Tourtiere Turnovers

Chef #642925 Gertrude from the Granite Planet's Note:

A French Canadian holiday tradition gets a cocktail party makeover. Serve with Chili Sauce as a cocktail or serve hot with a pork or beef gravy for dinner. Makes 40 plus cocktails. Per piece:about 95 cal,3g pro,6g total fat(3g sat.fat),7g carb,trace fibre,25mg chol,130mg sodium,%RDI: 1% calcium,4% iron,2% vit A,9% folate. Recipe taken from Canadian Living Holiday Baking Fall 2006. Well worth the effort. I've made these many times and have always recieved great reviews.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 2 hrs
• Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 20

Yield: 40.0 pieces

• 2⁄3; cup mashed potatoes
• 12 ounces ground lean pork
• ½ cup onion , finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 stalk celery , finely chopped
• 1 cup mushroom , diced
• ½ cup chicken stock
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon thyme
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf

Double crust pastry

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter or ½ cup margarine , cold
• ½ cup lard , cold
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• ice water

Directions:

1. Pastry:.
2. In a bowl wisk flour with salt. Using a pastry blender cut in cubed butter and lard until mixture resembles fine crumbs with a few larger pieces.
3. In liquid measure, whisk egg and vinegar; add enough water to make 2/3 cup. Drizzle over dry ingredients, stirring briskly with a fork until ragged dough forms.
4. Press into 2 discs.
5. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
6. (Make-ahead: Refrigerate for up to 3 days. Makes enough for 2 9" pie crusts.
7. Tourtiere turnovers:.
8. In a large skillet, saute pork over medium-high heat, breaking up with fork until no longer pink, about 6 minutes. Add onion, garlic, celery,mushrooms,chicken stock,salt,pepper,thyme,cloves,cinnamon and bay leaf; bring to a boil.
9. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until almost no liquid remains, about 10 minutes.
10. Uncover, and cook until no liquid remains, another 5 minutes.
11. Discard bay leaf and stir in potatoes.
12. Let cool.
13. Divide pastry in half.
14. On floured surface roll out each to scant 1/4" thickness.
15. For cocktail use 3" round cutter or for main course use 5" round cutter.
16. Cut out circles, rerolling if necessary.
17. For cocktail use 1 TBSP of pork mixture or for main course turnovers use 2 TBSPs of pork mixture.
18. Place pork mixture in center of each circle. Lightly brush edge with water: fold over to create a half moon shape.
19. Press edge with a fork to seal.
20. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
21. Arrange racks on top and bottom third of oven.
22. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
23. In a small bowl whisk 1 egg yolk with 1 TBSP water to brush over filled pastry
24. Continue until all pastry and pork is used up.
25. Place close together on prepared pans and brush with egg wash and cut steam vents in centers.
26. Make-ahead: Freeze until firm, about 15 minutes. Layer between waxed paper in airtight container and freeze for up to 2 weeks.
27. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
28. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; exchange cookie sheets top to bottom and bottom to top oven racks.
29. Bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Reviews

[Bluemonkey]

First...there is no one recipe for tourtiere from Quebec.There are as many Tourtiere recipes as there are towns in Quebec and I have seen "authentic" recipes that use poultry , bread crumbs and potatoes and all are from the many different areas of Quebec that my friends and neighbours come from. My neighbour uses bread crumbs and mushrooms in hers and she is a transplanted Quebecoise. This recipe is very good and I've tried it myself as I have this Canadian Living Holiday book.

[WhiteKnight1]

For accuracy I'm giving it no more than 2 stars.1st this recipe is closer to a scotish meat pie than a tourtiere. Garlic i a tourtiere is blasphemy, mushroom good variation but again not accurate and mashed potatoes sounds more like a British adaptation . This one is more accurate : 1/2pound lean ground pork 1/2 pound lean ground beef 1/2 pound ground vea (or more pork) 1 onion, diced 1/2 cup water 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed 1/4 teaspoon ground sage 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves In a saucepan, combine pork, beef, onion, garlic, water, salt, thyme, sage, black pepper and cloves. Cook over medium heat until mixture boils; stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat is cooked, about 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.Pour mixture in a 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie or put 2 Tbsp of the mixture in a 4" crust square fold into a triangle humecting the edges with water .Bake for 30 min covered with a foil paper then uncovered for an extra 15-20 min.or until crust is golden .