Tourtiere - A Canadian Dish

This is a two part recipe. First, the pastry, then the filling!

This pastry is so easy to make and its super yummy.

5 Cups of Flour
1/2lbs lard
2 tsp salt. (this is the only time I add salt as directed. Normally I leave salt out of my dishes)

1 egg
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
Fill to 1 cup with warm water

In your mixer, measure the flour, lard and salt. Mix until just crumbly, be careful not to over mix.
Beat your egg, with the vinegar in a one cup measuring cup, then fill with water. Warm water makes your pastry a little easier to work with especially if your lard was hard. Stir in to flour until dough pulls away from the side.
Roll out your pastry into the bottoms of your pie trays. I like my pastry thin, however to each their own.

Filling
2lbs ground beef
3 potatoes cubed and cooked
any vegetables you prefer (I used carrots, leek, celery, corn and peas)
gravy
seasonings (garlic, onion seasoning, pepper)

Cook your potatoes and set aside. In a pot, cook your other vegetables until just softened, then add your ground beef and seasonings. Cook until brown. Add your gravy and potatoes. 
Fill your pie trays. 
Baked at 350 for roughly 30 minutes or until your pastry is cooked. I used individual pie pans. For a larger pan it make take longer. 
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As always, happy eating!

Easy Kale Chips - The Healthy Alternative!

Thanks to the lovely Genna, my daughter Emerald has been talking about kale chips since the spring! I found some nice kale at the market today for a good price. So I picked some up and promised to make kale chips for my kids. A healthy alternative to potato chips.

Ingredients
1 bunch of kale
1 tbsp (or a little more) olive oil
pinch of salt
pinch of Epicure's Cheese, Chive and Bacon dip seasoning

Preheat oven at 320. Wash the kale and rip into smaller pieces. Toss with oil and seasonings. Spread out on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 min or until crispy.

You can use just about any seasoning. Epicure's nacho, BLT, or 3 onion would all be very yummy!

Anyone wishing to receive recipes and specials offered by epicure, please click the link and add your email. I choose to use epicure spices for many reasons, namely they are low sodium, gluten free, and super tastey!
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Happy Eating

Seafood Pasta

For the pasta part, use whichever pasta is your favourite. I typically prefer an angel hair pasta.

Here we go!

1/2 cup white wine
1lbs of shrimp (I used 1/3 shrimp, 1/3 lobster, 1/3 scallops)
3 garlic cloves, minced

2 Cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup hot water
1 tsp seafood (or veg) bouillion
2 cups broccoli florets
spices to taste (little salt, pepper (both epicure), red garlic sansel (epicure), 3 onion dip (epicure)).

1 cup skim evaporated milk
2 tbsp. cornstarch (or flour)

Heat wine in large skillet.
Add seafood and garlic, saute until seafood is cooked (dont overcook). Remove seafood from skillet and set aside.
Add mushrooms to wine and saute for about 3 minutes. Add hot water and bouillion. Bring to a boil, then add the broccoli and seasonings. Cover and cook until broccoli is done.
Stir evaporated milk and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Add to liquid. Cook until thickened. Add seafood. At this point I also added some spinach for extra goodness.
Serve with your favourite pasta!
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Home Grown Goodness!

Tonight my goal for dinner was to have as much home grown foods as possible. The only part of our dinner that wasn't local was the rice.
Fried Root Veggies, Sausage and Rice!

Veggies
2 tbls Olive Oil (I like the light)
1 turnip
1 sweet potato
1 zucchini (I know its not a root veg but I love it!

Seasoning:
Epicures Herbed Garlic Seasalt and 4 Pepper.










In a large sauce pan heat the olive oil with a bit of salt and pepper. Add the veggies and cook on medium until soft. Start with the sweet potato and turnip once they are about soft add the zucchini as it does not at near as long.
I bought our sausages from a local farmer at the Boyce Market. They are unbelievable. I have to add a bit of water to the pan because there is no grease that comes out of them.

If you choose, adding a little teriyaki sauce to top off the flavours.
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As always, Happy Eating!