Mme Benoit'S Tourtière - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef (or combination of beef and pork, or beef, pork & veal)
1 small onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon clove, ground (a must for authentic Quebecois pie)
1/2 cup water
1/4 - 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
pastry for a double-crust 9-inch pie, of your choice

Preparation

Place all ingredients except breadcrumbs and pastry in a saucepan.
Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, over medium heat for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and add a 3 or 4 spoonfuls of breadcrumbs.
Let mixture stand for 10 minutes.
If the fat is sufficiently absorbed by the breadcrumbs, do not add more. If not, add more crumbs in the same manner.
Cool mixture and spoon into a pastry-lined pie plate.
Cover with crust and bake at 400F until golden brown (follow directions for pie crust you chose).
Serve hot.
NOTE: Cooked tourtiere may be frozen for 4 to 5 months and does not need to be thawed before reheating.
To reheat, place your frozen tourtiere (covered in foil) in a medium oven and bake until a knife inserted in the center is hot when you pull it out.