Café Henry Burger Elk Tourtiere

Ingredients

Makes one 10-inch pie

• 450g ground elk (15oz)
• 500g ground pork (1lb)
• 125 mL onion chopped (½ c)
• 125 mL celery chopped (½ c)
• 25 mL garlic chopped (2 Tbls)
• 250 mL beef stock (1 c)
• Pinch each of dried ground cloves, nutmeg & mace
• Sprig of fresh thyme
• 1 small bay leaf
• 125mL rolled oats (½ c)
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. In large, heavy frying pan or Dutch oven, sauté meats on high heat to brown well. Add onion, celery, garlic, and sauté until soft. Add red wine to deglaze the pan and reduce completely, until virtually no liquid remains.
2. Add stock, dried cloves, nutmeg, mace, fresh thyme, bay leaf, and simmer ½ hour. Stir in rolled oats; simmer 15 min. Remove thyme sprig and bay leaf. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Place cooked meat mixture in a glass, plastic, or non-reactive container, cover, and refrigerate overnight or until firm.
4. Prepare basic pastry recipe or puff pastry if you prefer. Prepare egg wash by whisking egg and water together with a fork. Roll out pastry 5mm (¼") thick, place in 25cm (10") pie plate and brush lightly with egg wash. Fill with meat mixture, cover with pastry brush top pastry with egg wash. Crimp edges and cut air hole in top.
5. Bake in preheated oven at 350° F. until golden brown, about 45 min.

Tips:

1. Brush the interior of the pastry shell with the egg wash before filling - this creates a protein seal so that the pastry has a chance to cook before the moisture seeps in.
2. Refrigerate the meat filling before it goes into the shell because hot filling allows the fat to melt and penetrate the pastry, making mushy tourtiere.