Tourtière (the real one!)

Denis Martel — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:48:10 +0000

I really enjoy serving a tourtière when guests are coming for dinner because you can prepare it in advance and it lets off a great aroma for when the guests arrive.

In my family, I remember my parents eating tourtière with home made pickled green tomatoes (green ketchup). Personally, I prefer the good old red ketchup with the bottle on the table, without any ceremony!

Ingredients:

500 gr beef cut in very small cubes or grounded
500 gr pork cut in very small cubes or grounded
500 gr veal cut in very small cubes or grounded
30 ml salt
3 large onions, chopped
250 ml milk
350 ml chicken bouillon (roughly)
Potatoes cut in small cubes (maximum 1 cm), a quantity equal to the meat volume.
Pie crust dough(use the recipe for the tourtière one)
One egg, beaten

Method:

About 24 hours before cooking the tourtière, blend all meats, the onions and half the salt together and refrigerate
Pre-heat the oven to 400⁰F
In a large pot or roasting pan (cast iron is better if you have one), spread the pie crust to cover the entire pan.
Start with a layer of potato, followed by a layer of meat (broken into pieces) covering the potatoes generously. Alternate steps between the potatoes and meat (about three layers of each in total)
Add the liquid and the remaining salt
You may want to add some more liquid if you think there is not enough.
Cover with the crust and brush egg on the top. Cut three holes on the top crust for ventilation
Cover lightly with aluminium foil
Bake at 400⁰ F for 30 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 275⁰ F and bake for another 4 hours
After 4 hours, remove the aluminium paper and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the crust is golden in colour.

Beef Bourguignon

Denis Martel — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 13:36:39 +0000

Pay attention when you add the cold beef cubes to the hot oil. I have burnt myself to second degree because the oil splashed on my hand!

I like to serve beef Bourguignon with mashed potato, while Cheryl prefers to serve it with egg noodles. It is up to you to choose, Denis way or Cheryl’s way!

Ingredients:

1 l water
250 gr cured salted pork (lard), cut in slices of 0.5 cm
15 ml olive oil
2 kg beef, cut in cubes of 2-3 cm
6 carrots, sliced
3 onions, sliced
75 ml flour
Salt and pepper
One bottle of red wine
Beef soup base
15 ml tomato paste
3 ml thyme
45 ml parsley
2 bay leaves
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 kg small mushrooms

Method:

Boil the lard for about 10 minutes
Discard water and pat dry the lard
In a large cast iron casserole (or something as good), heat the olive oil and fry the lard until it turns brown
Remove lard from the casserole
Add beef cubes to the hot oil and brown on each side
Remove the meat from the casserole and keep warm
Add the carrots and onion to the pot and sauté, medium heat
Add the beef and the lard back to the casserole and season with salt and pepper
Add flour and mix well with a wooden spoon
Sauté for about 5 minutes, stirring often
Add wine, soup base, tomato paste, herbs and garlic and mix well
Add mushrooms and bake in the oven for about 3 hours at 300⁰F

Beef – Let's Cook Together

Tourtière (the real one!)

Beef Bourguignon