Bison & Pork Tourtiere

Recipe by, Goose & Gander Kitchen – Caledon

INGREDIENTS

PASTRY

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup ice cold water
• 1 cup cold unsalted butter
• 1 tsp kosher salt

FILLING

• 1 lb Thunder Ridge ground bison meat
• 1 lb lean ground pork
• 2 medium-sized yellow or white flesh potatoes, peeled
• 1 large onion
• 1 cup beef, bison or chicken stock
• 5 cloves minced garlic
• 1 tbsp Savory
• 1 tsp Ground cloves
• 1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
• 1 tsp Sage
• 1 tsp Thyme
• 1 tsp Celery Salt
• 1 tsp Season with salt and pepper

EGG WASH

• 2 large beaten eggs

DIRECTIONS

BUTTER CRUST:

1. Cut chilled butter into small diced cubes, and put back into fridge to stay cold.
2. In a food processor or large bowl, measure out flour and salt.
3. Either using a pastry cutter or the pulse setting on the food processor, cut butter in until the pieces of butter are no bigger than the size of a pea.
4. Slowly add ice water and either pulse or hand mix until a shaggy dough starts to form. Add a bit more water until you can gather all of the pastry into a ball, but without it being too sticky and wet.
5. Cut the dough ball into 2 equal pieces, shape into discs, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate until your filling is cold and ready.
6. Roll out on lightly floured surface to about ¼ inch thick – the dough will be stiff at first, and may crack, but shore up the edges and continue rolling.

FILLING:

1. Start by adding a tablespoon of cooking oil to a large skillet, and turn the heat to medium. Once pan is hot, but not smoking, add the onion and garlic and stir until fragrant (about 4 minutes).
2. Next, crumble in the ground bison and pork along with seasonings and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add in the stock and scrape down the sides to mix all the flavors together. Simmer on medium-low heat until the liquid has just evaporated, roughly 30 minutes.
3. Using a box grater (cheese grater), grate your potatoes into the mixture, stir until mixed, and remove from heat. Let cool for 1 hour, or overnight in the fridge.
4. Once rolled out, gently place one piece of dough over the pie plate and spoon in your filling, fill to the top and press down with a ladle till compact. This will be one heavy pie!
5. For the egg wash, simply beat two eggs in a bowl vigorously until combined. Have a pastry brush ready.
6. With some egg wash, brush the outside of the oval crust to ensure that the lid sticks together during cooking.
7. Next, put the pie crust overtop and using kitchen scissors, cut around the outside edges to remove the excess dough and with your fingers pinch all around the crust to ensure its closed. Finish by brushing the entire top of the pie with remaining egg wash and with a knife make two cuts along the top to allow for ventilation while cooking.
8. Bake at 375 degrees F for 45 minutes till golden brown.

TIP: Ball up your trimmed crust and re-roll it to ¼ inch thick – cookie cutters are a great way to create fun piggy or holiday shapes to decorate the top of your pie!