Memere’s Meat Stuffing
A Massachusetts family recipe for French-Canadian meat stuffing, seasoned with cinnamon and cloves.
By Yankee Magazine|Nov 22 2021|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanCelebrating a Monson, Massachusetts, family recipe for French-Canadian meat stuffing, seasoned with cinnamon and cloves.
Yield:
6 side servingsIngredients
1 1/2 pounds hamburg (ground beef)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon cloves (or to taste)
Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
In a medium saucepan, cover the potatoes with water, plus a pinch of salt, and boil until easily pierced with a fork. Drain and mash (do not add any butter or milk). Set aside.
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and onions in 1/4 cup water until the beef is no longer pink and the onions are translucent – about 10 minutes.
Add the mashed potatoes to the beef mixture and combine. Add cinnamon, cloves, salt, and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Looking for something like this, it is maybe French Canadian has both beef and pork and made into a loaf and sliced for sandwiches
Do you mean cretons? We used to put it on toast though, not in a sandwich. My gram used to make it, so good.
It may be regional. My grandmother was from Moncton NB, she called it Couton (caw-ton). We would put it on toast as well. Loved it!
This brings back memories. My mother and grandmother made this stuffing. Love it.
Great filling for a pie too!
This is my Memere’s recipe. We all grew up loving this and seing it made it each year. It smells wonderful and the old house on Bethany Road in Monson was filled with all the wonderful smells of her simple, but delicious cooking. This was my mother’s mother. My father’s mother made it exactly the same way except for the spices. She’d didn’t use cinnamon and cloves, but Bell’s Turkey seasoning and it is delivious, as well. My mom would make both to please us all. So funny to see this in print. Memere would laugh and be embarrassed, but maybe secretly just a little proud! Thank you for sharing such a favorite! I made a version for Thanksgiving but I’ll not say which! No playing favorites. Happy holidays!
Ground pork, not ground beef. PERIOD!
There are different ways to make it. My mother made it with 3/4 ground beef and 1/4 ground pork. Celestial!
My mother used all spice..
My great-grandmother had a very different recipe. We love it and still make it for Christmas and Thanksgiving every year. Pork Pie* (Meme’s Recipe: Louise St. Martin (1873-1959), Marlborough, MA)
1 pie crust (top and bottom)
2 cups chopped onions
1 clove crushed garlic (optional)
1 lb. ground pork
1 lb. sausage roll (regular or sage flavored)
1 tsp. salt and ½ tsp. pepper
1 tablespoon of (Bell’s) poultry seasoning
½ cup water
6-8 Saltines, crushed
Extra salt, sage, thyme if needed
Cook and stir onions until soft in a small amount of oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic, if used and cook for about 5 more minutes. Break up the meats into small chunks and cook until all pink color is gone, breaking up any chunks with the edge of a wooden spoon. Add salt, pepper and Bell’s seasoning; cook and stir until well mixed. Cover and cook for about an hour, stirring and breaking up any chunks of meat every 15 minutes or so.
Drain off liquids and separate fat and water layers; discard the fat layer and return the liquid layer to the pan. Cook uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated. Taste and add more salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, sage or thyme if needed. Add the cracker crumbs and mix well. Put into pie crust (or into empty pie pan if you want to freeze the meat for later use.)
Poke holes in the top crust and bake in preheated oven at 400°F for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake until crust browns and juices are bubbling. (½ hour to 45 min.)
*The cooked meat mixture was also used to stuff chickens and turkeys.
Michelle, your Great Grandma’s recipe is very close to my Mother’s Meat Stuffing so for today’s Thanksgiving. Dinner. It was marvelous and tasted so much like hers. She died in 1992 and this is the closest I’ve come to hers. Thank you.
My grandma Georgia was Greek and she made a similar stuffing from ground beef , same spices but added a can of plain tomato sauce to it. She did have relatives in France so perhaps this is where she got the recipe. It is a family favorite that is still made at holiday time.
Still make it it every year. Only use lean ground pork. For stuffing I add Bell’s stuffing mix and a bit of celery just as I’m inserting into bird. Same for cretons only no breading. Lots of alspice, cloves a dash of cinnamon. Non apetit
Always like seeing your magazine publish New England recipes
PLEASE……….it’s called Gauton.you spread it on bread …cold.& my memere`’s family used horsemeat or pork,…with 14 children you use whatever is more plentiful.Gooooooo..Bouchards!
