Meat Pie

This recipe started out as the best of intentions to make a tourtiere for the site. However, after I started cooking the meat and onions I realized I didn't have any of the spices needed to make a tourtiere. So this is simple a meat pie, or meat tart, really, since I cheated and used some frozen pre-made tarts I found while digging in my freezer.  The meat pies turned out really well - a total winner with the kids!  They all loved them, so these are definite keepers. There are some ... well, herbs and herb blends that I couldn't identify and that I used on the meat, so it's not a cut and dried recipe, but a bit of a creative instruction.  This meat pie or meat tart also fits in with the $35 per week challenge, which is always on my mind if not on my blog.

A special note about the tortiere this was supposed to be: my mom's original recipe does not use beef. She would be appalled to see I used it at all, but I have 100 pounds of ground beef in my freezer, so I'm going to use it any chance I get!! And the spices I've used have nothing at all to do with a real tourtiere, so don't let them be any sort of guide at all.

Meat Pie or Meat tarts
makes one big pie, or two smaller (small foil pans) pies, OR about 20 tarts
about 1 hour to cook
375*

1lb ground beef
1lb ground pork
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp crumbled rosemary
1 1/2 tsp of .. unidentified herb blend, but it may have been Victorian Epicure's Guacamole Seasoning (it had mustard seed in it, that's the best I can say) SO if you don't have this, use any herb blend of your choice, or clean out your remnant herbs and add them in. Definitely parsley was involved, mustard seed, some basil, probably coriander, celery seed if you didn't use the celery salt
1 tsp salt
few cracks of pepper
pastry for 1 deep dish 2-crust pie, OR 2 shallow-dish 2-crust pies OR 20 tart shells (ish)

Heat the tablespoon of oil in a deep saute pan, or saucepan.  Add the onion, and cook until clear (for more flavour you can wander off and really carmelize the onions, but this does take time!). Add in the beef and pork, any and all herbs and seasonings, and brown until fully cooked.  Don't drain off the fat while cooking - according to mom, and she's right, that's where the flavour is and you want to leave it until the end. We'll strain the fat off before adding to the pie.
  
For the pies: If using regular pie shells, just add the meat strained of any 'juices' (read: fat), and cook for about 45 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked.  For the tarts, and you may want to try this with the base shell of the pies, I pre-cooked the tart shells in the oven for 8 minutes, then filled them and finished cooking for another 12 minutes (cooking time for a full pie will be quite a bit longer).  This kept the shells from getting soggy, and it worked out really well.  

Enjoy! I'll make a real tourtiere one of these days.

Comments

[Cold lake alberta restaurants]

Have you ever tried to make your own pie shells? Your meat pies might be even better in a nice flaky shell!

[Megan]

Hi Cold Lake!

You know what - I was being totally lazy by using the store bought pie shells LOL. I almost always make my own pastry, and you're absolutely right that it tastes better. I just happened to be digging in the freezer, and 'found' the tart shells.

Thank you for the suggestion though! And thanks for visiting.
Megan

[Sara]

Absolutely delicious!

I made this last night for my family and I have never, ever seen them eat meat pies that fast!

I have the whole epicure collection, and can't say enough about them! My husbands cholesterol has gone down by 30% in less than two months just by using their spices as opposed to many of the over sodium-ized alternatives. I have also lost about 10 pounds and feel soooo good!

To those of you that don't know,

www.epicureselections.com and you can have them shipped directly to your house!

plus, it's a local Canadian company!

Love it!

Great recipe whats-cooking!

[Megan]

Hi Sara!

Thanks for visiting. I'm glad your family enjoyed the meat pies - my guys gobbled them up too, so I knew the recipe was a keeper.

I LOVE the Victorian Epicure herbs and spices. I'll have to post some of my favourites using them, especially the dip mixes in weird and wonderful ways.

Tell your husband to keep up the good work with his cholesterol!!

Megan

[Irma]

Megan, thank you for your witty honesty about the spices and tart shells!
I also started out with genuine intentions of making a real tourtiere... but the pre-made tart shells were too tempting to pass up on... especially when I have another 13 finger foods to make! I've never used pre-made shells before, so I googled "how to use pre made shells for meat pies" lol.
:)
Your post reassured me that it's okay to use them :)

Thanks again!
Irma.