Swedish meat loaf with horseradish cream

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 425F (220C). Spray bottom and sides of a 9x5-inch (2-L) loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. Slice crusts off bread, if you like. Then tear or cut bread into tiny pieces, no larger than 1/4 inch (0.5 cm). In a medium-size bowl, whisk egg, then whisk in buttermilk and mustard until blended. Add bread. Using your hands, mash mixture until bread has almost absorbed buttermilk mixture. Then set aside.

• Peel onion and finely chop. Mince garlic. Heat oil in a large frying pan set over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir onion and garlic into bread mixture. Let cool.

• In a large bowl, using your hands or a large wooden spoon, mix ground chicken with beef. Sprinkle with dill, salt, pepper, nutmeg, ginger and cloves, if using. Stir in bread mixture. Mix well. Lightly pat mixture into loaf pan.

• Place pan on a baking sheet in centre of 425F (220C) oven. Reduce temperature to 350F (180C). Bake until meat loaf feels firm to the touch and sides begin to pull away from pan, from 45 to 50 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir sour cream with horseradish and parsley, if using. Taste and add additional horseradish if you want a little more kick.

• Remove meat loaf from oven and carefully drain liquid from pan. Cover meat loaf with a piece of foil and let stand in pan, from 5 to 10 minutes. Remove foil, then gently turn meat loaf out onto a cutting board. Turn right-side up and slice. It may have a slight pink hue to it even when thoroughly cooked. Serve with horseradish cream. Delicious with baked potatoes and steamed asparagus. Leftovers can be wrapped and refrigerated up to 2 days. The texture will suffer a little if frozen.