It's been said that when you live somewhere long enough, it becomes a part of you. Sure, maybe it's been four years since I returned to New York. Sure, maybe I live only five minutes from the suburb where I grew up. But after leaving New York at eighteen, I spent the better part of my adult life living in the little New England city of Providence, Rhode Island. After more than ten years there, it became a part of me, and it became more my home than New York was. So I was really excited to get some time off from work to spend Christmas there and have some real Rhode Island comfort food. Here are three of my favorites.
Tourtiere de Reveillon, or French Canadian Meat Pie
My boyfriend is a native of Rhode Island, and while we lived there, I spent many holidays with his family. This year, I received an email from his sister in Atlanta, requesting my recipe for Reveillon Tourtiere. It was going to be her first Christmas away from home, and Christmas Eve just wasn't going to be the same without it. The traditional meat pie originated with 17th century French Acadian settlers of eastern Canada, some of whom migrated to various parts of New England, including Rhode Island. On Christmas eve, or Reveillon, the family would attend midnight mass together, then return home to open their presents and feast on the fragrant and savory meat pie. When the neighborhood market that sold the family's favorite tourtiere closed a few years ago, my boyfriend and I embarked on a quest to re-create the pie of his childhood. There are a lot of recipes on the internet, and surely every French Canadian family has a meme with a closely guarded recipe of her own. Using the internet recipes as a starting point, we made variation after variation until we finally got the flavor and texture were just right. We ate a lot of meat pie that winter.
Hot Weiners
A Rhode Island obsession. Unlike hot dogs, these are natural casing sausages that come in a continuous link that have to be cut, resulting in the signature stubby ends. A true connoisseur orders them "all the way," or fully topped with greek-style meat chili, mustard, onions, and celery salt. I usually have two. My boyfriend usually downs four. Add a glass of coffee milk and a plate of french fries with salt and white vinegar for the complete Little Rhody experience. When we lived in Providence, my boyfriend and I were late night regulars at the original New York System on Smith Street, and when we visit Rhode Island we usually stop there before we leave. Still he would rave about the weiners he grew up with at Rod's Grille in Warren. Finally this trip, we happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped into Rod's Grille. Truth be told, though the New York System is more famous (thanks in part to "Providence" the T.V. show), the weiners at Rod's Grille were delicious, and did taste fresher.
Littlenecks and other fresh New England seafood
Much of the seafood we consume here in New York, particularly the shellfish, comes from New England waters. If you've ever had fresh off the dock seafood straight from it's source, it's difficult to stomach anything less. It's probably the seafood I miss most, and every time we visit Rhode Island, I take the opportunity to have some. In the summer it's beer and littlenecks on the halfshell at Topside's outdoor deck facing the bay, or chowder and clamcakes at Quitos. But in the winter, we go indoors to Jack's Family Restaurant. We usually start with littlenecks on the halfshell then share the seafood pasta with Jack's "special" sauce. Although the littleneck clam is named after Little Neck, NY where these clams were once abundant, the majority of these clams now come from Rhode Island shores. They don't get any fresher than this - pink, plump, and sweet, and not the slightest bit rubbery.
Tourtiere de Reveillon, or French Canadian Meat Pie
My boyfriend is a native of Rhode Island, and while we lived there, I spent many holidays with his family. This year, I received an email from his sister in Atlanta, requesting my recipe for Reveillon Tourtiere. It was going to be her first Christmas away from home, and Christmas Eve just wasn't going to be the same without it. The traditional meat pie originated with 17th century French Acadian settlers of eastern Canada, some of whom migrated to various parts of New England, including Rhode Island. On Christmas eve, or Reveillon, the family would attend midnight mass together, then return home to open their presents and feast on the fragrant and savory meat pie. When the neighborhood market that sold the family's favorite tourtiere closed a few years ago, my boyfriend and I embarked on a quest to re-create the pie of his childhood. There are a lot of recipes on the internet, and surely every French Canadian family has a meme with a closely guarded recipe of her own. Using the internet recipes as a starting point, we made variation after variation until we finally got the flavor and texture were just right. We ate a lot of meat pie that winter.
Hot Weiners
A Rhode Island obsession. Unlike hot dogs, these are natural casing sausages that come in a continuous link that have to be cut, resulting in the signature stubby ends. A true connoisseur orders them "all the way," or fully topped with greek-style meat chili, mustard, onions, and celery salt. I usually have two. My boyfriend usually downs four. Add a glass of coffee milk and a plate of french fries with salt and white vinegar for the complete Little Rhody experience. When we lived in Providence, my boyfriend and I were late night regulars at the original New York System on Smith Street, and when we visit Rhode Island we usually stop there before we leave. Still he would rave about the weiners he grew up with at Rod's Grille in Warren. Finally this trip, we happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped into Rod's Grille. Truth be told, though the New York System is more famous (thanks in part to "Providence" the T.V. show), the weiners at Rod's Grille were delicious, and did taste fresher.