I looked up the word “gauton” but found it spelled as “gorton” in respect to the meat spread. Things often change in translation.
My family always called it gorton too. But I’ve recently seen post from a few cousins calling it creton.
Thank U Diane. All I was looking for was the spelling. I was born here in Massachusetts. I’ve had this maybe 4 times in my life. But I just wanted the spelling I knew how to pronounce it I just didn’t know how to spell it. I Googled hoping I’d find it and it was almost impossible. Then I came on this thread. I was thinking I don’t remember tasting cinnamon in it or potatoes for that matter. It’s the kind of thing that the first like five bites I’m good but after awhile I just can’t eat a lot of it I don’t know what it is I like meat. But thank you so much. My mother’s not a big meat eater so her Thanksgiving stuffing was just Bells the bread that’s not cut broken up butter salt , pepper , water. The only thing I improvised is chicken stock or turkey stock for making my stuffing. But as the lady said before my mother could have used water because of it being cheaper.
south of the mountains it’s gorton. in Quebec, it’s creton.
Meat Stuffing: I have been making it with J.D. Sage seasoned pork sausage in the tube, Mom always used saltines not potatoes, 1lb sausage one tube of saltines added at the end of cooking the sausage, sausage cooked with water and dry most of the water out of the cooking pork…We use the potatoes, cinnamon, clove for the Tourtiere pie…
I was so Happy to find this recipe. My Memé made this every yr mainly for my Pepé since he was from Lowell, Ma. Like the woman b4 said My mom made both to please us all. When my Memé passed away I couldn’t find this recipe to make for my dad. She also didn’t use the cinnamon n spices. Making this for Christmas for my Pepé I know he’ll Love it as much as I will making it for him! Thanks for this gracious post! It brought back so many Wonderful memories of a time filled with Love, Health & Happiness! Merry Christmas & God Bless ??
It’s good hear about this stuffing again I’ve been looking for this for the past 20+ years! My Mother never used a cookbook except for baking everything was in her head. She Learn this from Ma Mere Bouvier who always made it for Thanksgiving & Christmas. My Mother was 1st Generation American, My Bouvier Grandparents were Canadian from Trois Rivieres in Quebec Province. This is an Old Canadian Recipe, Ma Mere brought here in her head. All my Mother ever called it was her Hamburger Stuffing and is a whole different kettle of fish than the Canadian Christmas Eve dish Tortiere ( Meat Pie) made with half Hamburg & half ground pork or breakfast sausage or on occasion with venison or moose. As someone said, you use what you have. The first time I made Tortiere I had to buy pork Chops & grind them because none of the stores carried ground pork for meat loaf. The seasonings are allspice, Cinnamon, Nutmeg/Mace, cloves for Tortiere while many have said the seasoning for her Hamburger Stuffing were onions, celery, Bell’s Seasoning, salt & Pepper. She used to sauté about 5 lb Hamburger until it was well browned. Drain off the liquid & the fat & set the meat to drain somemore. Then add a couple tablespoons of bacon drippings to the pan & brown the onions & celery, then added the meat back, added the seasonings, & a couple of sleeves of saltines (my Tourtiere Pie uses small diced potatoes). She always made enough to stuff a 25-28lb Turkey & a casserole dish for a meatloaf style meal. The leftovers she made sandwiches with cold stuffing for My Father & Grandpere to take to work! Sometimes she’d heat leftover stuffing & leftover gravy & served it on toast for supper. They moved to Worcester from Trois Rivière before the Depression & To Brockton sometime around the Crash so Grandpere could get work as a Machinist in the Shoe Factories. Ma Mere became ill soon after was bedridden by the time my Mother was 7-8 grade. She was able to stay in school, while her 2 brothers quit & went to work. Her eldest sister was many years older, married & lived 2 towns away while working full time in a factory. My Mother managed school, the house, cared for Ma Mere, & a full time job too. Times were hard in the
