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Tourtiere (French for Meat Pie)

Tourtiere (French Meat Pie)
Tourtiere (French Meat Pie)

Tourtière is a French-Canadian name for a meat pie traditionally eaten at Christmas in Eastern Canada.  I had never heard of this until a few days ago when searching for a new dish for the weekend game.  I literally stumbled across these at the bottom of a search for meat pies.  It looked good, so what the heck.  The fellas all liked this and some even said they preferred this to the regular quiche.  Although this is not quite the traditional recipe, I added a few more eggs to hold it together better, it seems to taste exactly like the traditional tourtière.

Serves: 16 – 22 (2 pies)

Ingredients

Filling

  • 1 lb of Ground Pork
  • 1 lb of Ground Beef
  • 2 cups Water
  • 1 large White Onion, finely chopped
  • 2 Russet Potatoes, cubed to 1/2 inch size
  • 1 Tbsp ground Black Pepper
  • 1 Tbsp All Spice
  • 1 Tbsp Savory
  • 1 tsp Rosemary
  • 1 tsp Nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
  • Salt to taste

The Rest

  • 2 9 – 1/2 inch Pie Pans
  • 4 Pastry Pie Crusts, 2 for each pie
  • 4 Large Eggs
  • 1/2 cup Half and Half
  • 1/2 tsp Cinnamon

Preparation

Filling

In a large skillet (cast iron if possible), over medium-high heat, add the meat and water and bring to a boil.  Add everything else except for the Salt.  Continue cooking, reduce the heat to low, and cover for one and a half hours.  Stir this about every 15 – 20 minutes and add more water if the mixture dries out.  Near the end add the Salt.  When done this mixture should contain just a thin layer of liquid in the bottom of the skillet.  Remove from heat and place in a container and refrigerate until final assembly.

Pie Crusts

I’ve used store bought crusts and strangely they were pretty good.  If you make your own crusts, start early.  Just remember that you need enough for the top and bottom of the pie.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat oven to 420 F.  In a large mixing bowl and add in the Eggs, Half and Half and extra Cinnamon and mix thoroughly, whisking for at least 4 minutes.  Then mix in the filling you prepared above.  Half this mixture and place into each of the pie crusts.  Place the top layer of crust on top of the filled pie.  Trim the pastry and make sure to seal the edges.  Cut some steam vents in the top crusts.  Wrap the edges with 2 inch strips of aluminum foil.  Put into the oven for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil strips and reduce the heat to 375 F, and bake for another 25 minutes or so.  Remove when the crust is golden.  Either serve or pack them up to take to the to the rink.

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Sriracha Bacon Cheese Burger Frittata

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Sriracha Bacon Cheese Burger Frittata
Sriracha Bacon Cheese Burger Frittata

We are seeing all these fancy designer burgers making it out from the specialty burger shops to the fast food joints.  Some are pretty good, so we had to get in on the action.  Making a batch of bacon with a Honey Sriracha sauce coating, got this one going.  We made this using the original cheese burger style quiche but added in the fancy bacon and a few other choice ingredients.

Ingredients

Honey Sriracha Bacon

  • 1 pkg Thick Sliced Bacon (at least 12 slices)
  • 4 Tbsp Honey
  • 6 Tbsp Sriracha
  • 2 Tbsp Soy
  • 2 tsp ground Black Pepper

The Rest

  • 1 – 1/2 lb Ground Beef, 80/20 is best
  • 1 medium White Onion, chopped
  • 1 Egg
  • 2 tsp Black Pepper, ground
  • 1 tsp Sea Salt, ground
  • 1/4 cup Green Onion, chopped
  • 1 large Beefsteak Tomato, chopped
  • 1/4 cup Blue Cheese Dressing
  • 6 Tbsp Sriracha
  • 1 – 1/2 cup Swiss Cheese, shredded
  • Base Quiche Mix, with 2 extra Eggs
  • 2 pie pans

Preparation

Honey Sriracha Bacon

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  In a small pot over medium heat, mix together the Honey, Sriracha and Soy Sauce and bring to a slight boil for 2 minutes.  Stirring the whole time.  Lower the heat to keep warm.  On a baking tray lined with foil, place a baking grill and then cover with slices of bacon laid with a little overlap between slices.  Then brush the top side liberally with the honey sriracha sauce.  Place in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes, keeping an eye on it so that the top is just starting to turn dark brown.  Remove, drain the grease and flip the bacon over.  Then brush the bacon again with the honey sriracha sauce.  Return to the oven for another 10 15 minutes, making sure that you don’t burn it.  Remove, drain and allow to cool.  When cooled chop into 1/2 inch pieces.  Refrigerate until final assembly.

