Christmas Eve Pork Pie Recipes

TOURTIèRE: A FRENCH-CANADIAN MEAT PIE RECIPE

Steps:

• Combine flour and salt in a large bowl.
• Cut in butter or lard until mixture is a rough crumbly texture.
• Add ice water one tablespoon at a time and mix just until the dough comes together.
• Shape the dough into a ball, flatten, wrap, and chill in the refrigerator. While pastry is chilling, prepare the filling.
• Peel and cut potatoes into 2-inch chunks, add them to a medium saucepan, and fill with water until it covers the potatoes by 2-inches.
• Bring the saucepan to a boil over high heat and then reduce the heat to medium-high and boil until the potatoes are until tender, about 12 minutes.
• Reserve 1/2-cup of potato water and drain the rest. Mash potatoes and set aside.
• Heat a large skillet over medium heat.
• Add olive oil, onions, and garlic, and sauté until softened, about 3 minutes.
• Add the ground beef and pork and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Drain off excess fat.
• Add the poultry seasoning, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and reserved potato water. Mix well and simmer for about 10 minutes until the liquid is absorbed.
• Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in mashed potatoes, and set the filling aside to cool slightly.
• Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C
• On a lightly floured surface, divide dough in half and flatten one ball of dough with your hands. Roll dough to about 12-inches in diameter to fit a 9-inch pie pan.
• Place the pastry into the pie plate and add the meat filling. Brush around the outer edge of the pastry with the beaten egg.
• Roll out the top pastry and place on top of the filling. Fold the top crust under the bottom crust and pinch or flute the edges. Brush with egg wash and cut vent holes.
• Bake the pie in a preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.
• Remove the tourtière from oven and let it cool at least 10 minutes before serving.
• Yield: Makes 1 pie, about 8 servings.

FAVORITE FRENCH CANADIAN MEAT PIE

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the pork, beef, veal, potatoes and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Stir in the garlic, seasonings and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring frequently., Remove from the heat; cool to room temperature. Stir in bread crumbs. Combine egg and remaining water; stir into meat mixture. , Preheat oven to 400°. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle; transfer to a 9-in. pie plate. Trim crust to 1/2 in. beyond rim of plate; flute edge. Fill with meat mixture. Roll remaining dough to a 1/8-in.-thick circle. Place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top. Cover edges loosely with foil., Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil. Reduce heat to 375°; bake 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

CHRISTMAS PORK PIE

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, combine the first eight ingredients. Cook over medium heat for 20 minutes. Combine cornstarch and water until smooth; stir into fruit mixture. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in pork, pecans and salt., Line a 9-in. pie plate with bottom pastry; trim even with edge of plate. Fill with meat mixture. Roll out remaining pastry to fit the top of pie; make decorative cutouts in pastry. Set cutouts aside. Place top crust over filling; trim, seal and flute edges., Brush pastry and cutouts with milk; place cutouts on top of pie. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400° for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

TOURTIERE (FRENCH PORK PIE)

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, mix together the ground pork, cloves, cinnamon, onion, salt, celery, bay leaf and water. The water will help break up the raw pork. Simmer over medium-low heat for about 3 hours, or until the water has evaporated. Remove from the heat and discard the bay leaf.
• Towards the end of the pork cooking time, place the potatoes into a separate saucepan and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain and mash potatoes. When the pork is done, stir the mashed potatoes into that pan until evenly blended.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Line two 9 inch pie plates with bottom crusts. Spoon equal amounts of the pork filling into each crust. Cover with top crusts and flute the edges to seal.
• Bake for 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until crust is golden brown.

CHRISTMAS EVE MEAT PIE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. In a Dutch oven, heat butter over medium heat. Add onions; cook and stir 4-6 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Add beef and pork; cook 8-10 minutes or until no longer pink, breaking up meat into crumbles. Drain., Stir tomato sauce and seasonings into meat mixture. Stir in spinach and potatoes. Remove from heat., Unroll one pastry sheet into a 9-in. pie plate; trim even with rim. Add filling. Unroll remaining pastry; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top. Bake 10 minutes., Reduce oven setting to 350°. Bake 45-55 minutes longer or until crust is golden brown. Cover edge loosely with foil during the last 15 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning.

TOURTIèRE (FRENCH CANADIAN PORK PIE)

Steps:

