Tourtiere
A French-Canadian tradition, Tourtiere is simply a savory meat pie. While neither I nor my husband or any of our families are French or Canadian, living in Maine, we are pretty close to Canadian. If you read this blog with any regularity or know me personally, you know that I love to cook/bake and new recipes are my thing. I love to try new things. We both know several families that cook up this delicious dish each Christmas and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I set out to find and make our own Tourtire!
Some Tourtiere History I have found online:
A tourtière is a meat pie originating from Quebec, usually made with ground pork and/or veal, or beef. It is a traditional part of the Christmas and/or Christmas Eve réveillon and New Year's Eve meal in Quebec, but is also enjoyed and sold in grocery stores all year long
While every region claims to be the birthplace of "real" meat pie, which is traditionally served with a tomato ketchup, the English regime also played a part in its history. Tourtière would come to be known as "Pâté à l'angloise," the red devil's delight, served with a sweet and sour condiment of vegetables and fruit.
Lots of debate, should potatoes be added, and if so, in what proportion? Should they be raw or cooked?
Should it made from beef, pork, veal, game or what is the best combination?
Should the meat be ground or cubed?
And the spices… apart from salt and pepper, should you add cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, even sage or thyme?
Some varieties add mushrooms, and there are even vegetarian versions available.
All versions call for a savory spiced filling in a double crust served warm, at room temperature or cold. There are old family recipes that have been passed down generation to generation, and there are folks like me that have found a few recipes and adapted it to her own liking.
This is the recipe I choose.
Tourtiere
Ingredients:
2 T. Butter
2 T. Olive Oil
1 pound lean ground pork
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 C. chicken Broth
1 1/2 t.salt
1/2 t. dried thyme, crushed
1/4 t. ground sage
1/4 t. ground black pepper
1/8 t. ground cloves (I did not have ground cloves in the pantry! I added about 1/4 t. Allspice for some Holiday flavor)
Your favorite pie crust recipe for a 9 inch double crust pie ~ OR store bought crust.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
In a large saute pan, over medium heat, melt butter and add olive oil, heat to combine. Add onions and saute untill soft. Add garlic and cook only about 1 minute.
Add and combine pork, beef, chicken broth, salt, thyme, sage, black pepper and cloves.
Cook over medium heat until beef and pork is no longer pink and cooked through, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to low and simmer until meat is completly cooked, about 5-7 minutes.
Spoon the meat mixture into the pie crust. Place top crust on top of pie and pinch edges to seal. Cut slits in top crust so steam can escape. Cover edges of pie with strips of aluminum foil.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
Remove foil and return to oven. Bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes until crust is golden brown. Let cool 10 minutes before slicing.
Have you heard of the 3/50 project? 
some new recipes from The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl
as well as attended a great neighborhood party and walked away with an awesome Yankee Swap gift, a Wine Bottle Pepper Mill! You can find it here: Marlux 9-3/4-Inch Red Wine Bottle Pepper Mill
. I have another party tonight, a Pot Luck/Yankee Swap at the bakery where I work. Hoping that maybe I come home with something like this Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients
, or this And Winter Came
(by Enya) or I would even take this Twilight (Two-Disc Special Edition)
! What fun we have at our Yankee swap, 
Hand dyed Alpaca yarns in shades that will make you want to learn how to knit!
My friend Jeanette's dehydrated vegan raw granola! It is sooo good. She uses all super fantastic ingredients, organic and fresh. She offers samples too....
Super chubby and short carrots! Too cute and soo orange!
Cranberry plants! That's right, buy and plant your own Cranberry plants and maybe you will someday be in competition with Ocean Spray!
Beautiful wood scarf/shawl/wrap holder. Simply artfully wrap yourself in your hand knit shawl and secure it in place with this gorgeous all wood "pin"! How clever!
Yummy red skinned onions from Jillson's Farm.
Crisp , fresh and beautifully green heads of cabbage. 
(Oh! And that above is a glimpse of my new soap labels! Everyone is loving them!)
You should really try to make these biscuits. I mean it. They are just way too good to not make. With just a little work on your part, fresh herbs (they make all the difference) and your food processor, you can have these delicious melt in your mouth, tangy cheese, slightly crumbly, melt in your mouth (did I already say that?) biscuits. I paired them with a potato soup last Wednesday night. My husband requested that these be put at the top of list of most awesome things I cook/bake.
This is the Falmouth Winter Market that I participate in on Wednesdays from 10-2. You can see that we are inside a clear plastic greenhouse. It is pretty toasty on a sunny day. Today was drizzling and the sun was not out, that made for a little colder day. 
This is Cordelia, she has a booth to my left. She is a farmer and owns New Elm Farm. She sells veggies during the summer, but will be spinning and knitting her OWN fleece this winter. She spins at market, and it is quite an attraction. Many people stop to talk with her about it.
This is a typical "hoop" style greenhouse that farmers will use to grow greens and more during the cold winter months.
Starting your Holiday shopping? Consider purchasing local and handmade this year. By supporting your local businesses, your are keeping your hard earned dollar within the community you live. In turn, those business owners generally keep their profits and spending in the community as well.
A few booths down, these gals were selling handmade cheeses. They also had a cheese they called "frying cheese" and they fried it up in a little pan for customers to try. It smelled great! Imagine, creamy, fresh cheese and NOW it is fried! That couldn't have many calories, could it?!
This is peeking through the booth directly behind me. A flute player, a fiddler and a guitar. They played great foot stomping Celtic type music. They play for tips and what is cute about the market, is sometimes musician like this end up with not just dollar bills, but bags of fresh lettuce, carrots, a jar of jam, bar of soap...fun donations from vendors too.
Beautiful wood bowls and other little items, made from reclaimed wood.
Across the way a bit, these beautiful sweaters created with the colorful hand dyed yarns. Behind that woman on the left, in the blue, is baskets of beautiful colored yarns. And check out their display for the knit sweaters... they are hanging in the back right of the photo with dowels through the sleeves to show the maximum sweater.
Looking down the aisle from my table. This is a big old mill on the river here in Brunswick. A lot of the spaces have been converted into large rooms like this. Large windows overlook the river, there are original wood floors and lots of charm.
Around the corner, fresh seasonal produce. 
Directly across from me....local roasted coffee beans sold by the pound and they will even grind the beans for you, if you wish. They also sell cups of coffee, little cookies and few other baked goods. It smells fantastic!
