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| What You Need: |
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2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 pounds lean boneless veal, cut into ¼-inch cubes
1 pound lean smoked ham, cut into ¼-inch cubes
¼ cup finely chopped parsley
6 tablespoons brandy
6 tablespoons fresh or canned chicken or beef stock
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon crumbled dried sage leaves
2 teaspoons salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Hot - water pastry
4 hard-cooked eggs
8 to 10 pickled walnuts (optional)
1 egg yolk combined with 1 tablespoon heavy cream
1 envelope unflavored gelatin
2 cups chicken stock, fresh or canned
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| How To Cook: |
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1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Using a pastry brush, coat the bottom and sides of a 10-by-5-by-4-inch loaf mold with the butter. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine the veal, ham, parsley, brandy, stock, lemon juice, peel, sage, salt and pepper. Toss the ingredients about with a spoon until thoroughly mixed.
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2. Break off about one third of the hot-water pastry and set it aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the remaining pastry into a rectangle about 20 inches long, 10 inches wide and ¼ inch thick.
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3. Drape the pastry over the rolling pin, lift it up, and unroll it slackly over the mold. Gently press the pastry into the mold. Roll the pin over the rim to trim off the excess pastry.
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4. Spoon enough of the veal and ham mixture into the pastry shell to fill it a little less than half full. Arrange the hard-cooked eggs in a single row down the center of the mold, and line up the pickled walnuts, if you are using them, on both sides of the eggs. Cover the eggs with the remaining meat mixture, filling the shell to within 1 inch of the top.
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5. Roll the reserved pastry into a 4-by-13-inch rectangle ¼ inch thick. Lift it up on the pin and drape it over the top of the mold. Trim off the excess with a small knife and, with the tines of a fork or your fingers, crimp the pastry to secure it to the rim of the mold.
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6. Then cut a 1-inch round hole in the center of the pie. Roll out the scraps of pastry and cut them into leaf and flower shapes. Moisten their bottom sides with the egg-and-cream mixture and arrange on the pie. Brush the entire surface with the egg-and-cream mixture.
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7. Bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 2 hours, or until the top is a deep golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool for 15 minutes.
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8. Meanwhile, in a 1- to 1½-quart saucepan, sprinkle the gelatin over 2 cups of cold chicken stock and let it soften for 2 or 3 minutes. Then set the pan over low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the gelatin dissolves completely.
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9. Pour the gelatin through a funnel into the opening of the pie. Cool the pie to room temperature, then refrigerate it for at least 6 hours, or until the aspic is set. Ideally the pie should be removed from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before being served.
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10. To unmold and serve the pie, run the blade of a sharp knife around the inside edges of the mold and dip the bottom of the mold in hot water.
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11. Wipe the mold dry, place an inverted serving plate over it and, grasping mold and plate together firmly, quickly turn them over. Rap the plate on a table and the pie should slide out easily. Turn the pie over and serve, cut into ½-inch thick slices.
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NOTE:
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Traditionally, veal-and-ham pies are "raised pies". That is, the pastry casing for the pie is "raised", or shaped, around a wooden mold.
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