The following recipe by the Canadian Living Test Kitchen is reprinted with permission from Canadian Living and adapted from its Web site at www.canadianliving.com/. It originally ran in the December 2005 issue. All rights reserved.

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups (375 millilitres) cubed peeled potato
• 2 pounds (1 kilogram) lean ground pork
• 2 cups (500 millilitres) sliced mushrooms
• 3/4 cup (175 millilitres) finely chopped celery
• 3/4 cup (175 millilitres) chicken stock
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoons (4 millilitres) salt
• 1/2 teaspoons (2 millilitres) each pepper, dried savory, and thyme
• 1/4 teaspoons (1 millilitre) each ground cloves and cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• Really Flaky Pastry (for recipe, see www.canadianliving.com/)
• 1 egg yolk

Preparation:

In saucepan of boiling salted water, cover and cook potato until tender, about 12 minutes. Drain and mash; set aside.

Meanwhile, in deep skillet, sauté pork over medium-high heat, mashing with fork, until no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Drain off fat.

Add mushrooms, celery, stock, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, savory, thyme, cloves, cinnamon and bay leaf; bring to boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until almost no liquid remains, about 25 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Mix in potatoes. Let cool.

On lightly floured surface, roll out one of the pastry discs to scant 1/4-inch (5 millimetres) thickness. Fit into 9-inch (23-centimetre) pie plate. Spoon in filling. Roll out remaining pastry. Brush pie rim with water; cover with top pastry and press edge to seal. Trim and flute.

Roll out scraps; cut out holiday shapes. (Make-ahead: Wrap tourtière and shapes separately; refrigerate for up to 24 hours. Or overwrap in heavy-duty foil and freeze for up to 2 weeks; thaw in refrigerator. Add 20 to 30 minutes to baking time, covering with foil after 45 minutes; remove foil for last 10 minutes.)

Mix egg yolk with 2 teaspoons (10 millilitres) water; brush three-quarters over top. Arrange cutouts on top; brush with remaining egg wash. Cut steam vents in top.

Bake in bottom third of 400°F (200°C) oven until hot and golden brown, about 50 minutes.

Servings: 8