This has been a staple at our Christmas Eve supper for many years. A cherished and passed down recipe.
This recipe comes from our contributing editor, Andrew Chase, who developed it for his vegetarian friends. But it's so delicious that his nonvegetarian friends love it too.
Savoury-sweet with a little kick of heat, this chunky ketchup makes an ideal mate for tourtiere – vegetarian or otherwise.
This English-style game pie has a rich holiday flavour that is a lovely change from tourtière. Look for fresh rabbit at many grocery and specialty stores.
All this rustic pie needs to accompany it is a crisp green salad and your favourite chili sauce, relish or pickle. It offers a delicious change from tourtiere.
Instead of a traditional tourtiere, this year I'm serving a puff pastry-topped pie that's especially festive with tiny onions and chestnuts. For variety you can replace the chicken with pork or veal. To use canned chestnuts instead of the fresh, add these already-cooked nuts when adding the mushroom mixture.
Though the name gooseberry comes from the fact that the berries were commonly used as a sauce for roast goose, this tart, seedy relish would also make a wonderful accompaniment to roast pork or tourtière. This is an old favourite from Summer Berries by Elizabeth Baird (James Lorimer & Company Ltd., 2002), part of the Great Canadian Recipes series.
Come winter or late fall, there is nothing like sharing a savoury meat pie from Abitibi with family and friends. Commonly called tourtière, cipaille or tourte, there seem to be as many recipes as there are amateur of this hearty fare. The tourte, the bird that gave it its name, is unfortunately extinct, but the tradition of this delectable, easy to prepare in advance dish, is very much alive. Deer, caribou, moose, bear, boar and especially hare make it a very special treat. The fortunate cook, who has hunters in the family or generous friends to donate a little game, is blessed. Even more, if they are willing to help deboning and dicing the meat. However, it can also be prepared with farm raised deer, caribou, boar, rabbit and adding shoulder or loin of pork, as some game is very lean. The important thing to remember is (that the recipe calls for) half part game, preferably a variety of three different kinds, to half part diced potatoes. With some home-made tomato ketchup and a nice green sassy salad, like chicory with old style mustard and cider vinegar dressing, the hostess can sit back and enjoy the hunters' long tales.