• Sauté the minced onion in the oil or butter in a heavy-bottomed pot or skillet with high sides over medium high heat.
• Once the onions are translucent, add the ground pork and spices. Cook until the meat has browned, stirring often.
• Remove your pan from the heat and add the potatoes to the un-drained meat mixture. (This is if you are using lean meat. If you're not sure if your meat is lean and you think you have A LOT of fat in there, then drain some off.)
• Roll out slightly more than half of your pie crust dough for the bottom crust. Place it into a 9 inch pie dish.
• Fill the crust with your (slightly cooled) meat filling mixture.
• Roll out the remainder of your crust dough for your top crust. Cut some air holes into the top crust.
• Moisten the edges of the bottom crust with a little water on your finger. Place the top crust over the filling. Press the two crust edges together to seal, fluting with your fingers or adding a decorative edge with the tines of a fork, if desired.
• If baking your pie immediately: Preheat your oven to 400F. Cover the edges of the pie with a strip of aluminum foil. (If you are using an aluminum pie tin, place the tin on a baking sheet.) Place the pie in the preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes. When the center starts to brown, pull off the aluminum foil from the edges and let the pie continue to cook until the edges are golden brown (30-40 minutes).
• If freezing immediately: Let the filing in the prepared pie cool completely before Wrap the pie in plastic wrap and place in a Ziploc bag. The pie will keep frozen like this for up to a year.
• To bake from frozen: Take the pie out of the freezer the night before and let thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Cover the edges of the pie with a strip of aluminum foil. (If you are using an aluminum pie tin, place the tin on a baking sheet.) Place the cold pie in a cold oven. Turn your oven to 400F. Allow the oven to preheat with the cold pie in it. Once the oven is up to temperature, bake for 1 1/2 - 2 hours, until a knife stuck in the center comes out warm or a thermometer inserted in the center reads 160F and your crust is golden brown. Pull the foil off of the edges for the last 10-15 minutes of baking.
• To warm a pre-cooked (but not frozen) pie: Cover the edges of the pie with a strip of aluminum foil. (If you are using an aluminum pie tin, place the tin on a baking sheet.) Place the pie from the refrigerator into a cold oven. Turn the oven to 350F. Once the oven is up to temperature, reheat for 30 minutes, until a knife stuck in the center comes out warm or a thermometer inserted in the center reads 160F.
• Let the cooked pie cool for 10-15 minutes before serving.
• Serve hot, warm, or cold. Store leftovers in the fridge.

PORK PIE

Steps:

• Brown ground beef and ground pork over medium heat until thoroughly cooked. Drain off grease.
• Mix together cooked meat, potatoes, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
• Line a 9 inch pie dish with pastry. Spoon pork mixture into pie crust, and top with second pie crust. Brush top crust with egg white. Shield crust edges with aluminum foil to prevent burning.
• Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 45 minutes. Remove foil for final 15 minutes of baking to brown edges.

CHRISTMAS PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Heat 1 tbsp oil and the butter in a frying pan, then add the onion and fry for 5 mins until softened. Cool slightly. Tip the sausagemeat, lemon zest, breadcrumbs, apricots, chestnuts and thyme into a bowl. Add the onion and cranberries, and mix everything together with your hands, adding plenty of pepper and a little salt.
• Cut each chicken breast into three fillets lengthwise and season all over with salt and pepper. Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan, and fry the chicken fillets quickly until browned, about 6-8 mins.
• Roll out two-thirds of the pastry to line a 20-23cm springform or deep loose-based tart tin. Press in half the sausage mix and spread to level. Then add the chicken pieces in one layer and cover with the rest of the sausage. Press down lightly.
• Roll out the remaining pastry. Brush the edges of the pastry with beaten egg and cover with the pastry lid. Pinch the edges to seal, then trim. Brush the top of the pie with egg, then roll out the trimmings to make holly leaf shapes and berries. Decorate the pie and brush again with egg.
• Set the tin on a baking sheet and bake for 50-60 mins, then cool in the tin for 15 mins. Remove and leave to cool completely. Serve with a winter salad and pickles.

CHRISTMAS EVE PORK PIE

Steps:

• Cut up potatoes, cook in boiling water to cover for 20 minutes.
• Drain; mash.
• In a large skillet, brown pork, drain off all fat.
• Stir in the rest of the ingredients except potatoes.
• Cover and simmer 20 minutes, stirring often.
• Stir in potatoes, cool.
• Roll half the pastry into 12 inch circle.
• Line a 9 inch pie plate.
• Trim even with rim.
• Fill with meat mixture.
• Roll out remaining dough, slit.
• Place atop filling, trim to 1/2 inch beyond rim.
• Seal and flute.
• Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

CHRISTMAS EVE TORTIERE (JOAN'S PORK PIE)

Steps:

• Boil and mash the potatoes.
• Combine pork, onion, garlic, mace, sage, clove, pepper and brown meat.
• Add stock and simmer until most of liquid absorbed.
• Add additional salt and pepper to meat mixture to taste.
• Combine potato and meat mixture and let cool.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
• Fill pie crust and add second crust to cover. Crimp edges and use any leftover crust for holiday decorations.
• Slit top crust to let out steam.
• Bake 60 minutes at 375 degrees.

REVEILLON TOURTIERE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Cook pork, breaking up with spoon, for about 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Drain fat.
• Stir in stock, onions, garlic, mushrooms, celery, salt, cinnamon, pepper, savory, and cloves; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Simmer for 35 to 45 minutes, or until 2 tablespoons liquid is left. Stir in fresh bread crumbs and parsley. Taste, and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Cover, and refrigerate until cold. The filling can be stored for up to one day.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Roll out pastry to about 1/8 inch thickness, and fit to pie plate. Spoon filling into shell. Roll out top pastry. Moisten rim of pie shell with water. Cover with top pastry, pressing edges together to seal. Trim and flute pastry edge. Beat egg with water, and brush over the top pastry. Cut steam vents in top.
• Bake in preheated oven until pastry is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving.