The Importance of Being...Inspired

Oh a busy busy busy bee is me! I know it's been months since my last post, but between having a new puppy, caring for old cats, resolving yet another car accident (not my fault, I wasn't even in the car), my novice attempts at gardening, and the demands of the restaurant, I don't know where all that time went. A girl can get pretty jaded, living in such a whirlwind. Thank goodness I recently had a birthday, which always makes me restless to shake up my routine, and reflect on what my goals are for the next year to come. Some people make new year's resolutions. Instead I make birthday resolutions.

Resolution number one is to actively stay inspired. Sure, a strong routine can be very valuable for a line cook. It helps you set up your station on time, multi-task during service, and strive toward machine-like precision and consistency. But it can be very easy to let the machine take over and to forget why you're working so hard in the first place. So I'm trying to take better advantage of the city, and see what other chefs are doing from my ever-growing list of restaurants to check out. On a line cook's pay, that's certainly not easy, but at least on my birthday, Boyfriend was picking up the tab!

So for my birthday dinner I chose Degustation, one of the top restaurants on my list. Serving a menu of small plates from an open kitchen surrounded by only 19 seats, it's definitely a restaurant designed with industry folks and food & wine enthusiasts in mind. A friend who recently left the kitchen at Prune to follow her med student fiance to Grenada (winter in the caribbean? me? jealous?) raved about Degustation after having their anniversary dinner there a few months back. Then one of our cooks who recently relocated from the west coast touted his meal at Degustation as among the best he's had. Then when I told one of our bartenders I was considering going there for my birthday he said it was the best meal he'd ever had, and if I had any trouble getting reservations he knew someone who knew someone... So I figured it was time to go and see what all the fuss was about. My day off that week fell on a Tuesday, so I called Degustation that afternoon to make reservations for two. They could only fit us in either really early at 6pm, or later at 9pm because they were expecting a large party at 8pm. 6pm was too early so we took the 9pm reservation.

Degustation's unassuming exterior

Degustation's entrance, located on E 5th street off 1st avenue, is simple and unassuming. We almost walked right past the restaurant and probably would not have even noticed it if we weren't looking for it. In the dark, the name was barely visible on the solid front door, and the only light was a warm glow that emanated from two square, porthole like windows. We entered through the heavy door into a space that was contemporary and chic, yet warm and comfortable. The host greeted us and immediately showed us to our seats. I was delighted to find that we were seated right in front of the chef 's station, where executive chef Wesley Genovart was artfully plating all the food.

We started off our evening with a couple of beers as we looked over the menu and tried to decide whether or not to try a tasting menu. Boyfriend stuck with his usual Amstel light, while I sipped an Alhambra Negra, a dark Spanish lager with a soft caramel like flavor. The small plates menu featured a crudo of seasonal fish, coca mallorquina, carabinero, and other items also inspired by the chef's Spanish up-bringing. In addition to the a la carte small plates, the restaurant offers a five course tasting menu for $50 per person, and a 10 course tasting for $75 per person. When asked, our server kindly explained that both tasting menus were pre-determined for the evening and that the five course tasting featured only menu items, while the 10 course tasting also featured special items that changed daily, such as sweetbreads and some other things that I didn't hear after she mentioned sweetbreads. So we chose the 10 course tasting. Our server asked us if we had any allergies, which they would be happy to accommodate. No, we didn't, but Boyfriend was really excited to see oxtail among the small plates, so we asked if that might be included as one of our courses. "I'm sure we can make that happen," she replied.

The meal started with an amuse-bouche of two bite size menu items: a pork croqueta and Spanish "tortilla" filled with quail egg and shallot confit. The croqueta was crispy and flavorful, and paired nicely with its bed of paprika spiced aioli. The tortilla was much more delicate in texture and subtle in flavor. While I could appreciate the contrast, it seemed strange to pair the two on the same plate. It did a slight disservice to the tortilla, which I think was good, but whose subtlety was somewhat overpowered by the more assertive croqueta next to it.

Pork Croqueta and Spanish "Tortilla"

The first course was a delicious chilled marcona almond soup, simply garnished with chives, pea flower, and a marcona almond. It was milky and smooth, and perhaps there was just the slightest suggestion of roasted garlic which pleasantly enhanced the salty sweetness of the almonds.

