The Interior DIYer
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Street meat

Sundays Street Feast was a phenomenal hit. It was a great day and me and my man got to stuff our faces with delicate delights while getting to know our lovely neighbors, most of which we had never had the chance to bump into – an unfortunate occurrence in apartment blocks these days.
I woke up nice and early on Sunday morning and  made enough pastry for two tourtiere’s, blind baked them, made the filling for both pies, and baked them both. By the time I was finished, I was ready to eat them myself. It took a world of self control to not hack into them.

We were fortunate enough to meet two Canadians who were staying with neighbors on their holidays, and they were kindly able to accurately approve my tourtiere’s.

Since I had never made a tourtiere before, I was nervous. It’s been years since I had one, and I was worried I would ruin Canada’s rep in our community. But when it came to the moment of truth, those who tried it were pleasantly surprised. If you’d like to try this surprisingly straightforward recipe, all the important bits are blow. Great served hot for dinner, and leftovers kept for a picnic or lunch all week.

Additional note: my recipe has been amended to reflect a 100% true Canadien tourtiere. Thanks for the tips Emilie!

Ingredients
1/2lbs beef, cubed or minced/ground
1/2lbs pork, cubed or minced/ground
bacon to taste
2 potatoes, cubed
1 onion diced
salt and pepper to taste
1 recipe for double crust pastry – I found a good one here


Added to the pie from a previous recipe before being given the heads up on a true recipe
as much or as little garlic as you want
1/4 cup water
2tsp cornflour – to thicken if it gets a touch watery
1tsp sage – chopped fresh or dried
1tsp thyme – chopped fresh or dried
1/4tsp ground cloves

Method
Blind bake your pie base for 10 minutes. While that’s baking, combine all ingredients {except water and cornflour} in a pot and cook. Depending on how much fat is in the meat and how much liquids form in your filling, you may need to add the water, or add cornflour. Once the meat is cooked, serve into the semi-baked crust, place the uncooked pastry lid on top, pierce the top to let any hot air out, and cook in the oven at 180C for roughly 15-20 minutes – until the pastry on top is cooked. Cut, serve, stuff your face. 


I got my first recipe here and tweaked it where necessary, but was given an old school tourtiere recipe found here. 

Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz, etc.

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Street Feast 2011

This Sunday the 28th of August is the annual Street Feast held all around Ireland. This event has been around for decades, where within any given community people get together outside to encourage openness within their neighborhood, to feel safer in your community, to reduce loneliness and isolation, to share your culinary passion {aka stuff your face}, and more importantly to get to know your neighbors – something unfortunately not a lot of us know.

I for one am hoping to make a couple of North American dishes – tourtiere, pumpkin pie or pecan pie. Robert would like us to serve the illusive and ever-tasty poutine, but since we wouldn’t be able to keep it hot we thought it would be best to give it a miss.

It’s not too late to organize a Street Feast of your own! Official, or unofficial, get out and get to know your neighbors. Break down those barriers and get your eat on.

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Scrumptious scones

It’s been far too long since I’ve made scones, so we planned to have them for tea on Sunday as a nummy treat. These light and fluffy scones are the perfect weekend baking project and keep throughout the week for a grab-and-go breakfast. Special thanks to my dad for the recipe! Alternatively, you can enjoy your scones old school style – fancy tea cups, saucers, strawberry jam, and an artery clogging dollop of cream. It is the only way. One of these delights packs quite a punch, so one is all I was able to handle. Click below to see the super simple recipe. Get your om nom on. 


Ingredients
1/2 lbs self raising flour
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 oz of stork or margarine
1-2 oz sugar
1/4 pint of milk
1 egg
Sultanas or raisins or both {as much or as little as you like!}

Method
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Rub margarine into the flour with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add and mix the dried fruit. Make a well in the mixture and add the egg and not quite all the milk. Mix with a wooden spoon until it resembles a soft spongy dough. Add more milk if necessary. On a floured surface, kneed dough lightly until just smooth. Divide into two. Roll out half of the dough until it’s 3/4″ {2cm} thick. Cut out with a cookie cutter or an upside down cup. Do the same with the other half of dough. But I wasn’t that organized yesterday. What I did was simply form dollops of the dough directly onto the baking tray. They won’t get as many points for aesthetics, but I find it quicker. Butter your baking tray followed by a light sprinkle of flour before you place your scones – my all time favorite trick for complete non stick. Brush the scones with a beaten egg for a glossy crust if you like. 

Cook until golden brown – roughly 15 minutes at 180C. Take out and allow to cool a little bit before delving in. For real treat, cut in half and smother in about an inch of strawberry jam and cream along with a nice cup of tea {insert Homer drooling sound here}. 

Click here for a handy cooking calculator, should you prefer to measure in cups, mls, oz, etc.