Tortiere, traditional and updated, and cranberry ketchup

Tortiere – Sophie’s Grandmother’s Traditional Recipe

  • 1 pie crust for a double-crust pie
  • 1 lb mince pork or half pork and half beef
  • 1 small onion chopped fine
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • ½ tsp savory
  • ¼ tsp cloves
  • ½ tsp herb de Provence
  • Dash nutmeg
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp honey
  • ½ cup beef broth water
  • 1 slice bread (preferably brown)

Preheat oven to 375º.

Prepare pie crust. Brown meat adding all ingredients except bread. Mix thoroughly, reduce heat to low and boil for 30 minutes. Remove from heat and add crumbled bread, mashing it into the mixture. Tilt pan and cool 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, spoon into pie crust. Cover with second crust and make air vents. Brush top of pie with a mixture of egg and a little milk. Crimp the edges of the pie with a fork.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. If crust get too dark, lower heat to 350º and cover with foil.

Apple Nut Tortiere – Modern update. We have tasted both and can’t decide. Traditional reminds Vicki of her grandmother’s recipe used in the early 1900’s when she was a cook in a lumber camp. This modern version has the fresh taste of apple. It could be evolution. You decide.

  • Pie crust for a double crust pie
  • 1 lb lean ground pork
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1 cup apple, chopped
  • ½ cup croutons
  • ½ cup beef broth
  • 1 tsp thyme, crushed
  • ½ tsp rosemary, crushed
  • ½ tsp savory
  • ½ tsp salt¼ tsp pepper

Brown meat, adding all ingredients except apple and croutons. Boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Remove from heat. Add apple and croutons. Let stand five minutes.

Spoon meat into prepared pie shell. Cover with  top crust. Crimp edges shut with a fork. Make air vents. Brush top of pie with an egg and milk mixture. bake at 375º for 40 minutes.

Herbs de Provence

  • 2 tablespoons dried rosemary
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seed
  • 2 tablespoons dried savory
  • 2 tablespoons dried thyme
  • 2 tablespoons dried basil
  • 2 tablespoons dried marjoram
  • 2 tablespoons dried lavender flowers
  • 2 tablespoons dried Italian parsley
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon dried tarragon
  • 1 teaspoon bay powder

A Note from Vicki

When we were testing our Tortiere recipes, going back through old family recipe books, I heard a cooking show with a chef from the Province of Quebec. He said his French family preferred Cranberry Ketchup with their pie. As a child in my grandmother’s home, I was taught to peel back the crust of the pie and put tomato ketchup on the bubbling hot filling, then pull the crust back on and eat it with gusto. As a child I loved the cold ketchup on the very hot pie but when I heard about cranberry ketchup I was intrigued.

Today we think of ketchup/catsup as a sweet and sour sauce made with tomatoes but earlier recipes used many other ingredients to make their ketchup other garden vegetables or mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, walnuts. It was easy to make with frozen cranberries and was delicious, spicy, sweet with a wonderful texture. It paired very well the Tortiere. I encourage you to try it. Here is a link to the recipe I used.