Sicard Family Tourtiere

 At first, I thought this recipe might be similar to Shepherd's Pie, as it has meat and potatoes. But the Shepherd's Pie I'm familiar with has mashed potato spread over a meat base. This recipe calls for encasing all the meat and potatoes inside a bottom and a top crust. And I do like the look! The top crust is so inviting, all golden brown. 

Now, I'm rather a fan of Jimmy Dean sausage, myself. The spices are just right, and do not overwhelm the meat. I noticed that this recipe calls for adding spices to plain ground pork. I admit I was tempted to buy Jimmy Dean and skip the recipe spice list, but then I decided I should really try it once as it is written.

I discovered that the spices are a little strong, and a little unusual.  I remember using cinnamon  for a lamb dish, and it actually tasted fine, but in this dish, I was just hankering for a simple meat and potatoes meal. I'm afraid the cinnamon confused my taste buds (I usually associate cinnamon with a sweet).

We ate this meat pie with corn on the cob. Due to the dry weather this summer, the corn kernels were, well, let's just say kinda puny. So, the cinnamon confused me and the corn disappointed. But all is not lost! I am very interested in trying the recipe again, omitting the cinnamon, and dispensing with the top crust in favor of spreading the mashed potatoes over the sausage/hamburg/onion mixture. And, Jimmy Dean will be glad to know, I'll purchase his ground sausage for the second go-round!