Sunday 11 October 2015

A Thanksgiving Tourtière


I took a cooking course many many years ago and one of the things I left with was an excellent recipe for tourtière. This is a classic Quebec dish and this particular recipe is from my teacher, who was from Quebec, and is her mother's recipe. The seasonings I list are what I used but the recipe given to me was to taste (tt).

I've been making it for years and is one of Teena's favorite dishes. Today I realized I have never posted the recipe.

Here are the ingredients:


                                           12 oz - 340g of ground pork
                                           8 oz - 225 g of ground beef
                                           1 small onion
                                           1 stk celery, finely diced
                                           1/4 leek, finely diced
                                           1/2 carrot. grated
                                           2 cloves garlic
                                           1 tbs - 14g chopped parsley
                                           4 1/4 oz - 120g mashed potato
                                           2 oz - 60g butter
                                           1 3/4 oz - 50g bread crumbs
                                           1/4 teaspoon (or tt) each of
                                           clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, salt, pepper,
                                           10 1/2 oz - 300 ml beef stock
                                           1 egg
                                           pie pastry (I use frozen)

1- Sweat the meat in butter without browning.


2- Add vegetables to meat and continue to sweat.


3- Add stock and simmer for about 10 minutes.


4- Mix in all the seasonings.


5- Add mashed potatoes and some bread crumbs to get a meat sauce like consistency.


6- Adjust seasoning and set to cool.


7- Line pie plate with dough and fill with cooled meat mixture.


8- Egg wash the edge, cover with dough and seal. My top fell apart but no worries, it can be patched together and some openings are needed to let the heat escape as it bakes. If you do this properly, make some slices in the top. Egg wash the top so it browns. Next time I am going to take the top out of the aluminum pan while it is still frozen, in hopes I can lay it down much neater.


9- Bake on a tray in a preheated 375F (190C) over for 40 minutes. Take out and let cool for about five minutes.


The pie was delicious!


As I always do, I asked Teena if there was anything missing or needed to be backed off on. She said she loved it just the way it was. She ate what was on her plate, took seconds, which is always a compliment, and saved a piece for lunch tomorrow.


It's a terrific fall or winter dish and this recipe is excellent!

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