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!

Rhubarb Cream Pie

Today's blog is about most Martitimers favourite pie ingredient (except apple? Don't we ALL love a good apple pie?). I didn't realise it as a child, but I think rhubarb must be one of the most prolific fruits (is it even a fruit?) available here. You can grow quite a lot in one summer and, with the right amount of sugar or other fruits, it's a delicious part of any summer pie. I think my grandparents must have grown it in their garden, because every summer when we went down for a visit there was always some kind of rhubarb pie. I remember in particular Rhubarb-Strawberry pie always being on hand for dessert. No Thanksgiving or even Christmas was complete without an assortment of pies either. Apple, Pumpkin, Lemon Meringue, or of course the ever-present Rhubarb with a touch of ice-cream or cream. It was more legend than fact to me as I only ever had it in the country. It isn't as easy to buy here in the city. So, unless like me you have family who grow it in their backyard, it's reserved for special occasions. My in-laws have one medium-sized plant that seems to provide endless batches of the stalky reddish bush. Ever since my husband and I have been married I've enjoyed even more variations on the theme of rhubarb from my mother-in-law's kitchen, as well as several ziploc bags crammed with pre-washed and pre-cut rhubarb fresh to try my own recipes on. I had to take a hiatus from rhubarb while pregnant, so now that our third child is born I've been looking for new recipes to use the stock-pile of frozen rhubarb inhabiting my freezer these past 9 months. Luckily, my Grammie also had a great fondness for rhubarb, and I've re-discovered some recipes that are old favourites and some that are sure to be new ones too. I found a particularly adorable one that involves those cute little cinnamon heart candies. That one has certainly made the cut of must-try recipes. The one I chose for today, though, is for a type of pie I've never made, so I was intrigued. A simple and quick Rhubarb Cream Pie! My only advice after having baked this delicious treat is that if you're using frozen rhubarb is to be sure you let it defrost before using it as the condensation will make your filling too watery.

Here's a picture of everything you'll need. Not so menacing, right?

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

3/4 tsp nutmeg

3 slightly beaten eggs

4 cups rhubarb (cut in 1 in pieces)

1 plain pastry

2 tbps butter

Firstly, sift together your sugar, flour and nutmeg in a smaller bowl. In another bowl, beat your three eggs lightly. They don't need to be stiff, just break the yolks and give them a few goods turns with a whisk. Add your flour mix to the eggs and then mix them together with your whisk (or a hand-mixer) until smooth. Add your rhubarb and stir them in until all the pieces are evenly coated. Put your pie crust in a 9 in pie plate and then pour your filling in. Dot the top of this with butter and then top with a lattice. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 50-60 minutes.

Just a side note, I do realise my lattice work is atrocious. I made my own pie crust and didn't save enough for the top, so I just used what I had as best as a could. Here's the finished product! We topped ours with whipped cream when we ate it and, despite being a little watery from the condensation when the rhubarb defrosted, it was delicious. The light taste of the cream was a great compliment to the tart rhubarb!

Enjoy your baking!