Tourtiere experiment #1

G's family is French-Canadian, which means a whole bunch of fun cultural traditions. One of these is the traditional holiday meat pie, called tourtiere.

Two Christmases ago - the first Christmas I spent with G's family and my first time meeting the B clan - I cut my fork into my very first piece of tourtiere, a bite comprising flaky pastry crust, savory meat-and-spice filling, and tomato ketchup out of the bottle as a finishing touch. I wasn't at all surprised to discover I really enjoyed this traditional holiday dish.

Fast forward to Christmas 2010, my first as an official, married-into-the-family member. I had been toying with the idea of trying my hand at making homemade tourtiere. (G's mom purchases hers from a local restaurant.) I was reminded of this half-baked (haha) plan by my sister-in-law to be. So I pestered MomB to pass along her sister's recipe, which is included below.

Tourtiere (Auntie J’s recipe)

1 lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

1 small potato, mashed

¼ onion, chopped

Very little clove

Pinch cinnamon

1 tsp Bell’s seasoning (yellow box with turkey)

Salt & pepper to taste

Double pie crust

1. Cook the beef, pork, onion, salt & pepper, clove, cinnamon, and Bell’s seasoning to taste.
2. Drain fat.
3. Add mashed potatoes and mix.
4. Put mixture in pie crust.
5. Top with second crust.
6. Cook 30-45 minutes at 400 F.

Well, after consulting with my chief taster, aka G, I decided to combine elements of some of the other recipes I'd researched. My experimental recipe (#1) follows.

Tourtiere (Jieun’s experimental recipe #1)

1 medium potato, peeled and chopped into 1” pieces

1 ½ small yellow (waxy) potatoes, peeled and halved lengthwise

¾ cup beef broth, divided into ¼ cup and ½ cup

1 lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

½ onion, chopped

¼ tsp clove

¼ tsp cinnamon

1 tsp Bell’s seasoning (yellow box with turkey)

1 bay leaf

Salt & pepper to taste

Double pie crust

1. Cook potatoes in saucepan with enough water to just cover, until tender. Mash the cubed potato with ¼ cup of the beef broth. Dice the waxy potatoes. Set aside.
2. Cook the beef, pork, onion, remaining ½ cup of beef broth, clove, cinnamon, Bell’s seasoning, bay leaf, and salt & pepper to taste over medium-low heat. Add diced potatoes and combine. Then reduce heat to low and simmer until liquid is reduced to about 2 tablespoons.
3. Add mashed potatoes and mix.
4. Place bottom crust in 9” ungreased clear glass pie plate (I have a Pyrex) and trim. Add meat filling, and top with second crust. Fold top crust over the edges of the bottom crust, and flute the edges. Cut steam vents into the top of the top crust.
5. Cook 15 minutes in preheated 400 F oven, then place foil around outer edges. Replace pie in oven and bake another 15-30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

*ETA G's advice:*

• reduce amount of cinnamon
• make the mashed potatoes more "runny"
• omit the diced potato - this meat pie was too starchy / potato-y