Traditional French Canadian Tourtiere

SUBMITTED BY: kathleen PHOTO BY: kathleen

"Originally from my grandma's recipe box, the secret of this delectable Christmas treasure is found in the ground cloves and chicken seasoning. We've always made our tourtieres en grand (in large quantity), as they freeze great making them a terrific quick fix throughout the busy holiday season!"

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PREP TIME	25 Min
COOK TIME	30 Min
READY IN	1 Hr 45 Min
Original recipe yield 8 tourtieres

SERVINGS

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Servings
USMETRIC

INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)

8 pounds ground pork
8 pounds ground beef
4 cups finely chopped onion
6 cups water
2 1/2 tablespoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
2 teaspoons allspice
1 3/4 teaspoons ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup liquid chicken seasoning
8 (15 ounce) packages pastry for double-crust pie

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
In a large pot, mix the pork, beef, onion, and water. Season with salt, pepper, allspice, cloves, cinnamon, and chicken seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 30 minutes.
Drain liquid from pot into a bowl. Transfer remaining meat mixture to a separate bowl and chill until ready to use. Place bowl with liquid in the refrigerator and chill 1 hour, or until fat has congealed on the surface.
Scrape and discard fat from the chilled liquid. Spoon the meat mixture into pie crusts. Add 1 tablespoon of reserved liquid to each pie. (This prevents them from becoming to dry.) Place top crust on top of each pie and pinch edges to seal. Cut slits in top crust so steam can escape.
Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 50 minutes. Serve immediately or freeze until ready to use.

FOOTNOTES

To re-heat baked tourtieres
Place dabs of butter on vent holes in pastry. Cover edges of tourtiere with aluminum foil, and re-heat at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 minutes, or until heated through.