Tourtière Or Pâté à La Viande Meat Pie Recipes

TOURTIERE (FRENCH CANADIAN MEAT PIE)

Steps:

• Place flour, salt, and frozen butter slices into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse on and off until butter is about the size of peas, about 30 seconds. Stir vinegar into cold water; drizzle water/vinegar into the flour mixture. Pulse on and off until mixture is crumbly and holds together when you pinch a piece off, about 10 seconds. If dough isn't pressing together, drizzle in another teaspoon of water.
• Transfer mixture to a work surface. Press it together until it becomes a lump of dough. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour.
• Mix salt, pepper, thyme, sage, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, mustard, clove, and cayenne together in a small bowl.
• Place potato quarters in a saucepan; cover with cold water. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a boil over high heat; reduce heat. Simmer until cooked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Scoop out potatoes and transfer to a bowl; save cooking liquid. Mash potatoes with a potato masher.
• Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add chopped onion and a pinch of salt. Cook and stir until onions turn golden, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Stir garlic, celery, and spice blend into the skillet with onions. Stir until onion mixture is evenly coated with the spices, about 30 seconds. Add ground beef and ground pork. Ladle about 3/4 cup of the potato cooking liquid into the skillet.
• Cook and stir until meat is browned and has a very fine, almost pastelike texture. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated, about 45 minutes. Stir in mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Divide chilled dough into 2 pieces, one just slightly larger than the other. Roll the larger piece out into a 12-inch circle on a lightly floured work surface. Place in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Roll top crust out into a circle about 11 inches in diameter. Cut small slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.
• Fill bottom crust with the meat mixture; smooth out the surface. Whisk egg and water together to make egg wash. Brush edges of the bottom crust with egg wash. Place top crust on the pie and press lightly around the edges to seal. Trim excess dough from the crust. Crimp the edges of the crust. Brush entire surface of the pie with egg wash.
• Place in preheated oven. Bake until well browned, about 1 hour. Let cool to almost room temperature before serving.

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.

MEAT PIE (TOURTIERE)

Steps:

• Bake the potato until done, 30 - 45 minutes in a preheated 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) oven. Peel and mash the potato.
• Place the potato, ground pork, onion, spices and water in a large frying pan and simmer until very thick, for about one hour.
• Meanwhile, prepare your pastry.
• Line a deep-dish pie plate with pastry. Spoon in filling, spreading evenly. Cover with top crust.
• Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with paprika, if desired. Cut steam vent. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). If edges brown too fast, cover with a strip of foil. Serve warm.

TOURTIèRE OR PâTé à LA VIANDE (MEAT PIE)

Steps:

• 1. I've kept up the tradition of serving this dish on Christmas Eve, but over the years, I've changed the recipe from what I remember. In addition, I've talked to a lot of my Canadian friends, and, depending on what region of Canada they're from, they all seem to have their own twists on this recipe. Based on my research, I would be hard-pressed to say that there is one "traditional" way of making tourtière.
• 2. Chef's Note: This dish is traditionally served like a big pie, where everyone comes up and takes a bit. Since I do catering, I'm always looking to do big dishes that I can make small. So, for this recipe, we'll be using individual ramekins, as opposed to one big pie dish.
• 3. Heat the oil in a large skillet, over medium-high heat, until the oil begins to shimmer... but not smoke.
• 4. Add the pork to the pan, and then add the salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, red pepper, and cloves. Sauté until the meat is browned and crumbly. Chef's Note: If you're not using a low-salt variety of chicken broth, you might want to leave the salt out, and add it after adding the broth, only if you feel it needs it.
• 5. Throw the onion, carrot, celery, potatoes, and garlic, and cook for an additional 5 to 8 minutes. Chef's Note: Since this dish will be finished in the oven, don't overcook the veggies. Chef's Tip: When cubing the potatoes, I would go about 1/4 inch... for the carrots you can go a bit smaller; say 1/8 of an inch.
• 6. Add the flour, and stir to combine.
• 7. Add the broth to the pan, and stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken, about two minutes on the boil.
• 8. Remove pan from heat, and set aside.
• 9. Place a rack in the middle position, and preheat your oven to 400f (205c). Chef's Note: Consistent temperature is very important in an oven. I keep a large pizza stone in my oven... Not because I make a lot of pizzas. The stone helps to steady the temperature of the oven, and bring it quickly back to temp, after the door has been opened.
• 10. Add a cup of the mixture to 4, 8-ounce ramekins. Chef's Note: You will probably have a bit left over. I usually get 5 ramekins worth of filling when I make these.
• 11. Chef's Note: For this step, I usually prefer to make my own pie dough, and if you have a favorite recipe, by all means use it. You will need enough pie dough, to make 4 (or 5) 5-inch circles.
• 12. Roll out the pie dough, and place a 5-inch circle on top of each ramekin. Cut some slits in the top, to vent the filling while baking. Chef's Note: I have holiday pastry cutters, and I usually make the vent holes using the shape of a Christmas tree, or a reindeer.
• 13. Chef's Note: If you want a nice crisp-looking top, brush a bit of egg white, or milk over the tops before sticking in the oven.
• 14. Bake in the preheated oven for about 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden, and the filling bubbly.
• 15. Plate/Present This is, of course, a meal onto itself; however, I do like to add a small side salad, just to round things out.
• 16. Additionals I thought that I would add an image of how it might look, if you combined all of the ingredients to a single pie dish.
• 17. Final Thoughts Last Christmas Eve it was actually snowing. We had a big blaze going in the fireplace, and people milling about sipping on their favorite adult beverages, all the while noshing on this excellent dish. May your holidays be bright, and filled with happiness and the joy of the season. Enjoy...

TOURTIERE DU QUEBEC (FRENCH-CANADIAN MEAT PIE)

Steps:

• Place all the ingredients (except for pie shell) in a sauce pan and bring to boil and cook uncovered for 20 minutes over medium heat.
• Cool the meat mixture and pour in pastry lined pan. Note: I like to cool mine in refrigerator over night if time permits.
• Cover with the top crust, cut steam vents and bake in a 400F oven until golden, about 45 minutes.
• Freeze well.
• Note: If ground pork and ground veal cannot be found, you can use meatloaf mix which is all 3 meat but I'm not sure of the ratio.