Depression so every body got what work they could for what it paid. I believe the reason widely various recipes for both the meat stuffing, the loaf, the sandwiches & the Tortiere Pie have come about with the moving about at those times, the non written recipes, the hard times, herbs & spices were kind of lost or scrambled by the depression,.followed by the restrictions of WW2. My parents married in 1942 & scrounged a living by both working . Ma Mere died in 1943 & Grandpa Coy in 1946, Grandpere moved in with them. They were hard times I know my Mother got out of the habit of using herbs & spices, because they just weren’t available & were not really back to normal until the early 1950’s. The spice islands were badly trashed in WW2 & planters had to rebuild from scratch. Much relocation in the years from WW1 through the 1920’s & 1930’s, & 1940’s changed the way everyone lived & worked. Many of my Mothers Family were reshuffled from Worcester in 1954 when the Tornado ripped that whole area to shreds. Some were lost to the storm. Some were also moved by the destructive 1938 hurricane. Plus many. Shifted about after WW2. Lifestyles changed a great deal & more convenience foods came out. Many Children came along after the War too. The Baby Boomer Generation. So things got switched around from lack of money, lack of availability,
Shortages. Cooking did not get handed down Mother to Daughter. Cookbooks got into common uses & many family recipes probably missed full connection or were completely lost! Some were reconstructed from bits pieces. My Mother did teach my sister & I the old way, But It was not the same for many. Then Grandpere died in 1962 & we relocated to farm in Northern NH & learned organic farming & lived of the land, chickens, goats, The use of tomatoes, spaghetti, meatballs, pizza & etc. Came home with Men returning home after WW2 having had Italian in mess hall. Not to mention the mass exodus from a very trashed Europe. While many things we never had used before came with them! Sausages, cheeses, tomatoes, & cuisines we had never run across much before were getting shared about. So, nobodies recipe is right or wrong really we all have fragments & reconstructed things from memory along with whole new ideas & concepts, like Campbell’s Soup Casseroles, Frozen food. Chinese food, Pizza, & Italian, Polish, Julia Childs, Seafood etc stirred the multi ethnic cookpot quite well & barbecues & cookouts lent a hand. I’ve enjoyed this interaction tonight. I finally got Mother’s recipe straight again, the bacon drippings! That’s what was missing! Regards to all . MA from Boston MA
❤️?❤️‼️
I can relate to your story..I am from the Trois-Rivieres area myself, and yes,many traditional French Canadian recipes have evolved with the years…my mother made tourtieres, cipate (layers of differents meats,vegetables and dough in between) that would cook overnight and part of the day on Christmas when most of her family would come over, and often with a Turkey.I don’t remember them bringing much food, my mom would start baking in November and freeze her “sugar” pies etc… But to this day, I’ve never heard of a stuufing that looks like “creton” ,which I still make here in CT . My sons love cretons and tourtiere in winter time. But is is true that there is no such thing as one food culture anymore:)
Great story. I married into a very similar French Canadian family and Memeres stuffing also used the saltines. All have since passed but my family always asks for the “meat” stuffing. It took me years to figure out the recipe and it never is just like hers. Happy Holidays.
you answered a question I was curious about. why my mother never put spices in gorton or the tourtiere except for salt and pepper. the availability of spices was difficult to obtain during and after the war, and that was the time my mother would be cooking for the family she married into. very interesting. thank you.
My mum born in raised in Bolton England. She made a meat dressing with 1/2 burger and 1/2 ground pork, onion, potato, sage. Boil together with just enough water to cover. Can’t overcook this stuff. Mash with a potato masher and thicken with crushed saltine crackers. Christmas Eve, we would have what my mum called, sage and onion dressing sandwiches, I now make it for my family. It wouldn’t be Christmas without it.
My mem and mom use to make this for thanksgiving and Christmas. Our family recipe was hamburg, onion, pitatoes(not mashed but smashed), salt pepper and bell seasoning. The secret was to add juices from turkey as it cooked. This is the original Rhode Island French way.
same exact recipe as my mother in law used to make.
I loved reading all the comments. I am also from French Canadian parentage, raised in Manville, RI where my father came to find work around 1940. Most of the town and surrounding area were heavily French Canadian because the local textile mills used to send agents to recruit workers from the farms in Canada. Both of my parents were raised in Cohoes, NY, another big mill community with French Canadian workers.
These recipes were almost identical to the ones I was brought up with. We always called the pork spread Gortons. I was surprised to see them called Cretons in Quebec.