Chilled Marcona Almond Soup

Our second course was a crudo of spanish mackerel served over tomato granita and topped with crispy slivered garlic and serrano chiles. The fish was fresh and firm, and I thought the tomato granita added nice chill and acidity to an otherwise oily fish, but Boyfriend did find the garlic too overpowering.

Crudo of Spanish Mackerel

Next, we were served the Puerro Salda, a warm pureed potato leek soup garnished with octopus, a Barron Point oyster, and padron pepper (which I believe was in the form of a green infused oil). Boyfriend did not like this soup. He found it overwhelmingly "fishy." I could see where he got that, since it had a familiar flavor that was reminiscent of braised abalone I'd eaten at Chinese wedding banquets as a child.

Boyfriend and I shared much discussion about the next dish, which was a trio of sardines. One was simply pan seared and served over roasted red pepper. The second, our favorite preparation, was the chef's play on a sardine sandwich, and featured a sardine seemingly dusted with rice flour, then fried and served over pickled onion and topped again with serrano chiles. The sardine was pleasantly crispy and the onions were tart and I thought I detected a hint of fish sauce in the brine. The third and least favorite was a sardine fillet rolled and served over sauce gribiche, whose flavor Boyfriend likened to the smell Tester's modeling glue. Humbly I must admit that I don't know what sauce gribiche is supposed to taste like, but I had to agree with Boyfriend on this one.

Trio of Sardines

Next the servers brought us bowls of seared durade with matsutake mushrooms, and eggplant. At the table, they finished the dishes with a matsutake mushroom broth. This was our fifth course, (sixth, if you include the amuse) and to be truthful, by now I was beginning to feel the food equivalent of "Museum Fatigue," a term from my art school days used to describe the kind of sensory overload and subsequent shut-down caused by viewing too much artwork in one visit to the museum. So I have to say that outside of enjoying the broth and the texture of the eggplant and the fish, I can't recall much about the dish's flavors.

Amazingly enough, the next course was just the thing to bring my senses back to life: a warm duck egg mouse with tiny brioche croutons, smoked maple syrup and a strip of lamb bacon all served in the eggshell. It was perfect. The mousse was light, airy, and was just the right temperature to evoke the warmth of a freshly laid egg. The croutons and the bacon were nice and crunchy, and the syrup underneath the mousse added a great sweet smoky finish. I asked Boyfriend, who normally does not like the flavor of lamb, what he thought of the lamb bacon, and he replied, "C'mon, it's bacon, of course it's good."

Duck Egg Mousse

After having my senses re-awakened, and hearing the server describe it, I was really excited about the next dish: coca Mallorquina with sobresada, wild mushrooms and a red wine reduction. It was good, but after experiencing the perfection of the duck egg mousse, I have to say the coca Mallorquina was a little disappointing. Inspired by a Spanish style pizza or flatbread typical of the Mallorca region, the crust was crispy, but the sobresada seemed a little dry and chewy, and the flavors, though good, were kind of lackluster.

Finally, grilled sweetbreads! I have to admit I had only had sweetbreads either dusted with flour and pan-fried, or poached and glazed with a veal reduction like they did in culinary school. The first being light and crispy on the outside, and rich and creamy inside, the second is just gross. Here however, chef Genovart presented us with grilled veal sweetbreads served over a of succotash-like mixture of fresh corn, green beans, crispy okra and chanterelle mushrooms dressed with tomatillo salsa and cilantro. This was a texture and flavor I had not experienced with sweetbreads before. The char from the grill changed the flavor of the sweetbreads by adding what I can only describe as a kind of bite. Grilling also gave it a supple yet meaty texture that was pleasing to eat, and the acidity of the tomatillo salsa in the corn mixture was just the right foil to the richness of the sweetbreads. Boyfriend and I both really enjoyed this dish.

Grilled Sweetbreads

Then came the dish Boyfriend was waiting for: potato "Cannelloni" filled with oxtail and grilled on the plancha, served with crispy shallot, a fresh herb salad and radishes. This was a delicious and enjoyable dish. The cannelloni was actually thinly sliced potato wrapped around a tender filling of braised oxtail. The potato had a crisp sear from the plancha, the radishes were a peppery accompaniment, and the herbs added a nice freshness to the dish. This was the last savory course and was a good way to move onto dessert.

