Butler Pantry Pie Recipes

TOURTIERE (MEAT PIE)

Steps:

• Bring potatoes to a boil in salted water. Simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Drain well and mash.
• While potatoes are cooking, brown ground beef, pork, onion, and garlic until no pink remains using a spoon to break it up. Add remaining ingredients (including mashed potatoes) except for pie crust and bread crumbs.
• Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until thickened. Add 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs to help the mixture hold together if needed. Cool for 20 minutes.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Line a deep-dish pie plate with crust and add filling.
• Add top crust and seal edges. Add a few slits to allow steam to escape. Brush crust with beaten egg if desired.
• Bake for 45-55 minutes or until bubbly and crust is golden.

BUTTER PIE

Steps:

• Make the crust: In a bowl, mix the flour, salt and sugar. Add butter and gently toss with the dry ingredients until evenly coated. Using fingertips and thumbs, press each cube of butter into a thin leaf, and continue tossing in flour. When all butter is coated, add ice water one tablespoon at a time. Continue tossing gently until mixture starts to look ragged and just holds together when squeezed. Wrap loosely in plastic, waxed paper or parchment. Press dough down firmly into a disk. Refrigerate at least 30 minutes, or up to one day, before rolling. (Dough will keep frozen for up to a month).
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll chilled dough into a circle 12 inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick. Transfer to a deep-dish 9-inch pie pan, lifting dough to let it settle into corners of pan; do not stretch it. Turn edges under to make a thick rim; flute the rim, pinching it into a zigzag pattern.
• Line crust with parchment or foil and cover bottom with pie weights, dried beans or raw rice. Bake in lower half of oven for 15 to 20 minutes, then remove weights and bake in upper half of oven 5 to 10 minutes, until just golden on edges.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and brown sugar together at medium speed until sugar looks like wet sand. Add salt and vanilla extract. With mixer running, add eggs one at a time and beat until creamy and light, about a minute. Mix in cranberries, if using.
• Scrape filling into parbaked crust. Place pie on a sheet pan and bake in center of oven for 25 to 35 minutes, until top looks dry and browned. The filling will form a skin and puff slightly, then deflate as it cools and sets. Let cool at least one hour, then wrap and refrigerate until serving, at least one hour or overnight. Serve cold with very lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

CLASSIC BUTTER PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• Combine flour and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Gradually add ice water, tossing with a fork until dough holds together when pressed., Shape dough into a disk for a single-crust pie; for a double-crust pie, divide dough in 2 with 1 piece slightly larger than the other. Shape into 2 disks. Wrap and refrigerate 1 hour or overnight., On a lightly floured surface, roll 1 disk of dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. , For a single-crust pie: Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Fill or bake according to recipe directions., For a double-crust pie: Add filling to pie. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top. Bake according to recipe directions.

PIE PASTRY

Steps:

• Rub the lard and butter into the flour with a generous pinch of sea salt until completely combined. Add the beaten egg and 100ml ice-cold water and mix until you have a soft dough. Transfer to the fridge and chill for at least 1 hr, or until needed.
• Divide the pastry into 12 equal pieces and roll out into rounds on a lightly floured surface. Use six of the rounds to line the bottoms of six individual pie dishes, leaving an overhang. Fill the pies with the mixture of your choice, brush the rims with some of the egg yolk, top with the remaining pastry rounds, then trim and crimp the edges. Decorate with the trimmings, if you like. Glaze with more egg yolk, or as indicated in the filling recipe, and chill until you're ready to cook.
• Heat the oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 6 with a baking tray inside. Put the pies on the hot tray and bake for 30-35 mins until golden. Leave to rest as directed, then serve in the dishes or turn out onto plates.