This & That

Thank you to all who commented to say they liked Colour Block.  I really appreciate all comments and try to answer them all.  Some of you comment under the flag 'annonymous'.  The anonymous category does  not allow for replies.  So to Linda, Ann, Sigrun, Gina  and any others I may have missed, please know that  I read and appreciate your comments even though no reply can be sent.

And for Linda who asked about Tortiere.  Tortiere is a French Canadian meat dish. Ground meat, spices, and  veggies baked in a pie crust.  A Meat Pie.  Delicious.  Here is the recipe I used.

Mushroom Thyme Tortiere -   Makes 2 double crust pies.
To make life less hectic, prepare filling the  day before as it needs to be thoroughly cool when placed into pastry shell.

Prep
Chop all veggies before beginning.
On baking day, preheat oven to 425'


2 lb ground meat.  I use only beef as Fred is allergic to Pork.  But some use Pork or half and half.
Brown meat in small amount of oil in fry pan, breaking up large clumps.  Remove from pan and drain off fat.


2 large onions chopped.
1 red pepper chopped
1/2 C chopped celery
4 cloves garlic - minced.
2 t salt
ETA - 1 1/2 t dried Thyme
1 t Cinnamon
3/4 t Pepper
1/4 t Cloves
 Add chopped  veggies and spices to pan after meat is removed and saute for 5 minutes or so until soft but not brown.  Add  to meat mixture.

8 Cups Mushrooms - Chopped.
After veggies are removed from pan, add a bit of oil and   mushrooms to pan   Cook for about 15 minutes until moisture is evaporated.

Return meat mixture to pan along with
1 1/2 C Chicken Broth. Bring to boil.  Cover and reduce heat and cook for about 15 minutes.  Uncover and cook another 10 minutes or until spoon pulled across pan fills in slowly with juices.

While mixture is cooking,  peel  4 medium potatoes and cook until tender.  Mash.  No milk, no butter, just potatoes. 

When meat is cooked,  mix mashed potatoes into meat mixture along with

1/2 C chopped Parsley
2t Worcestershire Sauce.

Next day - or - when filling is cool, place in pie shell, cover with pastry top and bake.  I always bake pastry at 425' for first 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 325' for another 30 minutes.

Tomorrow we leave for 2 weeks out west.  Watch for us the weekend of April 5, 6  & 7 at the Men's World Curling Championships in Victoria.  I'll be the woman at the end of the arena wearing wool and waving Canadian Flags.  I am taking my laptop so there could be blog postings.

Happy Easter everyone.  And thanks for reading.