Tourtiere

Tourtiere de Fleur-Ange (Fleur-Ange's Pork Pie)

2 pounds lean ground pork
1 cup water
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped celery leaves
2 large onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 tablespoon chopped fresh savory (or 1 teaspoon dried savory)
½ teaspoon each ground cinnamon and cloves
Salt and freshly ground pepper

The above ingredients are combined in a pot, add more water to avoid drying mixture and cooked for 30 minutes. Once cooled, then it is placed in a pie crust, sealed and baked for 35 minutes at 400 degrees.

Served warm or cold with pickles.

Tourtiere is the classic Christmas Eve dish in Canada.

I just made this for the first time today. There was a bit of liquid in the bottom of the pie with some coming from the initial cooking in the pot. In the future should I get the meat mixture as free of liquid as possible before putting it in the crust? Or a bit of liquid should be expected and take no special efforts to get rid of it.

A friend who is Canadian opined the pickles to accompany the dish should be a little chutney, corn relish and pickles. Any other suggestions?

All the best,

Very nice looking recipe with an interesting set of herbs and spices. How did you like it?

Time to get into the holiday spirit!



Antonius

Cathy2 wrote:There was a bit of liquid in the bottom of the pie with some coming from the initial cooking in the pot. In the future should I get the meat mixture as free of liquid as possible before putting it in the crust? Or a bit of liquid should be expected and take no special efforts to get rid of it.

C2:
A panade of bread or flour is often used in terrines and pates to help bind and soak up excess liquid.

Bill/SFNM

Bill,

I looked up a panade from a Splendid Table article for a pate:

In a small bowl, combine the flour, eggs, brandy, and cream and stir to blend—this is the panade

While it may be appropriate for a pate seems to be a substantitive change to this recipe. I will keep this trick in mind as a solution for another occasion. Thanks.

I was thinking something less intrusive or simple, maybe adding a scant amount of flour to bind up the excess liquid.

Regards,

C2,

Panade is a generic name for a combination of liquid and starch.

You might also try some soy protein concentrate or some dried milk powder.

These will bind up excess liquid.

Bill/SFNM