The Last Piece of the Pie ...

I finished the last piece of pie I had from Thursday's 'tourtiere du Lac St Jean' (aka french-Canadian meat pie), and I have to say I'm sad. It satisfied a craving I'd had, and did it with a delightfully flaky, moist crust, and playfully chewy, flavorful morsels of 'meat. And by meat, I mean vegan-friendly meat alternatives. And by vegan-friendly meat alternatives, I mean a combination of Yves brand Original flavor Ground Round, and both 'chicken' and 'beef' flavored seitans (made from scratch, recipes to come). Combine these with Yukon gold potatoes, Calabaza squash, and thick brown gravy. Oh, and don't let me forget - truffles(!!!).

Crust:
for deep-dish 9" pie mold

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour (can replace with white spelt flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces*
• 1/2 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 tablespoons (about) ice water

*Omit butter and replace with shortening or margarine if a vegan crust is wanted.

Combine flour and salt in large bowl to blend. Add butter and shortening and rub in with fingertips until very coarse meal forms. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons water; toss until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. Gather dough, divide in half, and flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour. The dough can be made the day before, keeping refrigerated. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

Filling:

• 1 pkg (350g) Yves brand Original flavor Veggie Ground Round
• 1 1/2 cups 'chicken' seitan, cubed
• 1 cup 'beef' seitan, cubed
• 1 cup french shallots, coarsely chopped
• 2 large Yukon Gold potatoes (approx 2 cups), cubed
• 1 cup Calabaza squash, cubed
• 1 (approx. 50g) small-medium sized desert truffle (between the size of a golf and tennis ball), thinly sliced
• 1 cup (approx.) brown gravy

Gravy:

• 1 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water + 1/2 tsp vegan 'beef' bouilion powder
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp fennel seeds (lightly crushed)
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp cornstarch

Combine ingredients omitting cornstarch in saucepan over med-high heat, bringing to a boil. Remove a few spoonfuls of liquid and mix with cornstarch in a separate bowl, blending well (making sure no clumps remain). Add to gravy mixture. Continue boiling until thickened, about 5 minutes. Should make approximately 1 cup of gravy. Set aside.

***

Preheat oven to 400*F

Preparing the 'Meats':

Heat non-stick skillet and cook seitan until well-done and lightly crisped, cooking 'beef' and 'chicken' separately (only required if textures differ, thus cooking time/temperature). Cook veggie ground round next, approximately 7-10 minutes, stirring constantly (effectively removing moisture and slightly 'crisping' meat).

Assembly:

Roll-out the dough on a lightly floured surface, fitting first half into pie dish, leaving approximately 1/2 inch overhang. Roll-out second half of dough and set aside. Combine meats with shallots, and pour 1/3 of quantity to form first layer of pie. Cover with slices of truffle. Combine potatoes with squash, and add half the quantity forming the next layer. Continue alternating meat, truffle, and potato-squash layers until complete. Pour gravy over contents, pouring evenly across filling. Top with layer of crust, crimping edges inward with fingers, and finishing by pressing edges with fork, sealing. Perforate top crust with knife, cutting approximately 12 1 inch slices trough dough.

Bake pie uncovered at 400*F for 10 minutes. Lower oven temperature to 375*F and continue cooking for 25 minutes. Lower temperature to 300*F and cover pie with aluminum foil, baking an additional 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool.




Voila! Enjoy devouring :).