The Rest

In a large mixing bowl, mix the Ground Beef, Chopped White Onion, Egg, Pepper and Salt together thoroughly.  If there is any Honey Sriracha Sauce left, mix that in too, just for fun.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Now would be a good time to chop up the Green Onion and Tomato and put them in separate container and refrigerate until final assembly.

You can finish the burgers by either pan frying or fire grilling.  I prefer the grilling method, but both are done on high heat.  When your ready, take the meat out of the refrigerator and form into patties just like you would for making burgers.  Cook these until medium well, no pink inside and a little char on the outside.  Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.  Then chop them up into smaller chunks, or hand tear them up, no larger than 3/4 inch.  Refrigerate until final assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Line the pie pan with either a thin coating of olive oil or coconut oil.  Mix into the pans equal amounts of the bacon, hamburger and tomato.  Add in a little of the shredded Swiss Cheese as well.  Prepare the base quiche mix, with 2 extra Eggs, and add in the Blue Cheese Dressing and 6 tablespoons of Sriracha.  Mix this thoroughly with a whisk and gently pour over the ingredients in the pie pans.  Top with the remaining Swiss Cheese and Green Onions.  Cook in the oven for 30 -40 minutes, until the cheese starts to brown.  Remove and either serve or pack it away for the rink.

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Bulgogi Quiche in a Ramen Crust

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Kalbi BBQ with Ramen Crust
Bulgogi with Ramen Crust

Bulgogi, or Korean BBQ Beef, is one of my favorite spiced meat dishes.  Traditionally made from thinly sliced rib-eye steak usually cut at a Korean market, this can also be made by thin slicing regular rib-eye or sirloin across the grain.  You can also increase the amount of red pepper flakes to easily bring the heat.  Works best as a Frittata or upgrade to the Ramen Crust from the previous recipe.  However, if you go Frittata style I recommend adding 1/2 cup of steamed rice to each pie.

Serves: 16 – 22 (2 Quiches)

Ingredients

  • 1 – 1/2 lbs. thinly sliced Rib-Eye or Sirloin Steak
  • 1/4 medium Yellow Onion
  • 4 Green Onions, finely sliced
  • Base Quiche Mix
  • 4 extra Eggs
  • 1/4 pint of Half and Half, extra
  • 2 Ramen Crusts (optional)

Marinade

  • 1/2 cup Soy Sauce
  • 4 Tbsp Brown Sugar
  • 4 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
  • 3 Tbsp toasted Sesame Seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Crusted Red Pepper
  • 1/4 tsp ground Black Pepper

Preparation

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients for the marinade and whisk until fully mixed.  If you haven’t been able to get your beef thin sliced from the store, you can take a regular US style cut and place it in the freezer for about 45 minutes.  Then take it out and slice it across the grain into slices that are less than 1/4 inch.

When all of the marinade is fully mixed and you’ve got the beef fully sliced, add the sliced beef and both kinds of onions into the bowl.  Using your hands, massage the marinade into the each slice of the beef.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour.

You can either pan fry this or grill it over an open flame.  To pan fry, use a skillet over high heat with some Sesame Oil and place the slices in a single layer on the pan.  Fry each side until cooked with a little dark brown and crispy bit on each side.  If grilling, get the grill to about 400 deg, and spread each slice on the grill for no more than 4 minutes per side.  Again try to get some good dark brown caramelized spots on each side. When all done, allow to rest at room temperature for at least 5 minutes, before continuing.  Brush lightly with the remaining marinade and refrigerate until final assembly.

While your cooking the meat, take the remaining onions out of the marinade and just flash grill them.  Just enough to get some char mark on them, but not enough to soften them.  You can either store these separately or combine with the meat for storage until final assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Get your prepared crusts, and prepare your base quiche mixture, adding to it the extra Eggs, Half and Half, and 1/4 cup of the remains of the marinate.  Take the meat and onions, reserving a about 1/4 cup of the green onions, and spread out in the crusts equally.  After the quiche mixture is fully whipped, gently pour this over the meat and onion.  Sprinkle over the top the reserved green onions.  Cook in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes or until the top is a golden brown and you can stick a toothpick in the middle and it come out dry.

Remove and either serve or pack up for the trip to the rink.

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Ramen Noodle Crust

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Ramein Crust
Ramen Crust

Here we are adding a new crust to our library.  They make all kinds of things out of these noodles that almost all of us have had at one point in our lives.  Usually, while we were young.  This is something that I’ve been trying to figure out for a while and I’ve finally cracked it.  And it was so simple.

This crust will go great with any quiche that your trying to make that uses an Asian inspired filling.  An upcoming post will feature this as the crust, so stay tuned.

