Tourtière: A French Canadian cold-weather classic

Tourtière

Tourtière is a Quebecois holiday classic that I love to serve on New Year’s Eve (rather than Christmas Eve). It’s unpretentious, hearty enough to help you handle some drinks later, and so good cold from the fridge as a late-night snack. Plus, if your New Year’s resolution is to find the perfect pastry for a meat pie, look no further than this hot water pastry

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Tourtière

SERVES 8 to 10

For the filling
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 small cooking onions, diced
1–2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/4 lb lean ground beef
1 1/4 lb ground pork
1 large russet potato, peeled and grated
2 teaspoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup stout or hearty red wine
1 1/4–1 1/2 cups no-or low-sodium beef broth
8–10 dashes Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon herbes de Provence
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the pastry
1 cup unsalted butter, cubed
3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 egg + 2 teaspoons milk, for egg wash

For the filling, heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and sauté the onions, garlic, and bay leaves for about 2 minutes, or until slightly translucent. Season with the salt and add in the beef and pork. Cook for 10 minutes and then add in the potato and butter. Stir to combine and melt the butter, and then sprinkle the flour over top. Give it all a stir and cook for 2 minutes in order to cook off that raw flour taste. Still stirring, pour in the stout (or wine) and broth. Season with the Worcestershire, herbes de Provence, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg, and finish it all off with the pepper. Cook for 5 minutes to bring everything together. Remove the filling from the heat and allow it to cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, make the hot water pastry by combining the butter with 1 cup of water in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring this to a boil and, once all of the butter has melted, remove it from the heat and dump in the flour and salt. Working quickly, stir well until everything comes together and then turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. When it’s cool enough to handle, knead the dough until very smooth and a little elastic. Don’t be shy here—I often knead this dough for at least 3 minutes and the result is somehow better than if I’d been gentle with it. Allow the dough to rest at room temperature, lightly covered with plastic wrap, for about 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400°F and divide your dough into two chunks, one slightly larger than the other. Roll the larger piece out on a lightly floured work surface so that it’s big enough to line the base and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Line the pan with the dough, spoon in the filling, and roll out the remaining piece of dough. Top the pie with this piece of dough, crimp the edges, and cut a few slits in the middle of the tourtière to create a steam vent. Brush with the egg wash and place on a baking sheet to catch any overflow. Bake for 25 minutes, turn down the oven to 350°F, and continue baking for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Allow the tourtière to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Note: This tourtière can be assembled up to 1 day ahead and stored, tightly covered, in the fridge. When you’re ready to serve, remove the tourtière from the fridge to let it sit while you preheat the oven, and bake as above.

Another note: For a vegetarian version, try using a plant based meat such as Impossible Burger instead of the beef and pork in this recipe. It was a hit on my Holiday table this year!

This recipe is an excerpt from my cookbook Kitchen Party: Effortless Recipes for Every Occasion
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/565979/kitchen-party-by-mary-berg/9780147531247

Pan con Tomate aka breakfasty/brunchy/lunchy tomato toast

Pan con Tomate

You know that whole “more than the sum of its parts” thing?

Well, this recipe is just that. It’s almost absurdly simple yet so stinking delicious, easily customizable to any tastes, and perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, linner, or even a light dinner.

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Pan con Tomate (aka tomato toast)

Serves 2 to 4

4 thick slices ciabatta or sourdough
1 garlic clove, halved
2 large ripe tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher or flakey sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Toppings such as torn basil and/or oregano, anchovy fillets, crumbled cheese (feta, soft goat cheese, or pecorino would be nice), chili flakes, etc.

Lightly toast the bread until golden brown. As soon as the bread is toasted, rub the cut piece of garlic onto the hot toast. This will give subtle garlic flavour to the bread and make for some delicious toast. Set aside on two serving plates.

Using the large holes of your box or cheese grater, grate the cut side of the tomatoes over a bowl. The pulpy flesh of the tomatoes will grate into a fresh tomato sauce leaving the skins behind. Discard the skins.

Stir 1 tablespoon of the olive oil into the grated tomatoes and season well with kosher salt and black pepper. Spoon the saucy tomatoes over the toast and garnish with whatever toppings you’d like. Drizzle over the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, if needed, and serve immediately.

Canada Day Butter Tarts! (also appropriate for any other day)

Maple Butter Tarts

Maple Butter Tarts

Makes 10 tarts

For the pastry
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold and cut into pats
4–6 tablespoons ice water
1 teaspoon white or apple cider vinegar

For the filling
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup corn syrup
1 egg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons white or apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional add-ins
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup coconut

For the pastry, combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add in the butter pats and quickly rub and snap it into the flour mixture until it resembles very coarse sand with some hunks of butter that are about the size of a pea.  In a small bowl, combine the ice water and vinegar and pour it over the flour and fat mixture, adding more water if needed. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix until a shaggy dough forms. Dump the dough onto a work surface and give it two or three kneads to bring the dough together.  Transfer the dough to a piece of plastic wrap and wrap and press the dough into a 1-inch thick disk. Pop this in the fridge for 45 minutes or so to allow the flour to hydrate and re-chill the fat. 

Meanwhile, mix up the filling by whisking together the brown sugar, maple syrup, corn syrup, egg, melted butter, vanilla, vinegar, and salt in a large glass measuring cup. Set aside.

When the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 400ºF. Remove the dough from the fridge and set it out on a lightly floured work surface. Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thick and cut out as many approximately 5-inch circles as possible. If you don’t get 10 rounds, simply gather the rest of the dough, reroll, and cut out more circles. Gently press the circles into a muffin tin, rumpling the sides lightly so that they are a little wavy.

Scatter about a tablespoon of add-ins into the bottoms of each tart shell, if using, and pour over the filling. Do not fill the tarts all the way to the top as it will expand in the oven and may boil over.

Bake the tarts for 15 to 18 minutes or until the filling is puffy and slightly set and the pastry is golden brown.

Allow the tarts to cool for two minutes in the muffin tin then carefully remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

The Perfect Summer Side and Topper: Apple Cabbage Slaw

Apple Cabbage Slaw

Dressed in a creamy or tart vinegary dressing, slaw is the perfect summer side.

This little number is great as an accompaniment to any backyard BBQ, or served on top of chicken, turkey, or salmon burgers and would be an absolute treat on shrimp or fish tacos!

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Apple Cabbage Slaw

Serves 4

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon celery seeds
¼ teaspoon black pepper
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives
½ cup thinly sliced celery, plus leaves
1 tart green apple, cut into matchsticks
¼ head red cabbage, thinly shredded

In a large bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar, salt, celery seeds, and black pepper.  Add in the chives, celery, apple, and cabbage and toss to combine.  Allow the slaw to sit for at least 20 minutes before serving.