French canadian saguenay tourtiere

12 servings

Ingredients

Quantity Ingredient
1½ pounds Stewing beef, cut in 1-1/2 inch cubes
1½ pounds Shoulder or pork, cut in 1-1/2 inch cubes
3½ pounds Chicken, boned and cut in bite sized pieces
2 larges Onions, chopped (about 2 cups)
4 pounds Potaotes, peeled and cut in 1 inch cubes (about 8 cups)
5 teaspoons Salt
Suet pastry
Boiling water

Directions

Trim excess fat from beef and pork. Combine all meat, onions and potatoes in a large bowl. Mix well. Cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Sprinkle salt and pepper over meat mixture when you are ready to complete the pie. Mix well. Heat oven to 325F. Line bottom and sides of a 10 inch black iron dutch oven or heavy casserole, with a tight lid, with suet pastry rolled a little less than ¼ inch thick. Whatever you use must be about a 5 quart capacity and have a tight fitting lid. (I find the easiest way to line the pot is to roll a round to fit the bottom with a little to turn up the sides, then to roll 3 strips 5 inches wide and fit them around the sides, one at a time, sealing them to the bottom crust and to each other firmly.) Pile in the meat mixture (it should just fill the pot - if there is a little too much for your pot, discard a few of the potato pieces.) Roll a round of pastry a little larger than the top of the pot. Cut a large vent in the pastry. Add boiling water to the meat mixture just until you can see it (keep the water below the top of the mixture or it is sure to boil over.) Lay round of pastry on top of pie and seal it well by turning it under the crust that comes up the sides and pressing to the sides of the pot. Put lid in place (It should press into the thick edge of pastry so it is sealed tightly to the bottom of the pot.) Bake 4 hours. Remove lid of pot and if top crust isn't well browned let it bake a few minutes uncovered. (Removing lid is not easy as it sounds. It is so well sealed that it takes a little patient prodding to get it loose. First cut all around where the lid and bottom of pot join, then start lifting carefully, slipping a knife up the edge of the lid to be sure that pastry is loose all the way around. The pie stays hot for a long time so you don't have to leave this job until the last minute) Serve by large spoonfuls make sure that everyone gets some of the bottom crust. Serves 10-12. **NOTE** This pie was originally made with wild birds and game. If you have some partridge and/or venison in your freezer, use it in place of some of the meat we call for. It is a very filling pie and I find it serves 12. Origin: Yvonne Snushall Shared by: Sharon Stevens Submitted By SHARON STEVENS On 10-06-95

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