Tourtière

 

Tourtière is a classic French-Canadian savoury meat pie dish originating from Quebec and named after the vessel it was cooked in. It's usually made with minced pork, beef, or veal and potatoes. Eaten at Christmas or New Years it may also be eaten at Thanksgiving. In Saguenay, Quebec, the Tourtière du Lac Saint Jean has become the traditional and iconic dish of the region. However during the 18th Century a dish known as "sea pie" became popular between French and British colonists which seems to be the starting point of the tourtière du Lac Saint Jean. Tourtière has been called 'the cuisine of the occupied', food that is French by the way of the British, who took over Quebec in 1759. Tourtière is not exclusive to Quebec, this French-Canadian dish has been served across Canada and to some of the bordering states in America. 

This recipe comes from one of my favourite cookbooks I have called the Métis Cookbook and what I love about this recipe is that it is a no fuss recipe and easy to make during the week plus delicious. Tourtière was something I always thought about making however became reluctant, why? I don't know, this recipe seems to have changed that. Instead of making mashed potatoes, I mashed leftover oven roasted potatoes and vegetables I already had in the fridge, into the meat filling.  

Tourtières - Lii Torchiyer (Courtesy of Shirley (Logan), Morrish, Ontario)

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Pastry for 2 pies

1 lbs. minced pork

1 lbs. minced beef

1 onion, minced

1 cup water

1 cup mashed potatoes

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/4 teaspoon sage

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

garlic salt, optional

Cook meat with onion and spices with water for half hour until water is reduced.

Add potatoes and mix well.

Chill.

Place in prepared pastry line pans.

Cover with pastry. Brush with milk.

Bake at 350ºF for half hour until golden brown.

Cheddar - Sage Biscuits

I did make those biscuits from the, Muffin Tin Chef cookbook, I posted about the other day. They turned out great and they are made without eggs! The recipe is pretty simple and straight forward, with plenty of substitution options. 

Cheddar - Sage Biscuits

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Serves 5

Biscuits are best consumed within a day of baking, or you can freeze them in an airtight container for several weeks.  

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour (preferably not pastry)

1 cup all - purpose flour or bread flour

1 tablespoon coconut palm sugar or other granulated sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (about 6 ounces)

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh sage or 2 teaspoons dried sage

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. 

In a food processor, pulse together the whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour or bread flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and garlic powder. Pulse in the butter until mixture looks like coarse meal and the butter is no larger than small pebbles. You can also do this in a bowl with a pastry cutter. Transfer the mixture into a bowl and fold in the cheddar cheese and sage. Add the buttermilk and combine gently until a dough forms.

Divide the mixture among 10 medium muffin cups and bake until golden on top, about 15 minutes. Let cool several minutes before unmoulding. Serve warm with honey or butter.

Notes: I do not have a food processor so I did everything by hand. I mixed all the dry ingredients together, including the sage, then added the butter and used a pastry cutter. I then folded in the shredded cheese, once combine then added the milk. I used 2% milk. I baked for the full 15 minutes and they were perfect. I got 12  Oh, I did add 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed to the dry ingredients.

*This recipe could be made vegan by using soy milk, vegan butter, and vegan cheese. 

Have a good weekend everyone! - JD 

Mascarpone Sauce

I bought some ravioli from the Italian Centre and realised that I haven't had an alfredo sauce in quite some time. In my hunt for the perfect recipe... I always sift through the many cookbooks I have looking at all the possibility for a particular recipe. After much cross referencing and deliberation I combined 2 to 3 recipes to make one recipe. It's handy having as many cookbooks as I do! While I was feeling out my recipe I came across this mascarpone sauce and in a blink of an eye I decided that would be the more fitting sauce for the ravioli.

It is one of those moments when everything comes together. The sauce was creamy with just the right amount of garlic and a delicate sage flavour. 

Mascarpone Sauce with Garlic, Mushrooms and Sage

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4 tablespoons of butter

1-2 cloves of garlic

8oz/225g of mushrooms of your choice

9oz/250g of mascarpone cheese

2 tablespoons of milk

1 teaspoon fresh or dried sage

salt and pepper, optional 

Melt the butter in a large skillet or pan. Add the garlic and mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat and stir in the mascarpone cheese, milk, and sage. Stir carefully, making sure everything is combined and the cheese has melted. Season with salt and pepper if you like. Pour over pasta and toss to coat.  

You can serve this sauce over any pasta. It went well with the fresh ravioli I bought from the Italian Centre. A bit of shaved parmesan cheese on top and a sprinkle of fresh parsley and you are good to go! - JW   

Turkey Leek Burger

Once I get a craving for a burger I can not replace it. This burger was in part inspired by the Scottish poet, Robert Burns. A food ode to him one might say. I took extra lean ground turkey and added some chopped leeks, a bit of oatmeal, an egg, sage, salt, pepper and a couple of good shots of Scottish whisky. Mixed it all up in a bowl. Shaped the mixture into five patties. Grilled them in a pan until golden brown and cooked all the way through.

This is how I plated it. With a simple kale salad and dressed the burger with Fortnum's Piccadilly Piccalilli. Moist, flavourful and it satisfied the craving  just nicely!