Homemade Tourtière

Every year we have tourtière for Christmas Eve dinner.  It is a traditional French Canadian meat pie, and although we aren't French Canadian we have it anyway since we don't really have any traditional food for Christmas Eve.  It also helps that our whole family thinks tourtière is delicious.


Recently I got together with my friend Kim to make tourtière for the first time.  Now given that we have tourtière every year for Christmas Eve dinner you might think I already knew how to make it - not so!  In the past I have always bought tourtière from the grocery store, but I decided this year to try my hand at it and asked Kim if I could join her when she was making hers.  

Kim likes to wear a Hanukkah apron when she cooks Christmas tourtière, being the rebel she is!

Kim's mother was introduced to tourtière when they lived in Labrador back in the 1950s (you can see her blue recipe card in the photo below on the right).  Kim combines her Mother's recipe with another one that she got from a magazine years ago.  

Tourtière is a double-crusted meat pie usually made with ground pork, but may also include ground veal or even beef.  Traditional recipes include onions, seasonings, and mashed potatoes, although recipes vary from region to region and family to family.  

Kim was making a lot of tourtière as she needed it for their Christmas Eve dinner as well as mini tourtière tarts for a Christmas party.  To be uber-efficient we divided up the work and I did the peeling and chopping while Kim did the cooking and adding seasoning and mashing of potatoes.  We were a good team and got the tourtière filling ready in jig time.

Here's the recipe we used for a 9-inch double crust tourtière:

Ingredients:
1 medium potato, cooked and mashed
1 lb ground lean pork (0.45 kg)
½ cup boiling water
1 medium onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cloves
½ tsp dried thyme
½  - 1 tsp dried sage
¼ tsp dry mustard
-------------------
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp dried sage
dash of garlic salt (optional)
1/2 each red and green bell pepper

Method:

1.  Combine pork, water, onion, garlic, and seasonings (down to the dashed line) in a saucepan and simmer for 25 minutes or until liquid is reduced stirring occasionally.  Can also be made with half pork and half veal.

2.  Remove from heat and if necessary pour off water but keep moist. Stir in potato, mashing to make sure the mixture is well combined.

3.  Add all the seasonings listed below the dashed line and mash again.

4.  Chill thoroughly.  Mash a few mores time.

5.  If desired add chopped red and green peppers to give a festive appearance. 

6.  Fill pastry-lined pie pan with chilled meat mixture, then place top crust over filling.  Use a knife to make air holes to allow the steam to escape.

7.  The tourtière can be wrapped well and frozen at this point (allow to thaw before baking).

8.  Bake at 450 for 10 minutes; reduce the temperature to 350 and bake for another 45 minutes until the crust is golden (I'm not exactly sure how long it will take so I will let you know after I've baked mine) 

9.  Let rest for 5 minutes to facilitate perfect slices.   Serve hot.

Since we were making large quantities we had to put the pot outside to cool the filling down as there wasn't room in the refrigerator.  Kim told me that they always put the pot in snow to cool the filling down.  Given our mixed weather here in Toronto I was surprised that they almost always manage to find at least a little bit of snow to use.  Not this year, though, as we have had a VERY warm fall - so we just put the pot outside on a post and went out every few minutes to stir it so it would cool down.

I look like I know what I'm doing,

but I really don't.  I was flying by the seat of my pants.

And couldn't believe it turned out looking like a real Christmas tourtière.  It's all wrapped up and safely in our freezer waiting for Christmas Eve.

Do you think cooking with such a gorgeous combination of pots helped make the tourtière taste better.   I'll let you know after I eat it.

What do you serve for Christmas Eve dinner?  I'm always curious because it seems to vary much more than the traditional Christmas Dinner menu.

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Easy Dinner - Honey-Glazed Pork Roast with Cabbage and Apples

Today I made some significant modifications to a recipe I had cut out of a magazine so that the final product was nowhere near the original, but the path it went down was a good one.  I made Honey-Glazed Pork Loin Roast with Cabbage and Apples.  The cabbage looked like glazed onions when it was done and was delicious.  I often find it hard to use up a whole cabbage when I buy one for a recipe, but this tasted fantastic and was so easy.  

