I’ve always loved the Christmas Countdown, which started a week before Christmas. Seven sleeps left until Santa comes.
Well, today we picked up some more wrapping paper and tape, as well as plastic storage containers, and a couple of pie plates. Guess who embarked on making tourtiere and blueberry pie before realizing she didn’t own a single pie plate? Well, now I have two.
I gave a Christmas card to a friend today and placed a cinnamon-applesauce heart in it. She was delighted.
There are no secrets to how I am making my blueberry pie. Pie pastry + blueberry pie filling. Very, very simple.
I promised a tourtiere recipe. Well, when it came down to it, after analyzing a dozen different recipes, it came down to this:
Tourtiere by Marie
1 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
a pinch of ground cloves
a pinch of ground nutmeg
rosemary
onion powder
1/2 cup of water
1 cup mashed potatoes
pie pastry for a two crust pie
I was not going to attempt to make proper pie pastry at the same time that I attempted to make tourtiere, so I bought a Just Add Water mix.
For the meat mixture – I placed the two types of meat in my big pot and mushed them up together, then I added 1/2 cup of water. Every recipe I found called for different spices, in different quantities. They couldn’t even agree on the ratio of meat, but Pierre assured me that it’s 2 parts beef to 1 part pork. So I sprinkled and stirred and smelled.
Every recipe agreed that tourtiere must contain cloves and onion. Other than that, none of them agreed. I have since found out, after getting my father-in-law’s recipe translated that the ratio is 1 1/2 tsp clove to TEN pounds of meat. So … just a pinch, or you’ll have everyone saying “Oh, my … what an interesting *gulp* flavor.” (Guess why I know this?) Tourtiere should not taste or smell like apple pie.
After it was all cooked and brown, I stirred in some leftover mashed potatoes to stretch the meat a little bit and to help hold it together.
I then scooped the meat mixture (which sort of resembles meat for shepherd’s pie at this point) into a container and stuck it in the fridge while I ran to the department store and bought pie plates. You, however, are much more organized than I am, and you already have pie plates ready. Still, stick the meat somewhere safe while you make the pie crust. It should be slightly wet but not soupy.
Pie pastry made (which was easier than I had expected), I scooped the meat inside, then rolled out another circle for the top. I cut slits in the top, and used the little bit of extra pastry to cut out a heart which I placed on top.
I then stuck my uncooked tourtiere in the freezer. There are still seven more sleeps until Christmas. (Edit: Don’t bother cutting slits in the crust if you’re going to freeze the pie. As soon as it starts to cook, the slits will disappear and you’ll just have to cut them again. So cut the slits after the pie has been in the oven for a little bit.)
When ready to bake, I will brush the frozen unbaked pie with egg wash. I will then place the pie plate on a baking sheet to catch any gravy overflow and bake at 375 F (190 C) for 60 to 70 minutes or until heated through and pastry is golden brown. I will cover the edge of pastry with foil after 45 minutes of baking time.
Traditionally, tourtiere is food to be eaten on Christmas Eve – after Midnight Mass. I can assure you that I am not going to be awake at 1 am on Christmas morning, and I certainly won’t be eating!
It was actually pretty easy. Making the pastry was the hardest, because I’m not used to making pie pastry. The smell of cloves and nutmeg in meat is … odd, but interesting. I think I’ll look for individual-sized pie plates and make this for Pierre more often. However, there’s far too much meat in this. Next time I’ll see how much mashed potato and carrot I can add.
I’ve put a batch of flour/yeast/water on to froth and ferment through the night, and now I’m off to bed.
