hard work of pronouncing its name. “Liha” means meat and “piirakka” is just “piirakka”. The filling can of course be varied. Other traditional Finnish fillings for other “piirakka”s are blueberries (with some potato flour on top) and cottage cheese.

Rating:

Difficulty: moderate.
Time: 30 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking and cooling.
Precision: measure the crust ingredients carefully.

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Ingredients

4 cups flour, dash salt, 1 ½ cups solid vegetable shortening 1 cup cold water

Filling

½ lb ground beef ½ lb ground pork ¼ cup beef suet finely chopped
1 large potato peeled and cut into 3/8 in. cubes. 2 carrots peeled cut into
3/8 inch cubes 1 small red onion finely diced, ½ rutabaga or turnip peeled and
cut into 3/8 inch cubes. 1/8 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
May 18, 1968 Chicago Tribune Lunch Crunches with Tuna Cheese Pasties

Combine flour and a dash of salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Slowly add water until mixture forms a sticky ball. With floured hands, shape into ball, wrap with wax paper, and put in refrigerator one hour before preparing filling.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all remaining ingredients in large bowl, using hands to mix until thoroughly combined, like meat loaf.

Divide dough into four equal parts. Using a rolling pin on a floured board, roll each into an 8-inch to 10-inch circle. Place 1 cup of filling in center of circle. Fold both sides up and crimp firmly, forming a half-moon shape.

Use a large spatula to lift each pasty from floured board, and set it on a greased cookie sheet.

Bake 75 minutes, until brown remove to wire rack. Serve on plates, with gravy on the side if desired. Yield: 4 meal size pasties.

Ingredients:

3 l milk
1 l sour milk
4 eggs
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Bring the milk almost to boiling point. Combine the eggs and sour milk and add to the hot milk, stirring gently.

2. Continue to cook the milk over low heat, stirring until it curdles. Remove the saucepan from the stove and let the whey separate in a warm place for half an hour.

3. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the curds to a sieve lined with muslin. Lightly press the whey out. Add the salt, stirring in well.

4. Place a light weight on the cheese and leave it to stand in a cold place overnight.

5. Next day, turn the cheese onto an ovenproof dish. Brush the cheese with egg and bake at 250 °C until nicely brown.

Ingredients:

4 boiled potatoes
4 boiled carrots
4 boiled beetroot or pickled beetroot
1 gherkin
1 small onion
salt, white pepper

Dressing:

1 1/2 dl cream
1 1/2 tsp vinegar (10%)
1 1/2 tsp sugar
(water the beetroot was cooked in)

Directions:

1. Cook the vegetables in their skin well beforehand until just tender.

2. Peel the vegetables and onion, and cut them into small, equal-sized cubes. Mix them together and season with a little salt and white pepper.

3. Whip the cream lightly, season with sugar and vinegar and add a few drops of beetroot liquid for colour. Serve the dressing separately.

4. Garnish the salad with hard-boiled eggs, the yolks and whites chopped separately and laid in stripes on the top.

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Ingredients:

1 kg fish
1 l water
1 tsp salt
1 onion
10 allspice (whole) dill stems
1/2 leek
4 large potatoes
4 dl milk
1 tblsp flour
dill and chives

Directions:

1. Clean and fillet the fish. Boil the bones with coarsely chopped onion and spices. Cook for about 20 minutes.

2. Strain the liquid into another saucepan. When the liquid comes to the boil, add the leek cut into rings and the peeled, diced potatoes.

3. Cook for about 15 minutes. Cut the fish into chunks and add to the soup. Cook for another five minutes.

4. Mix the flour with milk and add to the soup. Let the soup simmer for a few more minutes. Sprinkle plenty of chopped dill and chives on top of the soup. If you want to use ready filleted fish, you will need 300-400 g.

5. Add a fish bouillon cube to the liquid.

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Ingredients:

1 decilitre water
½ – 1 tsp salt
2½ decilitre rye flour
Rice filling:
2,5 decilitre water
1 litre milk
2,5 decilitre rice
1 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Rinse the rice and place it in boiling water. Simmer until most of the water is absorbed. Add the milk, lower the heat to a minimum, and partially cover the pot. Simmer until the milk has been absorbed and the rice has turned into a thick porridge. Season with salt and leave to cool.

2. Add the flour and salt to the water and mix into a solid, compact dough.

3. Form the dough into a strip and divide into 12 pieces.

4. Roll the pieces into flat thin ovals.

5. Spread some filling on each oval. Then fold the sides towards the centre, pinching and making neat pleats along the edge.

6. Bake at 300 ºC for about 10 minutes.

7. Brush them well with melted butter or a butter and water mixture.

8. Place the pasties, separated with baking paper, in a bowl and cover with a towel to soften the crusts.

9. Serve warm with butter or egg butter which is made by mixing equal parts of butter, (cottage cheese) and chopped hard-boiled egg.

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