Ingredients:
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
black pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/3 of a head of cabbage, sliced and cut into pieces
1 onion, sliced thin
2 apples, peeled and cut into 1 cm thick pieces
pork loin roast (approximately 900 gm)
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
4 tsp brown sugar
black pepper to taste
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp soy sauce

Method:
1. In a medium bowl mix soy sauce, thyme, and pepper. Add pork and roll to coat. 
2. Lightly oil a Dutch oven.  Layer half the chopped cabbage, apple, onion, and then repeat the layers.  Put the pork loin roast on top.
3.  Combine the melted butter, brown sugar, pepper, honey, and soy sauce and pour over the roast.  
4.  Cover and cook at 350 for about 1 1/2 hours (check to be sure the pork is cooked in the centre with a meat thermometer as you don't want to take any chances).  Periodically baste the pork with the sauce.


I served the pork and cabbage mix with rice, but that was only because we were out of potatoes.  It would be good with either.    


I also cooked up the squash that I had on our sideboard.  I've been a bit obsessed with all the different kinds of squash available at the grocery store and have been buying them if they look interesting or lumpy or wildly coloured or pretty much anything.  The only problem is we get a bit attached to them and don't like to cook them - sort of like cooking the family pet or something.  Anyway we got over our weird attachment to our squash and had a very yummy dinner indeed.

Say goodbye to the large green squash cause it's gone!

p.s.  Stay tuned for details about the pumpkin bread I made for dessert - recipe coming up tomorrow.


p.p.s.  Also stay tuned for details about the insane craft project I spent hours doing this weekend.  Let's just say it was a calm and therapeutic way to spend a cold and rainy weekend.  Here's a sneak peak.  It needs to dry and then some styling has to happen before I'm ready to reveal it.

Linked to Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming

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Easy Dinner - Thai Peanut Stir Fry Sauce

I made a new stir-fry sauce recently and knew it was a winner when William was asking me to make it again just a few days later.  I cobbled together several different recipes that I found on-line to make my own version of a Thai peanut sauce.  I made it once with chicken and once with tofu and both were good.  I always use a variety of different veggies, including some frozen Asian ones to make a stir fry, so that part always varies and sometimes I also add a tin of bamboo shoots or water chestnuts.  For me this was just the right amount of seasoning and heat, but then again I'm not very brave when it comes to spicy food.  

The sauce starts out looking like it is going all wrong 

and then it smooths out and looks great.

Here's the recipe for the sauce:

Ingredients:

1 cup peanut butter

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/3 cup brown sugar or honey

1/4 cup soya sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp curry

1/2 tsp ground ginger 

1 tsp crushed red peppers

1/2 cup boiling water

Method:
1. Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together and then add boiling water to help it blend and make it more liquidy.
2. Meanwhile cook the chicken/tofu with onions in a little oil until cooked through.
3.  Add a truck load of either chopped fresh or frozen Asian-type veggies or a mix of both.
4.  Add the sauce and cook on low heat stirring frequently until the veggies are cooked.

Enjoy!

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Culinary Adventures Around the World - Algeria

We are cooking our way around the world (you can read the details in the page under the header called "Culinary Adventures Around the World") and have finally arrived in Algeria.   It has taken at least a couple of years to make our way through Europe and it is quite exciting to finally be in North Africa.   The food in North Africa is primarily from Berber and Arab culinary traditions, although Algerian food has been influenced by French cuisine more than food in other surrounding areas.  Most of the dishes include meat (chicken, lamb, or beef) with dates, almonds, apricots, chick peas, and other fruits and vegetables mixed with cinnamon, ginger, cumin, coriander, and served with couscous.   


Many of the Algerian recipes were similar to the ones we had when we cooked Moroccan food (here), so I tried to find a recipe that involved different ingredients. The recipe I found online to make for our Algerian meal was Chicken with Chickpeas and Lemon (found here) and served with couscous.

