Most American kitchens are wonderfully well equipped for all manner of meat processing. If you have a food processor, you have a piece of equipment not very dissimilar from a "silent cutter," one of the standard pieces of equipment in a commercial sausage kitchen used for the fine emulsions necessary for making products such as bologna, mortadella, olive or pimento loaf.

If you have an electric mixer, chances are that you have, or can get, a meat- grinding attachment and a sausage-stuffing tube to go with it. It's very probable that you also might have an old-fashioned hand grinder that your grandmother left you gathering dust in some dark forgotten corner of your kitchen cupboard.

Considering all of that, and considering that the kids are back in school and many of you are apt to be spending a small fortune on those 8-ounce packages of luncheon meat that hang from pegs in the supermarket deli case, it is possible that some of you might like to try your hand at making your own sandwich meat.

One of the basic products in most processing plants is what is called in the trade a "non-specific loaf." It's one of those all-purpose mixtures that lends itself to all manner of variations. It's the basic mix from which hot dogs are made, and if you stuff the same stuff into larger casings, it's "bologna." Add a few cubes of pork fat and adjust the seasonings ever so slightly and, if you're Italian, you call it mortadella. There are undoubtedly dozens of variations that can be made from the basic "non-specific loaf" recipe: Pickle and Pimento Loaf, Olive Loaf and Macaroni and Cheese Loaf.

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NON-SPECIFIC LOAF

1/2 pounds boneless beef chuck

1 pound pork shoulder, not too lean

3/4 pound ice (10 to 12 cubes)

2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon salt

5 teaspoons corn syrup

teaspoon white pepper

( teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon paprika

( teaspoon L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

( teaspoon sodium nitrate (saltpeter)

3 tablespoons non-fat dried milk (optional)

Cut beef and pork into small (1-inch) cubes. Toss together with about half of the ice. Put in the bowl of your food processor and sprinkle on the salt.

Grind for a few seconds (about 15) until the meat is about the consistency of hamburger.

Add remaining ice, corn syrup, pepper, nutmeg, paprika, vitamin C, nitrate and dried milk. Grind until the mixture is the consistency of a smooth paste (about 30-45 seconds). Pour the mixture into a greased bread pan or pate mold.

Place in a preheated 325-degree oven and bake for about 1 hour and 45 minutes to an internal temperature of 155-160 degrees. Use a thermometer to be sure.

Remove from pans while still warm and cool at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes.

Place in the freezer section of your refrigerator for about 25 minutes to chill completely. Wrap in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate. Use within 10 days or freeze.

This basic "non-specific loaf" recipe yields a product like bologna. Here are a few ideas for turning it into other types of loaves.

Mortadella Loaf: Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar to the mix along with the other seasonings, and stir 1/2 cup of small ( 1/4-inch) pork fat cubes into the mixture before it goes into the loaf pan.

Olive Loaf: Eliminate the nutmeg and paprika from the seasoning mix and add instead 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 1/2 teaspoon ground celery seed and 1/4 teaspoon allspice. Stir 1/2 cup of small pitted olives into the mixture before baking.

Pickle and Pimento Loaf: Replace the olives in the above mixture with 1/4 cup diced pimento and 1/4 cup diced sweet pickles.

Macaroni and Cheese Loaf: To the basic "non-specific loaf" recipe, stir in 1 cup cooked elbow macaroni and 1 cup diced Cheddar cheese before baking.