A Christmas Tradition- Tourtiere

 Tourtieres

To make approximately 6 large pies (1.13 lbs of meat per pie)

5 lbs     ground beef, préfèrably medium, or lean (better)

7 lbs.    ground pork

6 med   carrots, peeled and grated

12 med. potatoes, peeled and grated

12 med. onions, peeled and grated

1 tsp       ground cloves

2 cloves    garlic, peeled and mashed (optional)

Salt        to taste

1 tbsp    dried thyme

1 tbsp    dried savoury

Pepper    to taste

Directions:

Mix the ground meats and place in a large pot to cook.  Add about one cup of water, to keep the meat from sticking at the beginning of the cook.  Cook on medium heat until it is almost cooked through and keep stirring to prevent sticking to the bottom.  Lower the heat, add the grated vegetables and stir them into the meat.  Add the salt, pepper, garlic, cloves and the herbs and stir.  Let the meat simmer for about an hour.  Taste to adjust the seasoning.

Make your pie dough while the meat is cooking.  Follow the directions on the Tenderflake package.  One package will make three tourtieres.  

Grape Jam- it’s not jelly!

I am well acquainted with grape jelly.  It’s my favourite fall treat and so easy to make, especially with a steam juicer which saves hours of work.  This year, I was determined to make grape jam.  But i was not prepared to spend hours « peeling » grapes.  I was very pleased to find a recipe for roasted seedless grape jam on the Food in Jars website- thank you Alex Jones!

Two varieties of grapes were combined to make the jam: beautiful blue Concord grapes and champagne « like » grapes.  Actually, any two or three types of grapes can be combined- I think they add depth of flavour to the mix.  As long as they are seedless…

This recipe makes 6 x 250 ml jars.

Ingredients

3 lbs        seedless red grapes (or 1/2 red and 1/2 another grape) after picking through

1/4 cup    honey

2 cups     sugar

1/2          Lemon, juiced (2 tbsp bottled lemon juice)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Wash, pick over and stem the grapes.  Toss the grapes with the honey and spread them in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Roast for 25-30 minutes, until the grapes begin to give up their juice and the skins wrinkle.

Once cool enough to handle, put the grapes into a large measuring cup and blend with a stick blender to your desired consistency.  Mine is relatively smooth, with a few chunky bits.  You should have about 4 cups of grape purée.

Place the purée, sugar, and lemon juice in a heavy-bottomed pot.  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cook, stirring frequently, until the jam passes the plate test or reaches 220 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

Remove the jam from the heat and let it sit a few minutes.  Skim off any foam from the top of the jam.  Funnel into prepared canning jars.  Wipe the rims, apply the lids and bands and process in a steam canner for 10 minutes.  At the 10 minute mark, turn off the stove, remove the lid carefully and let the jars sit for approximately 15 minutes.  Remove from the canner and let the jars sit for 24 hours before labelling, cleaning and checking the seals.

Enjoy!

Tomato Soup Concentrate

 This is a recipe from Marisa McClennan.  It is intended for making tomato soup- just add milk and heat up but I use it as a thick tomato sauce to add to my vegetable soups, pot roasts, etc.

Makes 5 litre jars

Ingredients:

15 lbs    tomatoes

2 cups     diced onions

2 tbsps    granulated garlic

1 tbsp    dried Italian seasoning

1 tbsp    salt, plus more to taste

2 1/2 tsps    citric acid

Directions:

Wash the tomatoes and cut them into quarters.   Heap the chopped tomatoes into a large pot and add the diced onions.

Add about a cup of water to the bottom of the pot to prevent scorching.  Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil.

Cook, stirring occasionally for about an hour, until the tomatoes have lost their structural integrity and the pot contains nothing but super saucy tomatoes.

Remove the pot from the stove.  Fit the food mill with its finest screen and position over a large heatproof bowl.

Working in batches, start pushing the cooked tomatoes and onions through the food mill.  You will probably need to stop three or four times to empty out the bowl into a clean pot.

Once all the tomatoes are milled, add the granulated garlic and Italian seasoning.  Set the pot on the stove and bring to a low boil.

Cook for one to three hours, until the soup concentrate has reduced by at least 1/3 and hopefully a bit more.

When you are pleased with the consistency, stir in the salt.  Begin with a tablespoon. Taste and add more as needed.

Divide the citric acid between five one liter jars.  Funnel the finished soup concentrate into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.

Wipe the rims, apply the lids and rings, process in a boiling water bath for 45 minutes.  When the time is up, remove the jars and set them on a folded kitchen towel.  Let sit overnight.