Tourtière with Cranberry Brandy Compote

tourtiere_Website

Recipe courtesy of Renee Kohlman, Sweetsugarbean. 

Mushrooms add an earthiness that compliment the savoury herbs and spices in the filling, while bulking up portion sizes.
Ingredients:

Pastry:
5 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 pound (454 grams) lard, cubed
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
cold water

Tourtière Filling:
2 tbsp olive oil
272 grams lean ground beef
272 grams ground pork
½ one large onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
272 grams crimini mushrooms, sliced
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
½ tsp ground sage
pinch allspice
200 grams mashed potatoes, room temperature
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg beaten with a bit of milk for brushing on top

Cranberry Compote:
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
½ cup cane sugar
½ cup apple cider or apple juice
1 oz brandy

Directions:

Pastry:
In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Cut in the lard with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse oatmeal. In a 1 cup measure, beat the egg, add the vinegar and top with ice cold water. Gradually stir this into the flour mixture. Stir only until mixture clings together, being careful not to overwork the dough. Gather into a ball and divide into 6 equal portions. Wrap in plastic, and chill for at least one hour. For this tourtière recipe you will need two portions of dough. You can either freeze remaining portions of dough, or double or triple the tourtière recipe. The choice is yours!of dough, or double or triple the tourtière recipe. The choice is yours!

Tourtière Filling:
In a large skillet, over medium high heat add the olive oil. After 1 minute, add the ground beef, pork, onions, garlic, mushrooms and spices. Cook for about 10 minutes until the meat is browned and most of the liquid has been cooked out of the mushrooms. Reduce heat to low and stir in the mashed potatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Let cool before proceeding to assemble tourtière. This process can be sped up by putting meat mixture in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350*F.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out one disc of pastry. Fit this into a 9 inch pie plate, being sure to let some dough overhang. Place the cooled meat filling inside the pastry. Roll out another disc of dough and place this on top of meat. Trim the edges, pinch shut, and with a sharp knife slice a few steam vents. Add decorative touches such as mushrooms, leaves, etc, with any extra dough if you wish. Beat an egg with a bit of milk and brush this on top of tourtière. Bake for one hour. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting.

Cranberry Compote:
In a medium saucepan, combine all ingredients and simmer over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes, until cranberries pop. This can be made ahead of time and chilled. Serve with tourtière. Additional accompaniments can be ketchup, mustard, or other chutneys and relishes.

Serves 6