Bison Tourtiere with Turnip Puree and Tomato Chutney

 

Serves: 6-8 people

This bison tourtiere is inspired by the traditional French Canadian holiday favorite severed in many parts of the country. Stewed ground bison full of flavor wrapped inside a buttery flaky pie crust. It will make you want to cozy up to the fire with a warm drink. This tourtier is great for parties or potluck dinners and can be made ahead of time to help with the weekly business. Traditionally this savory meat pie is served with ketchup but we have taken this one step further and made a delicious tomato chutney and paired it with a wonderfully light rutabaga puree.  This will quickly  become a family favorite!

Ingredients:

Pie Crust

3¼ cup All purpose flour

1¼ cup Cold unsalted butter

2tsp Kosher Salt

½ cup Ice water

 

Bison Mixture

1½ Lb Ground bison

1½ cup Onions, small diced

2 cup Leeks, small diced

1 cup Celery, small diced  

1 tbls Garlic, minced

2 cup Beef stock

¼ cup Worcestershire sauce

½ cup Butter, split in two

2 tbls Canola oil

1 tbls Dry thyme

1 tbls Black pepper

1 tbls Ground savory

1 tbls Flour

1 tsp Nutmeg

½ tsp Celery seed

½ tsp Cinnamon

½ tsp All spice

½ tsp Clove

 

Tomato Chutney

½ cup Onions, medium diced

3 cup Tomato, medium diced

1 tbls Garlic, minced

1 tbls Canola oil

¼ cup White vinegar

4 tsp Sugar

1 tsp Kosher salt

2 tbls Tomato paste

½ tsp All spice

½ tsp Chili flake

 

Rutabaga Puree

1 large Rutabaga

½ cup Butter

2 tsp Kasher salt

 

 

Method:

Pie Crust

1. Combine flour, salt and butter in a food processor and pulse until the butter is the size of peas.
2. Continue pulse and add ice water until the dough just starts to form.
3. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead dough 2 or 3 times to form the dough ball.
4. Form the dough ball into a disk, wrap with plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 30-60 min.

 

Bison Mixture

1. In a large skillet on medium high heat add canola oil and brown off the ground bison. Make sure to allow all the liquid to reduce off and let the bison get dark brown, remove from pan and reserve.
2. In the skillet still on medium high heat add half the butter, onions, celery, garlic and leeks. Sweat the vegetables until soft.
3. Add the bison back to the pan along with all the spices and mix well.
4. Add in the Worcestershire, beef stock and simmer for 5min.
5. At this point add the flour and stir until thickened and turn off the heat
6. Add in the remaining butter and stir until melted, remove the mix from the pan and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
7. While the bison mixture is cooling, pre heat your oven to 400 degrees F and remove the pie dough form the refrigerator.
8. Using a floured surface split the pie dough into 2 piece and roll both halves out 2-3 inches wider than your 9-10 inch, deep, pie dish.
9. Line the bottom of the pie dish with the pie dough, use any scraps to patch any holes or tears.
10. Fill the pie with the bison mixture making sure to push the filling down and pile it up high.
11. Top the tourtiere with the remaining dough, trim and crimp the edges and cut a vent hole in the top of the tourtiere.
12. In a small bowl whisk 1 egg and 1 tsp of canola oil together and brush all over the pie crust
13. Place into 400-degree F oven and reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F for 45-60 minutes or until the middle of the tourtiere reaches 155 degrees F
14. While the tourtiere is cooking, peel and dice the rutabaga, place in a pot and cover with water.
15. Bring the rutabaga to a boil and cook until soft.
16. Drain the rutabaga add the butter and salt and puree with a blender or hand blender.
17. Remove tourtiere from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes then slice it up and serve with the rutabaga puree and some tomato chutney over top.

 

Tomato Chutney

1. In a small pot combine all the ingredients and place on medium high heat, bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer
2. Simmer the chutney for 15 minutes
3. Blend the chutney to your desired texture and allow to cool to room temperature and enjoy
4. This chutney will keep in the fridge for up to 1 month

Chef`s tip:

Both the pie dough and bison mixture can be made up to 2 days in advance or up to 2 weeks in advance and kept in the freezer. You can also build the tourtier and keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks, making sure it is wrapped tight in plastic wrap. Make sure to allow the tourtiere to thaw at room temp for 1 hour before baking. Traditionally you can find a touriere to be served with ketchup so don’t be afraid to reach for the bottle of Heinz. Left over tourtiere is great when you fry it up with some butter to caramelize the sides of the slices.

Enjoy!!