Meat Pies, YUM!

I cook everyday, I could not live if I didn’t cook, I would probably wither and die dried up like an old raisin….
These recipes would be good, if you’re from French Canadian descent (lord knows the thousands that went to the U.S for some work in the 30s, stayed, married and procreated. You can still hear and see signs of the French Canadian immigrants all over New England), or if you’re a transplant and suffer from nostalgia or if you want to try something different. I warn you this is not diet food, its stick to your ribs, go plow a field, give birth in it and shovel 3 feet of snow comfort food!

Ok this is THE BEST pie crust ever! I’ve only used it for meat pies and salmon pies, not for sweet stuff.

Savoury pie crust

3 cups flour
1 cup grease (I use Crisco)
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon white vinegar (works with cider vinegar)
1 teaspoon salt
¾ cup cold water

Throw everything in your Kitchenaid or a big ol’ Pyrex bowl and mix until smooth. Separate the dough in 3 or 4 parts, wrap in plastic film and refrigerate over night.

I swear this dough will literally roll itself!

It’s one of the few recipes I use because it’s so easy to work with! My mom used to tell me: Sorry dear I can’t make pie crust, I’m awful at it, ask you’re grandma. Of course being a teenager back then I couldn’t careless about asking my grandma for lessons and then she passed. I used boxed mixes, ready to roll dough but always found them not up to par….Then I tried the recipe on the Tenderflake (lard) package, it was good but this one id a trillion times better!

Tourtières des Fêtes (Holiday Meat Pie)

This recipe is for 1 large meat pie. It can easily be doubled, tripled or in my case sextupled (did I just make up a word?)

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion chopped
2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 bacon rasher chopped (for 1 pie I add 3 instead of one)
½ pound lean ground pork
½ pound lean ground veal (you can use the meats you like; I use beef and pork, or if you can find packs with beef,veal,pork that is good too)
1 pinch each of: ground cloves, dried thyme and dried savoury
( I find that one pinch of each is not enough, you be the judge)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/3 beef stock
2 pie crusts
1 egg yolk

Meaty Goodness!

Preheat oven @ 350F

In a skillet, heat oil and add the bacon ,onion and garlic, Cook until onion is transparent. Add the pork and veal and cook 5 min. Add seasonings ,cover and let simmer 15 min. Adjust the seasonings and if you have too much liquid leftover you can drain the mixture.

Ready for the oven!

Put a crust in a pie plate (aluminum or Pyrex) add the meat and cover with the second crust. Cut slits in top to let steam escape and seal edges with a fork, or some fancy thing you do….Brush the egg wash on the top and shove in the hot oven for 30 min or until the crusts are golden.

Now for my last note, when the meat is done I always add some shredded potato (raw) and let it cook. It binds the whole mix and it is more traditional. Serve with fruit ketchup of plain Heinz (ew!)

                                 All golden and delicious! Too bad I can't blog in smell-O-vision!