Margarita's International Recipes

Canadian

Tourtiere Meat Pie Tourtiere is a traditonal Québécois meat pie that has become popular throughout Canada and the northern United States. Its recipe varies from region to region and house to house. Traditionally, it was made with fish in the coastal areas and moose and game inland. Pork, beef and veal have since become the preferred fillings. Also originally the tourtiere was made in a ceramic casserole dish, a tourte. If you don't have one, and I don't, a pie dish will do fine. There are billions of recipes for tourtiere out there but I chose this one from allrecipes.com because it got great reviews. They were right on, this pie was delicious, much more than I could have anticipated by looking at the ingredients. The beef and pork went great together, and the subtle spicing was right on. My only complaint is that the filling doesn't hold, it goes all over the place when you cut the pie. Perhaps mixing in a beaten egg would help? As it is, even though I love the flavor, it wouldn't work too well as a company dish. I followed the original recipe pretty closely, though I reduced the salt and water as there were complaints of both being too high. It was a good decision. I used store bought pie shells, which worked well. This is a dish in which the taste of the pie shells is really important, so try to get the best you can. This recipe should serve 4 people as a main dish, or twice as many as a starter. Tourtiere Ingredients 1 Tbsp. oil 1 onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 1 lb. ground pork 1/2 lb. ground beef 1 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. dried thyme 1/4 tsp.dried sage 1/8 tsp. ground cloves a dash of black or white pepper 1/4 cup water 2 deep 9" pie shells 1 egg, beaten Instructions Preheat oven to 425F Heat oil over medium heat in a deep frying pan. Add the onions and saute for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic, beef, pork, salt, thyme, sage, cloves and pepper. Mix well and cook for a couple of minutes. Add water, bring to a boil, and then simmer until the meats are cooked, mixing and breaking off the meat occasionally. Place unbaked pie shell on pie pan. Using a slotted spoon, transfer meat filling onto the pie shell. Cover with the other shell, pinching the edges so they seal. Lightly brush the top of the pie with the beaten egg. Make slit on the top of the pie. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden. Adapted from a recipe at Allrecipes.com Canadian Recipes | Margarita's International Recipes | E-mail