Ingredients (with my alterations in brackets):

• 2 Cloves Garlic -- Chopped
• Salt And Pepper -- To Taste
• 1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
• 1/2 Teaspoon Saffron (I couldn't find this so didn't use any)
• 1/4 Cup Unsalted Butter (I used margarine and less than the amount specified)
• 1 Large Chicken -- Cut Into Pieces (I used 2 large chicken breasts)
• 1 Stick Cinnamon (I used 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon)
• 1 Bunch Parsley -- Chopped
• 1 Bunch Cilantro -- Chopped
• 3 Medium Green Onion -- Chopped
• 1 Can Chick Peas (I drained them and used some of the liquid as needed to help make a sauce)
• 1 Red Onion -- Chopped
• Lemon Juice from one lemon
• 1 1/4 cups couscous

Method:

I didn't follow the directions listed on the website as I was running out of time.  Instead I put the chicken in a frying pan with the butter and as it was cooking I added the other ingredients pretty much in the order listed (with the exception of the couscous).  By the time I was down to the bottom of the ingredient list the chicken was partially cooked, so I put the lid on the frying pan and cooked it on low for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.   As the chicken was cooking, I boiled the water to make the couscous and I chopped up some red peppers and cucumbers to put out on a plate with some dried apricots to serve with the chicken and couscous.

The meal was delicious, although William thought there were too many onions.  It is a meal that I will make again since it was easy to do and tasted good.

And now on to Libya!

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Culinary Adventures Around the World - Morocco

On the weekend I got myself organized to cook two recipes from the next country in our around the world cooking tour.  We are now in Morocco (you can read more about it here) so I made Moroccan Casablanca Couscous and Moroccan Chicken with Apricots.  I really think I should have been Moroccan because I loved both of these dishes.  They weren't too hard to make, and they were simply delish.  I'll be making them both again soon.  I have to confess that I forgot to take any photos before we ate so all I had to take pictures of was a little bit of leftovers.  Sigh - the trials of a dedicated blogger!  When I make it again I'll take some better photos and replace these ones.

Moroccan Casablanca Couscous (serves 6) - (adapted from moroccan-recipes.com)

and the couscous (only one delicious spoonful left)!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds tofu, cubed

1 onion, chopped

1 cup carrots, sliced

1 cup celery, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1 can chickpeas

1 can tomato sauce (they didn't list the size so I just used a small one, about 420 mls)

1/2 cup raisins

1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/8 teaspoon cayenne 

1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups couscous

Method:

1) In large pan, brown tofu with onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, nuts. 

2) Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 40 minutes.

3) Make couscous according to package directions.

Moroccan Chicken with Apricots (serves 6) - (adapted from grouprecipes.com)

Ingredients:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4 cups green onions, sliced

3 large garlic cloves, chopped

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup dried apricots, chopped

3 tablespoons lemon juice

3 tablespoons honey

Method:

1) Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and cook until brown.  Add salt and pepper.

2) Remove chicken from pan and keep warm while you make the sauce.

3) Add onions and garlic to the pan and saute.

4) Add flour, ginger, cinnamon, and cumin to the pan.

5) Whisk in the chicken broth.

6) Stir in apricots, lemon juice, and honey.

7) Boil sauce for about 5 minutes until it thickens, stirring occasionally.

8) Add the chicken to the sauce and serve.

Morocco was so yummy that I'm looking forward to more North African food as we head toward Algeria.

Linked to Working Mommy Wednesday at Work, Wife, Mom ... Life
Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum

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Culinary Adventures Around the World - Spain

I got the idea a couple of years ago that we should cook our way around the world.  I thought it would be a fun way to get us out of our dinner time rut by trying new dishes.  You can read about the details here.   We started in Ireland and so far have cooked dishes from:

• Ireland (you can read about it here)
• Great Britian
• Norway
• Russia
• the Ukraine
• Poland
• Germany
• Switzerland
• Italy (you can read about it here)
• France (you can read about it here)

Since Spain is next, it seemed logical that I would cook paella, one of its most famous dishes.  I did a quick google search for a recipe so I could cook it this past weekend. 

