Meatloaf

Heat oven to 350F.

Assemble all ingredients on your worktable and put the meats into a large mixing bowl. The ground meat is easier to work at room temperature. Heat the bacon fat and saute the onion and garlic until soft and transparent. Crumble the bread to fine soft crumbs (easy in a blender) and sprinkle over the meats. Scrape the onions into the meats, add the parsley, cognac, egg, salt, pepper, allspice, and thyme. Mix thoroughly with your hands; a spoon is tedious and an electric mixer overdoes the job, producing a rubbery texture.

Pack the meatloaf mixture into a 1-quart loaf pan, lay the bay leaf on top, and cover the meatloaf with the bacon strips. Set in the preheated oven on the middle rack and bake for 1 1/2 hours. Leave the loaf in the pan and put it in a warm place for 20 to 30 minutes before slicing; otherwise it will crumble terribly.

For a very firm texture to serve as a cold pate, put another loaf pan on top of the meatloaf and weight it for 4 or 5 hours with about 1 pound of canned goods evenly distributed. Seal tightly with aluminum foil and chill before serving, but the meatloaf should not be too cold or the flavor will be bland.