Meat Pie (Québec Tourtière au Cidre de Pommes)

This French Canadian classic gets holiday flair from apple cider and warming spices. Tourtière might be the most iconic of Canadian dishes. Every Franco-Canadian family has its own recipe, whether they live in Québec, Acadia, Ontario, or even New England. Tourtière is almost always part of the Christmas or New Year's dinner. The word "tourtière" is a generic term for pâté en croute. The traditional meat pie usually includes ground pork, veal or beef, and potatoes. That said, there is a wide variety of tourtières. Some include wild game, or even fish.

Pastry:
2½ cups all-purpose flour, unbleached
1 tsp. dry mustard powder
½ tsp. lemon zest
½ tsp. kosher salt
16 Tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
1 lemon, freshly squeezed
7 Tbsp. water, ice cold
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tsp. water, for glaze

Filling:
1½ cups russet potatoes, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. Canola oil
1½ lb. ground pork
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 small yellow onions, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
½ cup apple cider
½ tsp. celery seed
½ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
2 bay leaves
kosher or sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground

Make the Pastry:
Whisk together flour, mustard, zest, and salt in bowl. Add butter, and using your fingers, rub mixture until pea-size crumbles form. Add juice and ice cold water. Stir with a fork until dough just comes together.

Transfer to a work surface, and form into a ball, halve, and form each half into a disk. Wrap disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Make the Filling:
Bring a 4 qt saucepan of water to a boil, add potatoes, and cook until tender, about 6 minutes. Drain, and mash until smooth, set aside. Heat oil in a 4 qt saucepan over medium-high heat. Add pork, and cook, stirring, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, onions, and carrot, and cook, stirring, until soft and pork is well browned, about 20 minutes. Add cider, celery seed, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, bay leaves, and pepper, and cook until all liquid is evaporated, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in mashed potatoes, let filling cool completely.

Preheat an oven to 400°F (200°C/180°C fan, Gas Mark 6).

Assembly:
Place 1 dough disk on a lightly floured work surface, and using a rolling pin, roll until ¼" thick.

Transfer to a 9" pie dish, and let excess hang over edge, pour filling into pie dish, and smooth top. Roll remaining dough disk until ¼" thick, and place over filling. Trim dough sheets to within 1" of edge of pie dish, fold edge underneath itself, and crimp with your fingers or a fork, if you like.

Brush with egg wash, and using a paring knife, cut four 2" slits on the top of the pie.

Bake until pastry is golden brown and filling is heated through, about 50 minutes.

Let cool for 10 minutes before slicing.

Makes 8 servings.