Makes 2 Crusts

Ingredients

  • 2 packages of your favorite Ramen Noodles
  • 2 Eggs
  • 4 Pie Pans
  • 2 tsp Coconut Oil

Preparation

Prepare just the Ramen Noodles by the directions on the package.  Just make sure you don’t use the flavor packet yet.  When done strain the water and allow the noodles to cool completely.  Coat the bottom of 2 of the pie pans with Coconut Oil and lightly coat the outside of the remaining 2 pie pans.  You are basically making a release mold to help hold the form while cooking the Noodles.  When you’ve coated these, but them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to fill them.

Place the noodles into a mixing bowl and add the Eggs and optionally the flavor packets and mix everything together gently but thoroughly.  Remove one set of Pie Pans from the refrigerator and fill with half of the Noodles.  Using wet hands, press the Noodles out and up the sides of the bottom pan.  You will only be able to spread this out so much because the Noodles will try to pop back to their original shape.  When you’ve evenly spread them as much as you can, place the outside oiled Pie Pan on top of the Noodles and press down starting in the middle of the pan.  Working to try and get the Noodles tightly compacted and evenly spread out throughout the bottom of the pan.  When complete, place this back in the refrigerator and repeat for the other pie pan.  Get the other pair of pans out and repeat.  Keep these in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  It is also a good idea to stack them and put some kind of weight on them to keep everything together while cooling.

After the pans have been cooled for at least 25 minutes, preheat your oven to 400 degrees. When the oven is ready, put the pans in on the middle shelf.  If you’ve got pie weights, use them, but they are not absolutely necessary.  Bake for 15 minutes, and remove the top pans.  Bake another 5 minutes and then you can remove them and allow them to cool.  Refrigerate if your not going to use them right away.

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Chicken Pasta and Tomato Quiche

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Chicken Pasta w/ Sun Dried Tomato Quiche
Chicken Pasta w/ Sun Dried Tomato Quiche

Last week we made a Lasagna Quiche which was primarily made to be easy to make and help recover after a hard skate.  Since not everyone likes beef or pork, here is one that uses chicken for the main ingredient.  This one got topped with a little Prosciutto for fun but that is optional.

Serves: 16 – 22 (2 Quiches)

Ingredients

  • 4 Chicken Breasts
  • 1 cup Bow tie Pasta
  • 6 tsp Olive Oil
  • 2 tsp Ground Pepper
  • 1 tsp Sea Salt
  • 4 cloves Garlic, minced
  • 4 tsp Marjoram, chopped
  • 1/2 cup Red Wine
  • 1 cup Sun Dried Tomatoes (not in oil), chopped
  • 2 pie crusts
  • Base Quiche Mix
  • 2 cups Romano Cheese, shredded
  • 1/2 cup Prosciutto, diced (optional)

Preparation

Prepare the Pasta according to the instructions on the package, or alternatively you can prepare this in a skillet with just enough salted water to cover the pasta, at a boil until the pasta is soft but firm.  Remove from the water and strain.  In this case, return the pasta back to the warm skillet and mix in 2 tsp of Olive Oil to coat all the pasta.  Remove from the skillet and put in a container and refrigerate until final assembly.

Pound out the Chicken Breasts until they are no thicker than 1/2 inch.  Coat each side with Olive Oil and season each side with Salt, Pepper, 2 cloves minced Garlic and a light sprinkle of about 1/2 of the Marjoram.  In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the chicken breast to a golden brown on the outside.  This should take 4 – 6 minutes per side.  Be careful not to cook too long, the chicken will get tough.  We want this to be browned and still juice in the middle.  Set aside and allow to cool.  Refrigerate in a container until ready for final assembly.

In a small pot, over medium-high heat, combine the Red Wine and the Sun Dried Tomatoes with the remaining Garlic, Marjoram and 1 or 2 tsp Olive Oil and bring to a slow boil, stirring occasionally.  Continue to cook for 3 – 5 minutes at the slow boil.  Remove from heat and allow to cool in a container before refrigerating this tomato sauce until final assembly.

Final Assembly and Cooking

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Take the refrigerated chicken and dice into 1/2 inch chunks.  Then in a large mixing bowl combine and thoroughly mix the pasta and chicken.  Then transfer equal amounts to each of the prepared pie crusts.

Prepare the Base Quiche Mix and into that add the tomato sauce and mix completely.  Pour this equally over the chicken and pasta in the pie crusts.  Top that equally with the Romano Cheese and Prosciutto (optional).

Place the quiches in the oven and cook for 30 – 40 minutes, checking after 30 minutes to make sure the cheese doesn’t get too brown.  The top should be just turning golden brown when ready to come out.  Either serve hot or pack up and head to the rink.