My Moms French Canadian Tourtière Recipes

FRENCH CANADIAN TOURTIERE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine pork, beef, onion, garlic, water, salt, thyme, sage, black pepper and cloves. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils; stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat is cooked, about 5 minutes. Allow to cool to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Spoon the meat mixture into the pie crust. Place top crust on top of pie and pinch edges to seal. Cut slits in top crust so steam can escape. Cover edges of pie with strips of aluminum foil.
• Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes; remove foil and return to oven. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing.

MY MOM'S FRENCH CANADIAN TOURTIèRE

Steps:

• For the Pastry: Follow the instructions for making the pie pastry from either of the recipe links above. Chill the dough until required.
• For the Tourtière Filling: In a Dutch Oven or large saucepan, place the ground meat, breaking it apart with a large fork.
• Cover the meat with water, or chicken stock or beef stock, just barely above the surface of the meat. Bring the mixture to a boil, then, lower the heat to a simmer. Mash the mixture with a potato masher to separate and blend the meat together.
• Add the onion, garlic clove, chicken bouillon cube, sage, poultry seasoning, garlic salt, pepper and seasoned salt to the mixture. Continue to simmer, uncovered, for 1 ½ hours. (You are essentially braising the meat).
• The moisture will evaporate and become absorbed into the meat mixture during the braising process, creating a savoury meat filling. CHEF TIP: Do not drain all of the fat from the mixture as this is what helps bind the tourtière filling.
• Crush the soda crackers and stir into the meat mixture.
• Taste the meat mixture for seasoning and adjust (tweak) as necessary. It should taste quite savoury. Tweaking ingredients could include, according to your taste: 1 -2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce; a drop or two of lemon juice; a grind or two more of pepper; 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard; 1/2 teaspoon celery salt; additional sage, poultry seasoning and or 1/2 teaspoon summer savoury.
• Let the meat mixture cool completely before filling the pie shells. The mixture should be quite thick. If you are not ready to make the pies; refrigerate the mixture. CHEF TIP: For longer storage, I measure the amount of filling that I will need to fill a shallow pie shell (about 1 lb of filling/500 g) and seal it using a vacuum sealer system.
• Line two 8 inch pie shells with pastry. Divide the tourtière filling between the two pies and spread evenly. Brush the outer edges of the pie crust with water and place the top crust onto the pie and press the edges gently to seal.
• Trim the edges and crimp the edges with a fork like my Mom did or create your own scalloped edge. Cut a few steam vents in the top of the crust. Decorate the pie, if desired.
• Bake in a preheated 425°F oven (400°F if using a Convection oven) for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature to 375°F (350°F if using a Convection oven) for a further 25 minutes or until the crust is golden.
• To Serve: Cut each 8 " pie into 6 - 8 pieces. Serve the tourtière warm (or cold the next day). Refrigerate any leftovers. Enjoy!

TRADITIONAL FRENCH CANADIAN TOURTIERE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• In a large pot, mix the pork, beef, onion, and water. Season with salt, pepper, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and chicken seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes.
• Drain liquid from pot into a bowl. Transfer remaining meat mixture to a separate bowl and chill until ready to use. Place bowl with liquid in the refrigerator and chill 1 hour, or until fat has congealed on the surface.
• Scrape and discard fat from the chilled liquid. Spoon the meat mixture into pie crusts. Add 1 tablespoon of reserved liquid to each pie. (This prevents them from becoming to dry.) Place top crust on top of each pie and pinch edges to seal. Cut slits in top crust so steam can escape.
• Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 50 minutes. Serve immediately or freeze until ready to use.

TOURTIERE (FRENCH CANADIAN MEAT PIE)

Steps:

• Place flour, salt, and frozen butter slices into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse on and off until butter is about the size of peas, about 30 seconds. Stir vinegar into cold water; drizzle water/vinegar into the flour mixture. Pulse on and off until mixture is crumbly and holds together when you pinch a piece off, about 10 seconds. If dough isn't pressing together, drizzle in another teaspoon of water.
• Transfer mixture to a work surface. Press it together until it becomes a lump of dough. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
• Mix salt, pepper, thyme, sage, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, mustard, clove, and cayenne together in a small bowl.
• Place potato quarters in a saucepan; cover with cold water. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat. Simmer until cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Scoop out potatoes and transfer to a bowl; save cooking liquid. Mash potatoes with a potato masher.
• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and a pinch of salt. Cook and stir until onions turn golden, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Stir garlic, celery, and spice blend into the skillet with onions. Stir until onion mixture is evenly coated with the spices, about 30 seconds. Add ground beef and ground pork. Ladle about 3/4 cup of the potato cooking liquid into the skillet.
• Cook and stir until meat is browned and has a very fine, almost pastelike texture. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 45 minutes. Stir in mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Divide chilled dough into 2 pieces, one just slightly larger than the other. Roll the larger piece out into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. Place in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Roll top crust out into a circle about 11 inches in diameter. Cut small slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
• Fill bottom crust with the meat mixture; smooth out the surface. Whisk egg and water together to make egg wash. Brush edges of the bottom crust with egg wash. Place top crust on the pie and press lightly around the edges to seal. Trim excess dough from the crust. Crimp the edges of the crust. Brush entire surface of the pie with egg wash.
• Place in preheated oven. Bake until well browned, about 1 hour. Let cool to almost room temperature before serving.

MEAT PIE (TOURTIERE)

Steps:

• Bake the potato until done, 30 - 45 minutes in a preheated 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) oven. Peel and mash the potato.
• Place the potato, ground pork, onion, spices and water in a large frying pan and simmer until very thick, for about one hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare your pastry.
• Line a deep-dish pie plate with pastry. Spoon in filling, spreading evenly. Cover with top crust.
• Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with paprika, if desired. Cut steam vent. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). If edges brown too fast, cover with a strip of foil. Serve warm.

MY MOM'S CRETONS (AKA GORTON) AND TOURTIERE

Steps:

• If your meat is too lean, cut up 1/4-1/3 pound Salt Pork, and render into lardons. Remove the salt pork bits, then continue the recipe, omitting the salt. Do not use bacon for the extra fat, bacon is smoked. You can use Lard, 1-2 T, in a pinch.
• Put all ingredients into a large sauce pot, just covering by an inch with the water.
• Mix together.
• Simmer on low, stirring frequently for 3-4 hours.
• Add water as needed to keep moist and from sticking.
• After the allotted cooking time you should have simmered the mixture down till there is about an inch of combined fat and water.
• Taste to check the seasonings. If your spices are old, you may need to re-spice the mixture
• (with the same amounts), then cook out the raw taste a bit.
• Transfer to a bowl to cool, stirring to keep fat suspended in meat.
• Serve warm on toast, or cold for sandwiches.
• For Tourtiere mix the same mixture with 3 0r 4 mashed (dry) potatoes,
• allowing them to suck up the moisture.
• Allow to cool, and ladle into pre-pared pie crusts.
• Egg wash and bake to specifications.