The holidays are upon us. My usual plant-based diet gets some special additions at this time of year. There are some recipes that lend themselves to plant-based modification. However, some foods have such a positive emotional memory for my husband and me that we cook them even though they are not plant-based. We enjoy them for their good taste and the fond family memories they evoke.

My mother’s French-Canadian family always made “meat pies” (tourtiere) during the holidays. A pleasure I cannot give up!

The pie is a savory mixture of ground pork, sometimes mixed with ground beef, onions, potatoes (although not in everyone’s recipes), herbs, and spices, cooked within a two-crust pie. Every cook or family has its own rendition of tourtiere, and I make mine according to the taste I remember of my grandmother’s pies. The meat mixture can be prepared a day or two in advance of putting the pie together. If you choose to do this, refrigerate the mixture, but let it rest outside the refrigerator for about 1/2 hour before assembling the pie, and you might have to add 5 or 10 minutes extra to the cooking time if the filling is cold.

My husband’s Latin American (Chile) youth has its own holiday recipes. The one that is a favorite for our family is a meat mixture called Pino, which is typical when making empanadas. The nice thing about empanadas is that they can be made in advance and frozen. When you are going to serve them, all you need to do is heat and pair them with a nice salad, and you have an easy and yummy meal. Empanadas are especially convenient for the busy holiday time. My family always looks forward to the day we have empanadas.

Tourtiere

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Ingredients

Meat Mixture:

2 pounds ground pork
1 small onion finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon Bell’s Poultry Seasoning if you can find it at the store
Pinch of sage
3 medium white potatoes peeled, finely chopped, and par-boiled

Pie crust (For a 2 crust 9 inch pie):

This is my favorite piecrust dough. It is from “The Fannie Farmer Baking Book,” But you can make whatever crust you like the best. Even though this is not a plant-based dish,there are recipes that use whole wheat flour and olive oil, thus avoiding animal fats or other saturated fats and white flour.
2 1/4 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup cold vegetable shortening
6-7 Tablesppons cold water

Instructions

Meat Mixture:

In a large saucepan, combine ground pork, onion, salt, pepper, and boiling water. Mix and cook slowly over medium to low heat for 45 minutes. Stir frequently to break up any lumps of meat. Add the potatoes and allow to cook until they are completely done.
Add the spices and cook for another 15 minutes to allow the flavors to marry. Let the mixture cool for about 1 hour. Then assemble the pies, filling 2 unbaked bottom crusts with the meat mixture. Then cover them with the top crusts, being sure to slash the crust for the steam to escape. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Pie crust:

Mix flour and salt together, add shortening, and work into flour with a pastry blender, two knives, or your fingertips until the mixture has taken on the texture of fresh bread crumbs.
Sprinkle on water, a tablespoon at a time, stirring lightly with a fork after each addition, until the dough comes together.
Form the dough into two flattened circles, cover with waxed paper, and chill for 1/2 to 1 hour.
Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface until it is about 1/8 inch thick and about 2 inches larger than the pie plate.
Place the first piece into the pie plate. Place the meat mixture into the pie and top with the top crust.Trim and crimp the edges and slash the top to allow the steam to escape.

This year I slashed one of my pies with a Christmas tree design (a little off-center!).

Empanadas

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Ingredients

Pino:

1 pound lean ground beef or 12 ounces ground beef substitute (I like the “Gardein product)
1 1/2 teaspoons butter & 1 teaspoon olive oil
4 medium onions cut in half then sliced very thinly
2 Tablespoons paprika
A sprinkle of cayenne powder
In Chile Aji Picante is added, a good substitute would be Sriracha Sauce, use just a little bit
1 Tablespoon flour diluted in 1/2 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 - 1 cup hot water
3 hard-boiled eggs
1 cup raisins
3/4 cup sliced large pimento-stuffed olives

Empanada Dough:

This is enough for 12 empanadas; for the Pino recipe, you will need to make 2 batches of the dough to make 24 empanadas.
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/4 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 Tablespoons cold vegetable shortening in small pieces
1/3 cup cold water
1 large egg
1 Tablespoon white vinegar

Instructions

Pino:

In a large saucepan, fry the onion slices in the butter/olive oil mixture until their volume is reduced by about half, do not brown. You may add water, a teaspoon at a time to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan.
Add 2 Tablespoons paprika to the onions and mix well. If using ground beef, cook lightly in another pan and break up any chunks. Drain off accumulated fat before adding to the onion mixture. If using a meat substitute, it is not necessary to drain off any fat. Simply add it to the onions.
Dilute the flour in 1/2 cup cold water, mix well and add to the meat and onion mixture. And cook for about 5 minutes. If the mixture seems thick, add some water or broth, but you do not want the mixture to be watery.
You can add the raisins and green olives at this point (which I like to do) or add a few raisins and olives to each empanada as you make them. There will probably be enough mixture to make about 24 empanadas.
Let the meat mixture cool about 1/2 hour before assembling the empanadas. Into each disc of dough (recipe to follow), place about 1/8 of a wedge of hard-boiled egg, 2-3 teaspoons of Pino, and raisins and olives if you have not already added them. Fold over the disc and seal the edges by moistening with water, then folding the pastry along the edge.
Place on a cookie sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper. Brush with an egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of water. Bake in a 400 degree F oven for 15-20 minutes until brown on top.

Empanada Dough:

Using a food processor, combine flour and salt, then add butter and shortening and pulse the mixture until the fats are incorporated throughout the flour, coarser than corn meal.
Whisk together water, egg, and vinegar in a small bowl. Add to the flour mixture and pulse until the dough starts to come together. The dough will be somewhat sticky, so you will need to work on a floured surface and flour your hands.
The way I find easiest to make the discs is to cut the dough into 12 equal size pieces and roll and flatten the dough out in my palm. Then I place it on a flowered surface and roll it out until the disc is about 5-6 inches in diameter. I stack the discs between waxed paper as I make them, and when I have finished with all the dough, the discs are refrigerated for 1 hour. Then it is time to put the empanadas together.

Both of these recipes take a while to complete! But, they are so good that it makes the effort worthwhile. I hope you enjoy tourtiere and empanadas as much as my family does. May you have a happy holiday season and many good wishes for the New Year.