Oxtail with Potato "Cannelloni"

But wait! Before dessert we were presented with a lovely cheese plate, with birthday wishes from my bartender friend. What a nice surprise. It featured cheeses from Spain and Switzerland accompanied by a marcona almond puree, fresh honey on the comb, black currant preserves, and a poached pear.

Surprise Cheese Plate

Last, but not least, dessert was a simple yet delicious bread pudding of brioche soaked in cream, then caramelized on top, and served with fresh berries. Our server said it was a dessert very typical of the Basque region. As we enjoyed our dessert, we chatted a little with chef Genovart as he and his crew packed up their stations (by now the restaurant had been closed for almost a half hour) and dutifully scrubbed everything clean. I thought of how this crew was expected to perform every evening, with all their actions totally exposed to their patrons, and from the eater's point of view, how our reactions and comments about the food were visible and audible to those preparing it. I pondered on how different this was from the closed kitchen, where among the din of servers coming in and out of the swinging door, the clang of the dish machine hatch opening and closing, the scrambling of dishwashers rushing to restock clean pans and collect dirty ones from the line, and the voice of the chef calling out orders, our only connection to the dining room is through the waitstaff.

Overall I would have to say that our meal at Degustation was a really good one. At $75 per person, it was well worth it for a 10 course tasting, and at the end of the meal I was satisfied without being full. The servers described each dish as it was served, and patiently answered any questions I had about particular components. The dishes were generally well executed and good, although some were definitely more memorable than others. We'll definitely go back, but now that we've had the tasting menu, there are some other items on the small plates menu we would like to try, and some dishes from our tasting that we would order a la carte. As for my birthday resolution, it was a great success. I definitely left feeling re-freshed, and inspired with ideas for new ingredients, techiniques, and combinations I'll be trying myself.

Learning to Love Queens: Flushing, NY

I got into a car accident a little over a month ago, which left the driver's side of my vehicle pretty banged up.  The repairs were just completed, so I went to pick up my car at the collision shop in Queens.  When I got there, I found they still needed to make some adjustments so I had about a half hour to kill and scope out some cheap eats for lunch.  Queens is the largest and most ethnically diverse borough in New York City, so there are a lot of options.  This post barely begins to scratch the surface of what's available out there.

the bustling intersection where Main street and Kissena Boulevard merge

The shop is located at a bustling commercial hub right at the end of the no. 7 subway line in the heart of Flushing.  One of the largest communities in Queens, Flushing boasts a larger Chinese population than Manhattan's Chinatown, and for $2 a ride, you can take a shuttle bus directly from one to the other.  The neighborhood is home many other ethnicities though:  Korean, Vietnamese, Indian, Mexican, Colombian, and West Indian, just to name a few.

Growing up, I spent many Sunday afternoons here, accompanying my mom as she did her weekly grocery shopping.  I had forgotten how crowded the streets were - there is definitely a different perception of personal space and many of the immigrants who live and work here are accustomed to overcrowded cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Mumbai.  Indeed, to look around at all the different faces and storefronts bearing signs in an array of foreign languages, one might even feel as if he or she had been transported to another country.  There is a vibrant yet frenetic energy that can be somewhat overwhelming.  Nobody thinks twice about crossing against the light, double-parking or stopping in the middle of an intersection.  I couldn't help feeling a little like the foreigner here, cheerfully walking around with my earth-friendly canvas bag from Whole Foods as other pedestrians shoved past me, chattering to their friends in languages I couldn't understand and hurrying about their business.  Yet despite their differences, the many ethnic groups have found a way to co-exist here.

Get your noodle fix til 5 a.m.

