TOURTIERE MEAT PIE

Heres is a recipe for tourtiere. Ingredients are for 12 persons as Tourtière
is well adapted for a large number of guests.

For the stuffing : 450 gr [1 lb] beef meat / 450 gr [1 lb] veal meat /
450 gr [1 lb] pork meat / 450 gr [1 lb] salted bacon / 450 gr [1 lb] onions /
2 kgs [4.5 lbs] potatoes / spices, salt & pepper (meats can be "switched").
For the pastry : 900 gr [2 lbs] flour / 200 gr [7 oz] margarine / 1 egg /
20 cl [7 fl oz] water / 1 tspoon salt / 1 tspoon baking powder.
For the decoration : 1 egg yolk + 2 Tbspoons milk

Method :

1- The day before :
- Prepare the pastry : mix together the flour, salt and baking powder ;
slowly incorporate the margarine, the beaten egg and then, little by little,
the water. The dough should form a ball and it should not get sticky.
Always work on a little extra flour and stop adding water if the dough
gets sticky. Put the dough in a bowl, cover it with a clean sheet and
keep in fridge till the day after.
- Peel the onion ; dice the meats and bacon in small cubes, as well as
the onions. Add you favorite spices (thyme, clove, bay leaves, sage etc…),
salt and pepper ; mix well and leave in fridge for the night.
- Peel and cube the potatoes, cover them with cold water ;
leave for the night.

2- The day of your dinner :
- Roll out the pastry in order to obtain 2 big and thick disks ; one should
be larger than the other.
Line the bottom of a buttered casserole (oven type) with the largest and
leave some pastry hang over the edge.
- Mix the meat with the potatoes and their water (you can choose to
ground the meat before, but it is not necessary) ; adjust seasoning and
display the whole in the casserole.
- Beat the egg yolk with the milk. Display the second pastry disk on the
meat and seal the 2 pastry disks together (help with a little of the egg
and milk mixture). Brush the top pastry with the egg + milk mixture.
Make a whole in the center of the pastry to let the steam get out during
cooking.
- Bake in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes at 210°C / 410°F then cover
with aluminum paper and bake for another 5 hours at 150°C / 300°F.
Turn the oven off, remove the paper and leave in oven for 1 hour.
- Serve with a lettuce or a tomato salad.

NB : this dish can be easily re-heated or even frozen.