Last week when I was speaking to my friend Janette, getting the scoop on all things pumpkin, I mentioned something about tourtiere. Janette said that she has a recipe that she has used for years. It was given to her by the wife of an executive from the Heinz Company, in Leamington, an "exceptional homemaker". I jotted down the recipe on the spot. (The picture above is of Gavin & Ellen helping me in the kitchen)A few days later, my friend Carmen called and asked if I would be willing to help her master the art of pastry-making, for her Christmas Eve tourtieres. It was the perfect opportunity for me to get organized, so I made my filling early in the day and had it ready to go when Carmen arrived. We had a great time, rolling out the dough, and putting our tourtieres together. It didn't seem like work, and we actually got a lot done.
The two meat mixtures looked completely different, a point I thought was very interesting. After looking online at various recipes for the Christmas specialty, there are lots of versions. Some contain cinnamon and cloves. Some contain more potato than others and there are different combinations of pork and beef. This recipe doesn't contain the spices, but if you can't imagine your tourtiere without them, just add them at the beginning of the cooking process.
I baked one of my tourtieres last night and let me tell you - it was delicious! There are a few other points I should mention before you get started. The meat mixture will still be soupy after it has cooked for two hours, but it will thicken up after adding the potatoes (and will get even thicker after it has chilled). Bake the tourtieres until they are nice and dark - not burnt, but deeply coloured. When I thought the pie was done, I kept it in for another 10 or 15 minutes at least.
Tourtiere
2 lbs. ground pork
1 lb. ground beef
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 t. sea salt
1 t. freshly grocund pepper
1/2 c. Heinz Ketchup
2 T. Worstershire sauce
2 T. beef boullion concentrate (or 2 beef boullion cubes)
4 or 5 medium sized potatoes, peeled & cut into chunks
2 c. green peas
Favourite pie crust to line and top 4 regular sized pie plates (see Rhubarb Custard Pie, June '08 for a great pie crust recipe)
1 egg, beaten
1. Place the ground pork and beef in a large pot, mashing it down. Add water to the pot, just to cover the meat. Add salt, pepper, ketchup, Worstershire sauce, and beef boullion. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
2. In a separate pot, cover the potatoes with cold water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from the heat, drain, and mash the potatoes coarsely.
3. After the meat mixture has cooked for 2 hours, skim any excess fat off the top (but don't take it all out). Add the mashed potatoes and peas. Cool completely in the fridge, or outside if it's near freezing where you live.
4. Later that day or the next, roll out four pie crusts for four pie plates. Scoop the meat mixture into the pie shells and level off flat. Cover with a top crust and flute the edges. Cut a decorative piece of holly & berries out of some extra pastry dough and place in the middle of the of the crust. Poke some slits in the top crust (to allow steam to escape), and either bake within a day or wrap well and freeze until needed.
5. To bake, preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush the pastry with the beaten egg. Place the pie in the oven and immediately turn the temperature down to 375 degrees. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour. Your house will smell scrumptious.
*If you are baking a frozen pie, don't thaw it before baking, and just bake a little longer.