Here's the Paella recipe I used (based on this one from the Food Network)

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, skinless, boneless, cut into large chunks
2 Italian sausages, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 onions, peeled and chopped
10 whole cloves of garlic, peeled (we all thought a few of them, at least, should have been chopped so that the flavour mingled more)
796 ml (28-oz) can of whole tomates
2 cups arborio rice
3 cups chicken stock (I used bouillion)
1 cup of red or white wine
3 bay leaves
2 sprig of fresh rosemary
1 red pepper, seeds removed and chopped
1 pound of shrimp, shelled and deveined (I used frozen)

Method:
1. heat oil in a frying pan and brown the chicken and sausages.  When they are cooked, remove them to a plate.
2.  add the onions to the pan (with more oil if needed) and saute until golden
3.  add the garlic and stir for a few minutes
4. add the tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon.
5.  add the rice, stock, wine, bay leaves, rosemary, red pepper, the reserved meat and the shrimp (although I added mine near the end since mine were already cooked).
6.  bring to a simmer and cook over medium low heat until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 30 minutes.  I served it with cooked peas.

We always rate the round-the-world dishes on a scale of 1-10 and I have to say that paella rated very highly.  Everyone rated the dish somewhere between 8 and 10.  The recipe I used said it would feed 4, but with 2 cups of rice it could easily have fed 8.  There was plenty left over which we had for another meal.

William is very excited that we are now leaving Europe and starting across North Africa. Months go by when I don't seem to have time or inclination to find a recipe on the internet, get the ingredients, and cook a new meal for the next country, but William has requested that I cook them a little more frequently so my goal is to try and cook a recipe from another country every 2-3 weeks.  That should mean I will be able to get to Bangladesh before I get to Bangladesh in real life.  Ha!

Morroco here we come!

Linked to Recipe Swap Party at Remodelaholic

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Gado Gado

My mother and my daughter, Kate, recently cooked Gado Gado for the family.  It was a big hit with everyone.  For those of you who haven't heard of Gado Gado, it is a traditional Indonesian dish consisting of a plate of vegetables, eggs, and tofu served with a seasoned peanut sauce.

The recipe they used was adapted from the More-with-less Cookbook (by the Mennonite Central Committee).
 

SAUCE INGREDIENTS (serves 8)
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
3 tbsp oil
1 cup boiling water
2 cups crunchy peanut butter
2 tbsp honey
1-2 tsp Tabasco sauce or finely chopped fresh hot peppers
juice and rind of 1 lemon
2 crushed bay leaves – remove before serving
1 tsp freshly grated ginger
salt to taste
3 cups milk (some could be vegetable stock) 

METHOD:

1. Sauté the onion and garlic in oil until lightly browned
2. Stir in boiling water, peanut butter and remaining
ingredients except milk or stock
3. Cook sauce over medium heat until very hot and peanut
 butter has melted and blended in
4. Gradually stir in the milk; cook a few more minutes.
5. Serve sauce, hot or cold, over raw or cooked vegetables.

INDONESIAN VEGETABLE PLATTER – use some of the following:
½ small head cabbage (lightly steam until tender crisp)
green beans (lightly steam until tender crisp)
bean sprouts
spinach
sliced cucumber
1 small head cauliflower cut into flowerets
carrots finely sliced or grated
finely shredded lettuce
radishes- sliced
firm tofu cubed and sautéed
4 hard boiled eggs – quartered

The bowls of vegetables, eggs, and tofu looked fantastic!

The peanut sauce tasted yummy!

We all loved it!

But .... it just didn't look very pretty.  

Perhaps you could focus on the gorgeous quinoa salad or the potato salad we had.  I'll have to work on styling the gado gado a bit more - poor thing.

If you make it - and you should - I recommend you just close your eyes and enjoy!

Linked to Recipes at Remodelaholic

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Moroccan Chicken

I recently made Moroccan Chicken.  I invented the recipe using ideas from several different sources.  It was a winner with everyone in the family, so I thought I would share the recipe with you.

