Update 2019: This is my only beef recipe on my blog and factory farmed beef is the worst offender in terms of food that’s bad for the environment. So I decided to write this at the top. Because most beef is factory farmed, it is almost always an unsustainable food source. Regenerative agriculture absolutely exists, but the beef produced using those methods makes up a tiny tiny market share and when you buy beef at the grocery store it is extremely likely that it was factory farmed. Personally I try to stay away from beef as much as possible. Someday I’ll get around to posting a more environmentally friendly alternative to this recipe.

One of my favorite dishes is tourtière. Tourtière is a meat potato pie originating from Québec, Canada. My version is adapted from the Canadian Living Baking Book. I use sweet potatoes, white wine, ground beef, and my recipe for Perfect Flaky Pastry. Here are the ingredients I used:

1. 2 pounds ground beef (My mum bought this when I was away visiting my friends. She forgot to bring the Lunchbot container with her, so they used the normal disposable packaging. Oh well.)
2. 2 cups cubed peeled sweet potatoes
3. 2 onions, chopped
4. 2 cloves garlic, minced
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1/2 tsp pepper
7. 1/4 tsp ground cloves (My cloves are in a plastic bottle, but that’s because I bought them before I became aware of the plastic problem. When I run out I’ll buy cloves in a glass bottle instead.)
8. 1 1/2 cups liquid (You can use reserved cooking liquid from the potatoes, vegetable broth, wine, or just plain water. I used a combination of homemade vegetable broth and white wine.)
9. 1 recipe Perfect Flaky Pastry
   

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add sweet potatoes and cook until tender.

Drain the potatoes and mash them. Don’t forget to reserve the cooking liquid if you decide to use it.

Meanwhile, cook beef in a skillet over medium-high heat until evenly browned, and no pink remains.

Add onions, garlic, cloves, salt and pepper.

Stir and cook for ten minutes.

Add liquid. Bring to a boil.

Cook for 25-30 minutes, or until a spoon pulled across the bottom of the pan leaves a space that fills in slowly with liquid.

Add mashed potatoes, and stir until combined.

(Oops, that one is a little blurry.) Add mixture to prepared pie shell.

Roll out other half of dough, fold in half, and make slits with a sharp knife.

Place on top of pie, trim edges and widen slits with a knife if necessary.

Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes, or until crust is golden.

Enjoy! Traditionally this pie is served on Christmas Eve, but I ate it on Boxing Day.