The first stop on my half-hour mini-tour was a tiny dumpling stand next to the commuter rail station.  I was craving a roast pork bun - marinated roasted pork tenderloin, chopped and baked inside a brioche-like bun.   So I asked for a "cha tsu bao."  Instead the clerk handed me a small Styrofoam box containing four small pork dumplings.  I explained that I wanted a pork bun and he said it was called "da bao."  I was confused.  "Cha tsu" definitely means roast pork, "bao" means bun, and that's what I've been calling them all my life.  "Da-bao" turned out to be a doughy white steamed bun filled with a pork meatball, still not what I wanted.  I tried to explain again and the clerk finally told me that they didn't make "cha tsu bao."  So I paid for my "da-bao" and continued along my way.  Despite the confusion my "da bao" was delicious.  Even though the stand is tiny, all the dumplings appear to be made on a couple of stoves behind the counter.  And what a location!  I imagine the stand must be pretty busy during the morning rush hour, with commuters lining up to grab a quick "bao" before getting on the train.

Forget about doughnuts and coffee, this trainstop stand sells tea and dumplings instead

So, nibbling on my "da bao" I continued up Main Street past several shops selling knick-knacks (and knock offs too, probably), and a number of small groceries with outdoor fruit stands.  There were also a couple Chinese herbal shops displaying boxes of dried ginseng, seaweed, mushrooms and gobi berries outside.  It reminded me of mom's medicinal broths - bitter brews of chicken stock, ginseng and all manner of dried roots and mushrooms.  One formula was supposed to be good for your immune system, another "cleansed your blood" and yet another was "good for women."  As a child I often had to hold my nose to drink them down, but now I was making a mental note to learn more about these traditional remedies.

Just a few storefronts south of the big public library on Main Street, I found a little Latino eatery nestled among all the Asian ones.  The awning simply read "Latin Bakery & Restaurant" then underneath "Pollos y Carne a la Brasa."  Hmmm.  I suddenly had a craving for empanadas, so I checked inside to make sure there were indeed Spanish speaking patrons and employees inside (I've seen way too many Chinese-run "Tex-Mex" take-out joints in Queens that make burritos strangely reminiscent of moo-shu).  This place seemed promising.  All the menu offerings were listed in Spanish and included lunch specials of roast chicken, chicharron (fried pork rind), and tongue, with rice or potatoes and salad - all for under $10.  But I wanted empanadas, so I ordered one beef and one chicken empanada with salsa - both for about $3.  The chicken and the beef were really tender, moist and flavorful, and I appreciated that the two had different seasonings. I did happen to be in the neighborhood again that week and stopped in a second time at the Latin Bakery to get my empanada fix.  Maybe they had been sitting in the case for a while, but for some reason the pastry on the beef one that day was a little tough and chewy.  Boyfriend was with me and he ordered some chicarrones, which were not that crispy, also probably from sitting under the heat lamps.  The soup that day, Sopa de Tostones seemed to be flying across the counter, so I asked for a cup to go.  It was a comforting stew of green plaintains (tostones), potato, and beef that was so tender it just fell apart.  Hearty and delicious, with topping of their cilantro salsa verde, it was clear why this sopa was so popular with the regulars.

Beef empanada

Munching on my empanadas, I rounded the corner at the library and headed up Kissena Boulevard.  As I finished the last bite of beef, I noticed a little stand selling bubble tea -the perfect dessert drink to finish off my wanderer's lunch.  My personal favorite is the taro milk tea and every time I'm in the neighborhood I have to have one.  The creamy iced milk drink has purple tinge from the taro and comes with a giant straw to sip up chewy marble sized pearls of black tapioca from the bottom.  Aside from the fact that I love the flavor, there's a strange, childish appeal to sipping the flavored milk, then fishing around with the straw for the bits of tapioca.  It's kind of like drinking Nestle Quik with bits of Jello, but not gross like that sounds.  Anyway, bubble tea in hand, it realized it was time I made my way back to the collision shop to retrieve my car.

