Nanny Trudel’s Tourtiere – By Aunt Paul & Moi!

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It’s the beginning of November and it is that time of year when I would start planning for the Holidays. As a Canadian, Thanksgiving has already passed but on the American Thanksgiving we Canadians celebrate The Grey Cup – our Football end of season game! Which means FOOD! lol

My Aunt Paul has already begun her Holiday baking. Her Christmas Cakes have already started the “watering” process! Those babies are going to be good and booze-filled! lol

The next items on the baking list – aside from the many different cookies that are filling her freezer as we speak – are our Nanny Trudel’s Tourtiere! I remember having these delicious meat pies every Christmas! Mmmmmmm-mmmmmm! lol

Here is a little history about Tourtiere…

Tourtière is a double-crusted meat pie that is likely named for a shallow pie dish still used for cooking and serving tourtes (pies) in France. The ground or chopped filling usually includes pork, and is sometimes mixed with other meats, including local game, such as rabbit, pheasant or moose. It is famously served as part of réveillon, a traditional feast enjoyed by Catholics after midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. Tourtière can be a shallow pie that is filled with pork or other meats, or a many-layered pie that is filled with cubed meats and vegetables, which is the way the dish is prepared along the shores of the Saguenay and Lac Saint Jean. (Acadians living in the Maritimes call their version of tourtière by its common name, pâté à viande.)
It is, agreed that by 1611, the word tourtière had come to refer to the pastry containing meat or fish that was cooked in this medium-deep, round or rectangular dish.
There are arguments as well about what variations of the dish are the “original” or “authentic” pies.  Regional variations depend on what foods were available in the area and family recipes have been passed down and altered through the years.
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Aunt Paul take it away…
I’ve made so many of these for my family and when my mom could no longer make them I’d make them for her to put in her freezer.
Mom’s (Marie Jeanne Trudel) Meat Pies
This recipe makes 8 or so pies
  • 3 pounds of ground pork
  • 3 pounds of ground beef
  • 1 pound of ground veal
  • 2 tsp. of salt
  • 1 tsp. of pepper
  • 1 Tbsp. of savoury
  • 3 to 5 cloves of garlic, crushed or grated
  • 2 large onions, diced
  • 1/2 tsp. of ground cloves
  • 4 Tbsp. of flour
  • water

Instructions

  1. Place meat in pot,  add salt, pepper, cloves, onions, and garlic. Cook, drain fat, add water just to cover, cook for 30 minutes then add savoury.
  2. Prepare a jar with 4 tbsp. of flour, add cold water and shake well till smooth.
  3. Add flour mixture to boiling meat. Let thicken. Let cool
  4. Roll out dough, fill pie shells with cooked meat, make top for pie, slit top of dough cook at 350 till golden, about 40 to 50 minutes.
I always cover the crust of the pies with strips of aluminum so they won’t burn.
Yuukadoooo don’t like burned crust Smile with tongue out
I hope you enjoy trying our family’s tourtiere! Happy baking!

8 thoughts on “Nanny Trudel’s Tourtiere – By Aunt Paul & Moi!”

  1. ohhhh Lisa!!!!!!
    Thank you for this!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    What fond memories xoxox
    I remember dozens of these being made in the kitchen with flour everywhere! Remember the ole meat grinder n getting Nanny her cinquante!!!

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