Tourtiere (French Meat Pie)

Here's another pie for you to try, but this time it's a main course! Tourtiere is one of my favourite meals, and not just because it's easy to make. This is a Christmas essential around my parents' house, and now it's part of my family's Christmas tradition too. I like to make it as a gift for family, because once you've tasted this recipe with all its rich flavours, the store brand meat pies will seem dull. I like tourtiere so much, that I like to make it periodically throughout the year. We have it more often that Christmas, but not so frequently that it loses its novelty. This is a great meal that freezes and reheats very well. You can make it weeks ahead and pop it in the freezer!

Growing up I always assumed that this family favourite came from my father's side of the family. My paternal grandfather was from Québec, and tourtiere is known as a French Canadian dish. However, while sifting through my Grammie's cookbook, I discovered this recipe tucked in amongst other family favourites (not so far from the chili recipe). It's right in the middle of her supper recipes, not relegated to another section called "Foreign Foods" which includes some very Canadian takes on Chinese (did you know anything you add Sweet and Sour sauce to becomes automatically Chinese?), Hawaiian (and pineapple makes it Hawaiian!) and Italian food (so long as it has some kind of tomato sauce...). I guess this meat and potatoes pie was right up her alley. A great mix between simmer and serve cooking with a bit of baking to finish it all up. I must admit, that's what appeals to me about this recipe, even though the daunting pie crust is still needed. Pie crusts are surely not for the faint of heart. They are my absolute menace in the kitchen. That's probably why most of my desserts end in 'crumble' or 'crisp'. In an effort to improve my skills through this process, I find myself purposely seeking out pie recipes of all varieties, and I must say, it has been worth it. The crust I made for this delicious creation was certainly the best I've ever made. Hopefully you'll have the same luck when you try this out!

Here's the recipe:

1 lb ground meat (pork, beef, lamb, rabbit, whatever you like!)

1 large clove of garlic

1 large onion

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp ground cloves1 large potato, boiled and mashed

1 pie pastry

1 egg yolk, beaten

Put water, garlic and onion in blender and blend until smooth. Put this mix with your meat and all seasonings for 1 hour. Mix in mashed potato and let cool. Fill crust of your pie just like a fruit pie, cover with pie crust. Slit your crust and brush it with your beaten egg yolk. If you have some spare dough from your pie crust, you can save it to make mini-pies, or you can decorate the top of your pie. Be careful not to cover the slits you put in! Bake in a 400 degree over for 45 minutes.

As a side note, I've used this same recipe and added frozen vegetable to the mix and topped it with mashed potatoes instead of pie crust. Add a little gravy and you'll have a spicy Shepherd's pie!

Enjoy your cooking!

Chili con Carne (or... chili with meat)

I doubt I will be able to keep up this pace for long, but I figured that since I was planning on making up some of my favourite recipes, I might as well share them with you. Now, most of you may not think chili is a summer dish, but I think chili is an any time dish. I made it for the first time today, but it has been a favourite of mine for years. My Mum has perfected the art of making it in her slow-cooker, but I made it right on my stove-top tonight. Easy to do either way.

I realised as I was scouring my Grammie's cookbooks this week that this chili recipe must have been a favourite of hers over the years. I think I saw it copies in her tight scrawling handwriting at least three times. I'm pretty sure it was always the same recipe with only minor variations. Even my version has some variations on her original. I didn't have all the ingredients, so I just omitted some and added others. I can see why she liked it enough to write it in so many times. When she was raising up her family, she had my grandfather and three kids to feed. Depending on how you spice it, you can serve this dish up to everyone in the family (although the smaller ones may make a bit of a mess of it) all out of one pot. I remember when I was a kid my Mum used to add sour cream for those of us who couldn't handle the spice on days when she was a little heavy-handed on the chili peppers. Tonight, I made it for just my husband and I, so we cranked it up a notch with far more spice than the recipe called for. I must say, no regrets. I downed a few glasses of water to sooth the fire in my mouth, but I did it with a smile on my face. I think maybe I should have raised a glass to you Grammie, for another great recipe, and to my lovely Mum, for sharing it with me when I was growing up. I hope you enjoy this recipe with a fancy italian name, that is nothing fancy to make!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons oil

2 cloves minced garlic (I substituted garlic powder)

1 cup diced onion (I omitted this, but you can substitute with onion powder)

1 pound ground beef

1 28oz can of diced tomatoes

1 28oz can of red kidney beans (I couldn't find a 28oz, so I used 2 19oz... great choice!)

1 6oz can of tomato paste

1 tsp oregano

3 tbl chili powder

1/4 tsp pepper

1 bay leaf

1 tsp crushed red peppers

In a large pot, sauté onions and garlic in oil until soft. If you're going to use powdered onions or garlic, save the spices for later and skip on to the next step. Add ground beef to pot and brown it over medium heat. Turn heat down to low and add remaining ingredients. Gradually bring up to medium heat and let simmer for 30-60 minutes. Stir it frequently as it will stick to the bottom of the pot. Make sure to remove the bay leaf before serving, as it will remain quite sharp. If you're the slow-cooker type, sauté our onions and garlic and then brown your meat. Add these and all other ingredients to your slow cooker and cook on low heat all day.

This is very delicious fresh or re-heated in the microwave. I also like to serve it up with a few hunks of home-made white bread (see previous recipe).

Enjoy your cooking!