Thank you all for sharing your memories. It reminded me of the days when I had memere and pepere, lots of matantes and mononcles. Now my sisters and I are the memere, mim, and grammies in the crowd, and we are still making the same dressings as our mother did, both the meat and potato version and the bread dressing with sauteed onions and celery and Bell’s Poultry seasoning.
Loved these comments and recipes! I grew up in a French Canadian family in southeastern Massachusetts (my father grew up in Providence) and ‘French dressing’ was our mainstay during the holidays. My mother made the hamburg/sausage version (3:1 ratio) with onion, celery, potatoes and bells seasoning. The Irish family I married into don’t appreciate it quite as much but there have been some converts. (We also have bread stuffing for the Irish folks and my vegan daughter). Tourtiere was another holiday tradition—Christmas eve after Mass and New Year’s Day. We make ours with pork, hamburger, and potato but other family members used all pork and cracker crumbs. I have been collecting tourtiere recipes for many years now and never ceased to be amazed at the many variations. The holidays just aren’t the holidays without these classics. Bon appétit!
Memes famous pork pie-also stuffing w/extra mix
checked out your recipes since I am making both the stuffing and gorton as I type. I am 100% French Canadian as was my wife who has passed on so I have to do it my self now. I have 2 daughters who make these 1 who doesn’t like much meat. my wife’s family made both like my family but honestly was a much better cook than my side. we grew up in southern NH . south of the notches they call pork spread gorton, in Quebec they call it creton but its really the same. we sed all ground pork with salt pepper and cloves. cover meat with enough water to cover. most Canadianw recipes use milk instead of water as do I. every local market used to sell it when I was a kid but each place made it slightly different maybe a little cinamen allspice or nutmeg. my wife never used anything but cloves. she said nutmeg made everything taste like doughnuts. no right or wrong and like your other readers said very few written recipes, girls learned from their moms. as for the stuffing it was called du farce was pork cooked with an onion potatoes and sage as only spice always added at the end and as someone previously said you can’t over cook either. both cook on stove low heat for 2 to 3 hours. just don’t burn it. enjoy your Canadian culture. now i’m pepere.
am Originally from mexico but I was marry to a girl that come from fall river Ma. and she shoed me how to appreciate the good food from new England she use to make all that good food for me and thats why I was looking for that recipe but thanks to all of you to have all this recipes with that it comes right close to what she use to make for as at Christmas and thanksgiving thanks to all you comers. I will let you know how came out when I make it on till then sin out.
I grew up with this and it is a favorite of one of my brothers. We always referred to it as hamburger dressing. I still make it and actually just finished making a small batch. I was curious when my brother told me that he meet a lady from Boston that made it too. He mentioned it was fairly similar in taste. I decided to do some browsing and found this. The only difference is I have never used pork in mine. It was passed down from my grand mother and mother who were French Canadian though it was never written down. My mother taught me to make it years ago. She made it every year when she was still with us (it’s been 26 years since she passed). I guess I need to pass this on to the rest of the family.
I’m reading all about this recipe and the ones who replied to the comments. It mad my heart sing and brought bac k such fond memories of my dear mother who passed away in 1987 at the age of almost 91. She used to make our home smell soooo good when she made these Canadian meat pies. She was also born in Trois Rivieres in Canada. I never got her recipe and wished I could have gotten it before she passed. I have relatives in Chazy, NY who I’m going to contact and see if they have her original recipe, as they are also French Canadian. I just wanted to say that reading all of these replies made me very; happy reliving my childhood. My children often talk about my mother who they also called Memere. Such good times and memories!!!! Thank you for everyone who made my heart sing!
My grandmother was born in Pierreville, adjacent Trois Rivieres. The recipe that was handed down to her was 1 lb hamburg, 2 potatoes, 1 onion, salt & pepper- simmer in a pot til potatoes are fork-tender. Mash together and add bells seasoning to taste. add bread crumbs if soupy.