INGREDIENTS (for 4 people):
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into pieces
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic
small amount of olive oil for cooking chicken
1 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp ground tumeric
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 orange, peeled and segments cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 yellow or red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 can chickpeas

1 1/4 cups couscous
2 cups chicken broth (I used bouillion in boiling water)

METHOD:
1.  cook chicken with onions and garlic in the oil
2.  when the chicken is no longer pink, add all the other ingredients down to the chickpeas.  Add a small amount of water if it gets too dry.
3.  boil the chicken broth and add the couscous, stir and remove from heat.  cover and let sit for 5 minutes.  Then fluff with a fork.
4.  serve the moroccan chicken on the couscous.

Enjoy!

Linked to the recipe link party at Remodelaholic
and Best of 2010 Blog Party- Recipes at House of Grace

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Easy Dinner - Mince and Mash

Mince and Mash is one of those kid-friendly, crowd-pleasing recipes that originated with a Scottish friend.  It reminds me of a quick shepherd’s pie without as many dirty pots and the cook-in-the-oven part.  I take great liberties with the vegetables and every time it tastes a little different, as I use whatever is on hand. 

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Servings: 6

For the mince:
1 lb. (about 500 gm) lean ground beef

3 cups water

3-4 cups chopped fresh, frozen or canned vegetables (I recommend 2-3 of the following: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, beans, peas, corn)

3 tsp. beef bouillon

Pepper to taste

2 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. cornstarch

For the mash:
8-9 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

3 tbsp. butter or margarine

½ cup milk

Preparation:
1.      Place ground beef in large pot.  Add water and bring to a boil on medium heat stirring occasionally and breaking up clumps.  It looks like a mistake at this point because you are boiling meat, but it works.

2.      Cook for 5 – 10 minutes over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. 

3.      Add the raw vegetables and cook for 10 minutes (if using canned or frozen then wait for 10 more minutes before adding).

4.      Add bouillon and pepper.

5.      Combine cornstarch with about ¼ cup water until blended.  Add to meat mixture and cook for another 3 minutes until thickened

6.      Meanwhile boil potatoes until cooked completely (about 15 minutes) and mash with butter and milk.

Serve a plop of mash (potatoes) and cover with the mince (meat mixture).

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Company Dinner Recipe - Nigerian Curry

When I was young we lived in Nigeria, a country in west Africa.  The photo below is me at the Ibadan Zoo (say the sign out loud and you will see who is allowed past the gate).   

When we lived there we often ate Nigerian Curry.  According to my mother it was not the kind of curry that the local people ate, but rather a curry brought over from India by the East Indian workers and modified to accomodate local foods. 

It is chicken in a curry peanut sauce, served on rice, with a variety of fruit toppings.  In our family we use the following toppings:

• pineapple
• grapefruit
• orange
• banana
• coconut
• peanuts
• raisins

The original recipe I have was very homestyle.  You boiled a whole chicken and removed the meat to use in the curry and used the broth in the recipe to make the sauce.  You also were instructed to "fry the onion small".  I have simplified the recipe so it is actually quick and easy to make.

Ingredients (serves 6 people):

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 onion, chopped

1 tablespoon oil

1 cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup chicken stock or bouillion

1 -2 tablespoons curry (depending on taste)

To prepare:

Cook chicken and onion in oil, until chicken is no longer pink.

Add the rest of the ingredients and cook gently until blended (adding water if it thickens too much) for about 10 minutes.

Serve with rice and a variety of fruit toppings.

This is one way to eat Nigerian Curry - the organized way (please note - this was my plate)

This is another method - the big pile (please note - this is Malcolm's plate)

Both methods are yummy!!!

I usually serve Nigerian Curry with boiled eggs in it as well - sounds strange, but it is really good.  

This is our family's favourite meal - I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!




p.s. Anyone guess what the sign says in the first photo?

Linked to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum 
and Best of 2010 Blog Party - Recipes at House of Grace

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