Littlenecks and other fresh New England seafood
Much of the seafood we consume here in New York, particularly the shellfish, comes from New England waters. If you've ever had fresh off the dock seafood straight from it's source, it's difficult to stomach anything less. It's probably the seafood I miss most, and every time we visit Rhode Island, I take the opportunity to have some. In the summer it's beer and littlenecks on the halfshell at Topside's outdoor deck facing the bay, or chowder and clamcakes at Quitos. But in the winter, we go indoors to Jack's Family Restaurant. We usually start with littlenecks on the halfshell then share the seafood pasta with Jack's "special" sauce. Although the littleneck clam is named after Little Neck, NY where these clams were once abundant, the majority of these clams now come from Rhode Island shores. They don't get any fresher than this - pink, plump, and sweet, and not the slightest bit rubbery.
Reveillon Tourtiere (Spiced Meat Pie)
Here is the recipe I developed for Reveillon Tourtiere. Whatever pie crust recipe you are comfortable with will work fine, but I'm partial to all-butter pie crust for two reasons. First, I prefer the flavor, and second, butter is something I always have around. I seen many recipes for pie crust that substitute shortening for some of the butter for added flakiness, and I know of one home cook who even adds just a touch of baking powder to give her pie crusts a little more lift. However, I urge you to try the butter crust using the fraisage technique to blend the dough. With a little practice, you should be able to get a flaky crust every time.
For the filling or forcemeat, I prefer to add the spices and adjust the seasoning as I am mashing the cooked meat and potatoes. Some recipes I've seen call for seasoning when the potatoes and water are added, but I found that simmering dulled the flavor of the spices and I ended up having to use more. Besides, as the pie bakes, the meat will have plenty of time to meld with the spices.
Ingredients, for a 9" pie:
all butter pie crust (for top and bottom):
1 lb. (approx.2-1/2 c.) flour
1 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter, diced
6 Tbsp. ice water, plus more if needed
1 egg for egg wash
1 tsp. salt
1/2 lb. (2 sticks) butter, diced
6 Tbsp. ice water, plus more if needed
1 egg for egg wash
for the filling:
3 - 4 oz. salt pork, finely chopped
1/2 - 3/4 lb. ground pork
1/2 - 3/4 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, grated
1 large potato, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. bells' seasoning, or savory
1/4 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. water
1/2 - 3/4 lb. ground pork
1/2 - 3/4 lb. ground beef
1 medium onion, grated
1 large potato, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. bells' seasoning, or savory
1/4 tsp. celery salt
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. water
Procedure:
For the pie crust:
1. Chill the pieces of butter in the freezer.
1. Chill the pieces of butter in the freezer.
2. If you can, use a food processor to cut the butter and flour together. Sprinkle the butter cubes over the flour mixture and just pulse a few times until it starts to resemble to texture of wet sand, or until there are pieces of butter no bigger than a small pea. Sprinkle the ice water over the mixture and pulse a few times more. If you don't have a food processor, you can use a pastry cutter or your hands.
3. To blend the dough by fraisage, turn the dough out onto a floured surface and use the heel of your hand to smear the dough a little at a time against the board, adding more ice water a tablespoon at a time as needed. Work quickly, taking care not to let the heat of your hands melt the butter. If you have a plastic dough scraper you can use it instead of your palm and achieve similar results. Another method is to transfer the mixture to a bowl instead of turning it out on a board. Then use a rubber spatula to blend the dough by smearing it a little at a time against the side of the bowl.
4. Gather the layers of dough into two discs, wrap each disc and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before rolling.
5. Meanwhile make the filling.
For the filling:
1. In a large saute pan or wide saucepan, slowly render the salt pork on medium heat. Add the ground pork and ground beef and brown them.
2. Drain the excess fat. This is an important step because you are also draining the excess salt from the salt pork. It's good to reserve it for making gravy if you wish.
2. Add the potatoes, onion, garlic and water. Simmer until the potatoes are soft and most of the liquid has evaporated.
3. Add spices and mash the potatoes meat together. Adjusting the seasoning, adding salt if needed. Transfer the filling to a food processor, and pulse a few times to to get a finer grind on the meat. The size of the grind on commercially ground meat is coarser then tourtieres I've had. Unless you grind your own meat at home, you will need to process the mixture a bit to get the right texture. If you don't have a food processor, you can just mash all the ingredients together, but the texture will be more like meatloaf or hamburger.
5. Cool the filling at room temperature. Meanwhile, roll out the dough and line the pie pan. If it gets too warm, refrigerate the prepared crusts briefly before filling the pie.
6. Assemble the pie. The filling can be warm, but should not be so hot that it melts the pie crust. After assembling, brush the top with the egg wash, cut vents in the top, and bake at 375 degrees for 40-50 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the middle of the pie is hot. You may need to cover the edges of the pie with foil if they start to brown too fast.
