Every Christmas, Quebec is gilded with lights and carpeted with snow. Families gather to celebrate with holiday foods, such as the traditional Québécois meat pie, the tourtière. This simpler, bite-sized version of the dish can be made and frozen in advance and then cooked from frozen, making it an easy addition to any holiday menu.
Ingredients
Directions
FOR THE TOURTIÈRE TURNOVERS
- Cook the potato in boiling salted water until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove, mash and set aside, reserving ¼ of the potato water. Bring the reserved potato water to a boil.
- Heat a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the pork and beef mix, bacon, onion, celery, garlic, thyme, sage, cinnamon and cloves, breaking up the ground meat with a spoon. Add the reserved potato water and bring to a simmer. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until meat is no longer pink and liquid has reduced by half, about 45 minutes. Stir in the potato, parsley, salt and pepper to taste and more of the other seasonings if desired. Let chill.
- Cut each puff pastry sheet into 12 even squares and brush with egg (reserving remaining egg in the refrigerator). Place a heaping teaspoon of beef mixture in the center of each square. Fold the pastry over to enclose the filling and form a triangle. Seal the edges by pressing all around with the floured tines of a fork. (Turnovers can be prepared ahead to this point and refrigerated overnight. Or freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw before baking.)
- To serve, arrange turnovers on a baking sheet and brush with reserved egg. Bake in the center of a 400-degree oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Serve hot.
FOR THE CRANBERRY MUSTARD
- In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring all the ingredients to a low boil, lower the heat and simmer until the cranberries are soft and tender and the liquid is reduced by half.
- Remove from the stove. Serve with the turnovers, or store up to a week in the refrigerator.