Taro milk bubble tea

Another day I met my parents in Flushing for lunch at Phô Vietnamese noodle house on Prince Street.  My mother ordered classic phô: thin rice noodles in a clear broth with thin slices of beef.  My father had phô with marinated grilled chicken, and I ordered a beef satay noodle bowl instead.  A tray on each table held the usual condiments:  siracha, chili sambal, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar...oh, and salt and pepper of course.  The waiter also brought a plate of fresh bean sprouts, cilantro, and lime wedges for the phô.  My beef satay noodle bowl came with a generous portion of tender, thinly sliced beef atop a heap of wide hand-cut rice noodles (chow-fun) in a thick curry-like gravy of peanut and coconut milk.  The flavor was an aromatic combination of sweet and creamy coconut milk, and salty peanuts and sesame.  A generous garnish of chili sambal for that spicy punch, and some lime juice to cut through the creaminess of the gravy and it was perfect.  My mother's phô was lighter option.  It had an equally generous portion of beef and noodles, but was in a clear broth instead.  The flavor of the beef was good and it was tender, with a hint star anise and fennel flavor not unlike Chinese Five Spice powder.  But in the broth, I found this classic phô seasoning was so overpowering that none of the beef flavor came through.  The same broth was used in my father's phô, but the grilled chicken was delicious.  It was a lot of food, and for $6 a bowl, this place was definitely a bargain.

Classic pho (top left), fresh garnishes (top right), sauces and condiments (bottom left) and satay beef noodles (bottom right)

After lunch I accompanied my mom as she did some grocery shopping.  When I was a kid, there were always small grocery stores, fish markets, and butcher shops catering to the Chinese and Asian population, but Kam Man was the only big Chinese supermaket in the area.  Now there are several options for Asian supermarkets and they carry an even wider array of items.  There is the Korean chain, Hmart, and Hong Kong supermarket, but my mom prefers the Gold City Supermarket.  I could see why.  The produce section is huge, and stocks both familiar and more unusual items. The same is true for the meat and fish departments.  Behind the meat counter, I think I counted four or five clerks taking orders, and three other butcher staff portioning and keeping the cases stocked.  If you know how to de-bone a fish, you can take home a whole fish for about $3.00 /lb, and everything seemed really fresh.  There were fish on ice as well as live fish in a wall of tanks behind the counter.  I stood by and watched as one fishmonger wrangled some live prawns into a net for his customer.

Imported mangosteens (top left), kohlrabi (top right), burdock (bottom left), and the dreaded and infamous durian fruit (bottom right)

There is also a good selection of Asian dry goods and specialties.  The tea selection ranged anywhere from $3 for a box of green tea bags, to $18 for a tin of specialty loose tealeaves.  I have to admit one thing that did skeeve me out a bit was using the rest room there (What is it about Chinese bathrooms?  I never wanted to use the scary bathroom at Grandma's).  Maybe it was a fluke, but the soap dispenser was empty, so I really hope there is another hand washing station for the employees, and that they use it.  Anyway, online reviews of the Gold City Supermarket warn that weekends are madness, especially in the parking lot.  Thankfully, one of the perks of restaurant life is that I have weekdays off, so I can avoid the usual crowds at places like the grocery store, the bank and the post office.  So lucky for Mom and me it was a Tuesday afternoon.  It was busy, but the store wasn't crowded or overwhelmed with shoppers, so we were able to find parking easily, and didn't have to wait in line to check out.

I'm going to have to find a recipe for these!

Yes, that is what it says

A wide array of fresh fish and seafood

Fishmonger wrangling live prawns into a plastic bag for a customer

So, after Mom finished her shopping, we headed next door to a crowded little Chinese bakery so I could finally satisfy my craving for "cha tsu bao," and get another bubble tea, of course.  As I made my way up to the counter, I overheard one of the clerks at the counter was chatting with an older woman.  "There you go mammy," she said as she handed the customer her goods.  "See you next time."  I smiled to myself upon hearing this Latino term of familiarity emerge in a Chinese accent as the clerk addressed a regular customer - an older Caucasian woman picking up some of her favorite Chinese baked goods.  So there was Flushing, summed up in this brief exchange - a deliciously random confluence of culture, food, and language.  Maybe just maybe, there's something to the melting pot theory after all.

Latin Restaurant & Bakery
4141 Main St
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 961-8900

Phô Vietnamese Restaurant
3802 Prince St
Flushing, NY 11354
(718) 461-8686

Gold City Supermarket
4631 Kissena Blvd
Flushing, NY 11355
(718) 762-7688

Comfort Food Pt. 2 : Christmas in New England

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.

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

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

Procedure:

For the pie crust:
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.