HIstamine Haven Maven Luka Symons talks to Barb about her ancestors and how they ate, radical ways to see food, and why senses are crucial for maximum food joy.
Find out more about Luka at https://www.histaminehaven.com/
http://www.lukasymons.com/
Luka's Low Histamine Acadian Tortiere
Recipe by Luka Symons
Serves: 8 | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes, most of it spent stewing the meat
Freshness Tip: Cooking meat from partially frozen will help reduce the histamine. Using your Instant
Pot to cook those meats will also help keep your histamine count down!
Filling:
1200 grams pork shoulder roast, cut into cubes
600 grams beef stew cubes (stage 2) or 600 grams lamb stew or additional pork for stage 1
Filtered water
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds, crushed (optional)
4 large onions, peeled and chopped
For the crust, you can use a store-bought crust that you like (regular wheat or gluten-free – your
choice). Make one big pie instead of small pies as indicated in this recipe.
For those who struggle with complex health issues, or need to reduce the gluten and/or grains in their
life, consider making the cassava crust.
Cassava crust:
1 cup (140 g) cassava flour
1⁄2 cup (100 g) lard, cold
1/8 teaspoon Himalayan or sea salt 5-10 tablespoons ice cold water
1. To make the filling in the instant pot: add your meat and sea salt, along with 1 cup of filtered water
to your insert. Secure the lid and set your timer for 120 minutes. When the time is up, allow the
pressure to release naturally. After 20 minutes, release any remaining pressure. Shred the meat with two
forks. Add in your nigella seeds and sliced onions, securing the lid back on. Cook for another 30
minutes. When the time is up, release the pressure. When it’s safe to do so, remove the lid.
2. To make the filling on the stovetop: add your meat to a big enough pot, along with your sea salt.
Add 2 cups of filtered water. Bring to a simmer on medium heat with the lid on. Reduce your heat to
medium low, stirring often, and cook for 5 hours. Add water if it starts to dry out. Shred with two forks.
Now add your nigella seeds and sliced onions, and continue to cook for 1 more hour on medium low
with the lid on, adding enough water again to keep the mixture moist but not sopping wet. Turn the
stove top off.
3. While your meat is cooking, make your crust (or defrost if using a prepared crust). Pulse the
cassava flour, salt and lard in a food processor until the lard is pea-sized. Add 1 tablespoon of ice water
as you continue to pulse, adding in more ice water one tablespoon at a time until you can press the
mixture together. It will look very crumbly.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 F (180 C). Prepare two sheets of parchment paper. Form the dough into a
ball and press it into a disk on one of the prepared parchment sheet. Place the second sheet of
parchment paper on top of the dough, and roll it out until it is 1/8-1/4” thick. This is to help you roll out
the dough easily, as it will be sticky. Remove the parchment paper.
5. Using your big pie plate or the small individual-sized dishes you’ll be baking your pies in, cut out
rounds from the dough to fit the shape snuggly. These will be your toppers for your pie. (This is a true
deep dish pie, only a topper.)
6. Fill your big pie plate or individual-sized dishes with your prepared meat filling right to the top.
Lay your cut dough rounds on top and decorate if you wish, cutting holes to allow the steam to vent
during cooking time.
7. Put your pie(s) into the preheated oven, and bake for 45 minutes until the top is golden. Serve right
away with colourful seasonal veggies, and a side dipping sauce that agrees with you! This goes very
well with our Histamine Haven Apple Cherry BBQ sauce, or a chutney or relish of your choosing. (At my house, it would always be a zucchini relish!)
Serving Suggestion: This is a low histamine tweak on a very traditional Acadian offering that Histamine Haven Maven Luka’s Grand-Maman would make with her Mom right around late December for Le Réveillon, a traditional French-Canadian celebration on December 24th.
This is the Acadian way to make this very popular meat pie. May the scent wafting from this seasonal
offering be the backdrop to yours and your family’s own deep winter celebrations!
