Bison Tourtiere, Mahi Marsala, Mediterranean Chicken

Bison Tourtiere

This dish is for all my Canadian (especially French-Canadian) friends.  Tourtiere is a quintessential Meat Pie, and can be made with a variety of meats and other fillings (potatoes and othe veg).  Bison is naturally 97% fat free. But that means you actually need to add a bit of fat to any bison-based. dish; hence the ground pork. This dish still only has about 12% fat.

Meat Filling:

2 tbsp each Butter and Canola oil
2 cups finely chopped Onion
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 cup canned Tomatoes, chopped (I used the original Ro*Teltm for the spices)
1 lb ground Bison
1 lb ground Pork
1/4 cup Water
1/4 tsp each ground Cloves, Allspice and Cinnamon
1-1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 to 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 cup (packed) chopped fresh Parsley

In a large saucepan melt butter over medium heat, add the canola oil. Sauté onions and garlic until soft, about 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, pork, bison, water, cloves, all spice, cinnamon, salt and pepper.

Continue to cook over medium to medium-high heat, stirring to break up any clumping if it occurs. Cook until the meat mixture is practically dry. This will take 20 to 30 minutes.

Allow mixture to cool slightly, mix in chopped parsley.

Short Crust Pastry:
Of course you can use any of those pre-made crusts, but where's the fun in that? This recipe makes enough of this classic for a two-crust pie:

3 cups sifted AP Flour
1 tsp Salt
1 cup unsalted cold Butter, cubed
1/3 cup cold Water
1 tbsp White Vinegar
1 Egg, beaten
2 tbsp Half & Half

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the cubed butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture resembles course breadcrumbs.

Combine the water and vinegar in a measuring cup. Sprinkle into flour mixture. Knead the dough into a ball. Do not overwork the dough this should only take a minute or two.

Divide and flatten dough into two equal disc-shaped portions. Wrap each in plastic and refrigerate for 45 minutes.

Take one portion of dough from the refrigerator. Roll it out on top of a piece of waxed paper that has been dusted with some flour. Be sure to roll it out wide enough to fill the bottom of the 10" pie plate. Slide the dough from the waxed paper into the bottom of the pie plate. Work the dough by hand so it fills the bottom and sides of the pie plate

Finishing The Tourtiere:

Preset the oven to 450F.

Evenly spread the cooled meat filling in the bottom layer of pastry; don't overfill.

Take the second portion of pastry from the refrigerator. Roll it out on flour-dusted wax paper so that it is just wide enough to cover the top of the pie. Place the wax paper holding the rolled out pastry directly over the pie. Gently slide and remove the wax paper from the crust. Crimp and seal the pastry edges (with a bit of water if necessary). Using a sharp knife, slit the top crust in 2 or 3 places, about 1-1/2 inches long, for steam vents.

Combine the egg and cream in a cup to make an egg wash. Paint the top crust with the wash.

Put the pie in the preheated oven and bake for 10 minutes; then lower the temperature to 350F, and bake for 40 minutes more.

Remove from oven and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes before serving. Also good served later at room temperature or right from the refrigerator.

For a side dish, I made boiled new potatoes from this week's Produce box (see below), and served them with beef gravy (just try to find bison gravy!).

Try this folks, it's GRRRREEEAAATTT!   If you're leery of bison (tastes like lean beef), or don't want to spend the money (about $9 per pound), then use ground sirloin and ground pork.  We got a good deal on the bison from Costco.

SWFL Produce Co-Op

We were recently introduced to the Southwest Florida Produce co-op, which offers weekly boxes of quality fruit and/or veg at a very reasonable. You can choose a box of Organic produce (fruit and veg), an All Vegetable box, an All Fruit box, or our favorite -- the Combo Box. The products are really great, and for the two of us a combo box will last about a week, and costs much less than the local megamart.

Each week's offerings are different, which makes it great for me, as there will probably always be one challenging ingredient to make me work just a bit outside my usual “zone”. Last week's challenge was a beautiful head of purple cabbage. Luckily I have a great recipe for Rot Kohl, aka Sweet & Sour Red Cabbage, which we all love.

Mediterranean Chicken

This is a chicken variation of the middle Eastern dish called Imam Biyaldi – the Imam Fainted With Delight. Our produce box eggplant and beefsteak tomatoes went into this dish.

2 Chicken Breasts, boneless, skinless, cubed

1 medium Eggplant, skin-on, cubed

1 medium Onion, sliced

2 large Beefsteak Tomatoes, chopped

1/4 tsp Turmeric

2 cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 tsp each of Cumin and Italian Seasoning blend

1/4 tsp each of Smoked Paprika and Thyme

1/8 tsp each of Black Pepper and Salt

Saute the chicken in a splash of EVOO with the cumin, Italian seasoning, and pepper. Remove and reserve.

In a splash more oil, saute the eggplant a couple minutes, then add the onion and cook a few minutes more. Now add the tomato and the rest of the spices and simmer until the eggplant is nearly done Return the chicken to the pan; simmer to heat the meat through, and serve.

Mahi Marsala

We love mushrooms, and got nearly a pound of fresh locally grown beauties in our SWFL Produce box. This is an interesting variation on the ubiquitous Chicken Marsala. Who knew fish and mushrooms could be so good together!

4 (6 oz. ) Mahi Mahi fillets (any firm white fish will do)

1/2 tsp Salt, divided

1/2 tsp ground Black Pepper, divided

4 tsp Olive oil, divided

12 oz. Crimini mushrooms, thinly sliced

3 tbsp minced Shallots

1 Garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp AP Flour

3/4 cup Chicken Broth

3/4 cup Marsala wine

3 tbsp minced Flat-leaf Parsley

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Line a baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray. Place fish on the baking sheet, rub with 1 tsp olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Bake until the fish is just cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.

Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium heat. Cook the mushrooms until they release and then reabsorb their juices, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl.

Heat another tsp oil in the skillet. Add the shallots and garlic, and cook until the shallots are starting to soften, about 2 minutes.

Add the remaining olive oil, then stir in the flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute to make a simple roux. Pour in the chicken broth and Marsala a,nd simmer, stirring frequently, until the sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the cooked fish and mushrooms to the skillet and cook until the fish is heated, about 2 minutes.

Garnish with parsley and serve.