12 Days Of Christmas Day 7

Lindsay's Recipe for Tortiere

Crust
2.5 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup shortening (chilled)
6 or 7 tablespoons of water

Mix dry ingredients -- cut in shortening. Mix with a fork, adding water a little at a time until you get pea sized pieces of dough. Don't mix with your hands because this will add more oil to the crust and make it hard as a rock.

Divide crust into 2 balls and put in the fridge while you make the filling. If you're making the filling later later then wrap the crust in tin foil, or at least cover it so it doesn't dry out.


Delicious Delicious Meat filling
1.5 lbs of pork/veal/beef (any combo you choose -- I usually do a mix of all 3)
1 med. onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove finely chopped
1 medium sized potato diced or grated
(also can add peas and carrots -- if you want to ruin your pie)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1/4 tsp. ground sage
1/4 tsp. ground pepper

Directions? Fry it all. You'll soon see that you don't need to add any oil because pork is greasy greasy! Make sure you pour off access fat. I ended up with 2 cups of rendered pork fat. YUM!

When you're ready to roll out the dough. Take it out of the fridge and place the ball between two sheets of waxed paper. Roll it out and put it flat in the fridge or freezer. Do the same with the other ball o' dough. If the flat waxed paper/dough sandwich is sufficiently cooled you can now peel the waxed paper right off. Line the pie plate with dough -- pour in delicious meat, cover with other sheet of dough. If you're cooking the pie right away, cut some slits in it. If you're putting it back in the freezer, don't cut any slits in it and cover it with tin foil. When its time to cook it take it out, cut slits, and cook. The inside of the pie is already fully cooked so it doesn't take long to bake it. Just until the inside is hot, and the outside is golden. If the outside is golden the inside will be hot -- don't put your hand in the pie to test it. You'll burn yourself.