Tourtiere (French Meat Pie)

Here's another pie for you to try, but this time it's a main course! Tourtiere is one of my favourite meals, and not just because it's easy to make. This is a Christmas essential around my parents' house, and now it's part of my family's Christmas tradition too. I like to make it as a gift for family, because once you've tasted this recipe with all its rich flavours, the store brand meat pies will seem dull. I like tourtiere so much, that I like to make it periodically throughout the year. We have it more often that Christmas, but not so frequently that it loses its novelty. This is a great meal that freezes and reheats very well. You can make it weeks ahead and pop it in the freezer!

Growing up I always assumed that this family favourite came from my father's side of the family. My paternal grandfather was from Québec, and tourtiere is known as a French Canadian dish. However, while sifting through my Grammie's cookbook, I discovered this recipe tucked in amongst other family favourites (not so far from the chili recipe). It's right in the middle of her supper recipes, not relegated to another section called "Foreign Foods" which includes some very Canadian takes on Chinese (did you know anything you add Sweet and Sour sauce to becomes automatically Chinese?), Hawaiian (and pineapple makes it Hawaiian!) and Italian food (so long as it has some kind of tomato sauce...). I guess this meat and potatoes pie was right up her alley. A great mix between simmer and serve cooking with a bit of baking to finish it all up. I must admit, that's what appeals to me about this recipe, even though the daunting pie crust is still needed. Pie crusts are surely not for the faint of heart. They are my absolute menace in the kitchen. That's probably why most of my desserts end in 'crumble' or 'crisp'. In an effort to improve my skills through this process, I find myself purposely seeking out pie recipes of all varieties, and I must say, it has been worth it. The crust I made for this delicious creation was certainly the best I've ever made. Hopefully you'll have the same luck when you try this out!

Here's the recipe:

1 lb ground meat (pork, beef, lamb, rabbit, whatever you like!)

1 large clove of garlic

1 large onion

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp thyme

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp sage

1/2 tsp ground cloves1 large potato, boiled and mashed

1 pie pastry

1 egg yolk, beaten

Put water, garlic and onion in blender and blend until smooth. Put this mix with your meat and all seasonings for 1 hour. Mix in mashed potato and let cool. Fill crust of your pie just like a fruit pie, cover with pie crust. Slit your crust and brush it with your beaten egg yolk. If you have some spare dough from your pie crust, you can save it to make mini-pies, or you can decorate the top of your pie. Be careful not to cover the slits you put in! Bake in a 400 degree over for 45 minutes.

As a side note, I've used this same recipe and added frozen vegetable to the mix and topped it with mashed potatoes instead of pie crust. Add a little gravy and you'll have a spicy Shepherd's pie!

Enjoy your cooking!