not a pretty picture

When I was little, I couldn't wait until Christmas or Thanksgiving to arrive. Sure, there was turkey, but I was always more enamoured with the Tourtière, the French Canadian pork pie that my mom always had on the table. My brother, on the other hand, favoured Pate Chinois which translates into chinese pie but really is nothing of the sort. Pate Chinois is really just shepherd's pie with a French Canadian twist (and the twist, I guess, is the funny name). My mom would make Pate Chinois on those cold, blustery days during the winter and nothing seemed to take the chill out of the air like that bright orange casserole pot coming out of the oven.

Earlier this week, I decided to make some Pate Chinois, but instead of using ground beef like my mom always used, I made it with ground lamb. Either works wonderfully for this very down home stick-to-your-ribs meal.

pate chinois
1 T vegetable oil
1 large onion, diced
1 large carrot, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt & pepper
1 lb ground lamb or beef
2 T flour
1 beef bullion cube
1 c boiling water
1 T worchestershire sauce
1 can of creamed corn
4 potatoes, cubed
milk & butter
paprika
1/4 c grated cheddar cheese

1. In a large pot, boil water and add potatoes. When ready, mash with milk and butter and season with salt & pepper. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large oven proof casserole pot, turn heat on to medium-hot and heat oil. Add in onions, garlic, celery and carrots and stir about until onions are translucent. Add meat and brown until no longer pink and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle flour over meat mixture and stir about well to cook flour. Add in worcherstershire and crumble in a bullion cube and add in 1 cup of boiling water. Stir until a thick gravy forms. Turn off stove.

3. Pour can of corn over meat mixture. Do not mix in as we're going to create layers. Now carefully drop spoonfulls of mashed potato over the corn layer and gently spread about. With a fork, run the tines over the potato to create little rivets which will help to brown the top layer. Sprinkle with paprika and a little grated cheese. Put into a hot oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese melts and gets bubbly and the tops of the potato browns slightly.