Traditional Quebec Meal - Tourtiere, Maple Baked Beans and Maple Syrup Pie

I love Canada. I always have and I have my parents to thank for that! Before I was born they spent 3 years living in Ottawa and as a result we have visited Ottawa many times as well as exploring other places such as Toronto, Niagra, Quebec, Vancouver and the Rocky Mountains. When my parents left Canada, my Mum was given 'The Canadian Living Cookbook' as a leaving present. We have used it for muffins, fudge, cookies but have rarely cooked anything savoury from it...until now! At the front of the book it provides a sample menu from each region of Canada that provides a traditional example of cuisine making it the perfect collection of recipes from which to choose my Canadian recipe.

So, my new meal of the week from Canada was Tourtiere with Maple Baked Beans followed by Tarte au Sirop D'Erable (Maple Syrup Pie)!

During cooking I resisted my instincts to put tomatoes in the beans and gravy in the pie (probably very British things to do!) and followed the recipes. I am so pleased I did! The result was delicious and full of flavour! I adapted the recipe for the baked beans to use tinned beans rather than dry. I also omitted the molasses and brown sugar as I felt that the maple syrup provided enough sweetness for me!

Maple Baked Beans

serves 3
3 x 400g (undrained weight) tins of black eyed beans
1/2 onion, finely chopped
2 rashers of smokey bacon
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/8 cup chilli sauce
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 1/2 apples cut into 1/8ths (I used braeburn but any apple you fancy should be fine!)

1. Add beans, onion, bacon, maple syrup, mustard and chilli sauce to an ovenproof pan and cook on a high heat on the hob for 5-10 minutes until thoroughly heated through
2. Cover and bake in oven at 170C for 1 hour
3. Uncover, lay the apple pieces around the edge of the beans (as in the picture above) and cook for a further 30 minutes.

Tourtiere


serves 3
350g lean pork mince
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried sage
leaves from 1 sprig of Rosemary, roughly chopped
1/2 small bay leaf, crumbled
3/8 cup of water
150g butter
300g plain flour

1. Brown mince in a pan on a medium heat
2. Add onion, garlic, herbs and water
3. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes until most of water has gone but mixture is still moist.
4. Meanwhile make the pastry. Rub together flour and butter until you have a crumbly mixture.
5. Add water to flour until combines to form pastry.
6. Roll out pastry to about 0.5cm thick and line a greased pie dish (mine was about 7" square)
7. Fill the pie shell with the filling and top the pie with rest of pastry. Brush the edges with water and crimp to seal the lid on.
8. Use a knife to make a cross in the middle of the pie.
9. When the baked beans have 1/2 an hour left, put the pie in the oven and cook for 30 minutes until lightly golden.
10. Serve with baked beans.

Tarte au Sirop D'Erable (Maple Syrup Pie)

serves 6
100g plain flour
50g butter
1 cup maple syrup
1/4 plain flour
1/2 cup cold water
2 egg yolks
2 tbsp butter

1. Rub together flour and butter until you have a crumbly mixture
2. Add water to flour mixture until combines to form pastry
3. Roll out to about 0.5cm thick
4. Line a greased pie dish (I used 6 1/2" diameter) with pastry. Prick lightly with a fork
5. Fill pie shell with baking beans and bake at 170C for 20 minutes or until lightly golden (remove baking beans for last 5 minutes to brown the middle
6. Meanwhile to make the filling: beat together water and flour until smooth
7. Pour flour mixture into a pan with maple syrup, stir to combine
8. Add lightly beaten egg yolks and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until thickened (about 7-8 minutes)
9. Pour filling into baked pie shell and cool thoroughly
10. Once cool, place in fridge until ready to eat
11. Enjoy!

Taste - ***
Speed - * - the beans take a long time to cook and its best to make the maple syrup pie in advance to allow to chill
Repeat? - possibly - I am definitely tempted to try some more Canadian recipes from that cookery book!

Love Rebecca

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