For creton- about the same.. but add garlic to the simmer. Add a dash of bells seasoning & mustard
My parents were first generation American born French Canadians from Fall River, Mass. They moved to CT during the depression after they were married to find work. Mom would make the Canadian Meat Stuffing twice a year. She would start it cooking very early in the morning & the smell was yummy to wake up to!! She only wrote the ingredients down after I was married for me with no measurements! It was 1/2 grnd. beef, 1/2 grnd. pork, onions, potatoes, the neck, & heart, etc.just covered with water, put on the lid & let it simmer for hours. She would removed the neck & add the meat to the pot & dice up the other “innerds”., with salt & pepper. Then mash down the potatoes & add Pepperage Farms stuffing to sop up the liquid, then stuff the bird. She also made pork pies which had potatoes, onions a dash of cinnamon & nutmeg, but never any sausage! Put into pie crust which came out very flaky & tender due to some of the fat from the meat. She usually made that for New Years & a few times during the winter. She also made gauton very similar,but woud place it in a square enamel pan & push it together so the fat would rise to the top & cover & chill it, We would eat it on bread, toasted or not & I remember putting a bit of ketchup on mine as a kid!! My parents lived in a French area for many years & my brother & sister & I all went to the neighborhood parochial school which taught us French. We live in FL now & have several friends from New England who are French Canadian too & we have compared recipes.
After reading all these comments I have finally found out where my grandmothers recipe for stuffing came from. We were not French Canadian but my Lebanese grandparents settled in Worcester MA. Every year for the holidays my grandma made this stuffing. It was unusual because she added mashed potatoes, croutons, bells seasoning, allspice and pork sausage to her stuffing. It’s not thanksgiving without it but for the life of me I could never figure out where she got this idea. Grafton hill had a lot of French Canadians and she must have learned from one of them. She passed in 1966 but my mother continue doing it and now I do for my family.
My grandma & mother both came from Grafton Hill & always made meat stuffing, the only difference I see is they both did onions & celery with Bells seasoning they used hamburger with pork, I’ve changed it a bit over the years with a meatloaf mix of hamburger,pork and veal. My kids ask for it every Thanksgiving ????
I was so happy to see this recipe and all the comments about the meat stuffing mix and the gorton mix. My mother also would make these and i was never really sure how to make them. She passed in 2010 and i haven’t had either of them since. Now i’m so happy to be able to give it a try. By the way, i too come from a french family. I just have a question about the seasoning. For the stuffing mix, i would use the poultry seasoning and for the gorton, i would use Allspice seasoning. For the meat stuffing, would i use just ground beef or ground beef and ground pork? For the gorton, would i use just ground pork or both pork and beef? I love gorton on toast and gorton sandwiches. I can’t wait till i’m able to make both these dishes. Happy Holidays!
I grew up in MA and am 3/4 French Canadian. My mom was a wonderful cook and made both toutiere (which we called tootcare!) and meat stuffing every year in late November for the holidays. Two meat stuffing casseroles (one for Thanksgiving, one for Christmas) and two pies. She died in 1992 and I’ve made the same almost every year since then. We use a ratio of 3 to 1 ground beef/ground pork and use saltine crackers instead of potatoes. No cinnamon, but a bit of cloves. The aroma of this mixture cooking is the epitome of the holidays for me. I never knew others made this meat stuffing, though I did know others made toutiere. I put the meat for the tourtiere in 2 gallon freezer ziplocks and freeze until ready to bake, then defrost in refrig (1-2 days) then out into double pie crust and bake. Meat stuffing is my 42 year old son’s favorite side dish at the holidays and the first thing he looks for on the table.
I am also Canadian French
On both sides of my family grew up in Upton Massachusetts Can I remember the meat stuffing oh beat stuffing uh I still make it today the best part was at diet but we would have left over turkey and stuffing in cranberry sandwiches
My family is of French-Canadian descent and my mother made this every Thanksgiving. I never knew there was a bread-based stuffing until I started dating my future wife whose mother made the kind of stuffing the rest of America enjoys. Interestingly though my wife makes a delicious meat pie at Christmas, a French-Canadian tourtiere, which is the Thanksgiving meat stuffing in a pie form. C’est si bon!
My mother didn’t make it quite this way, but just looking at the picture makes me salivate like a Pavlovian dog. I haven’t had this fantastic viand in years, since I married a swamp yankee and she makes bread stuffing.
That stuffing looked familiar to me as well and my french canadian mother married a swamp yankee never heard anyone use that term except my father whose passed some years ago.
When we make tourtiere or french canadian meat stuffing we cook the meat much longer. Like a cup or 2 of water and it takes about 3 hours to simmer off and that extra effort is worth it.
my mom would start it 2 days before thanksgiving, then random taste tests would spontaneously happen with aunts and uncles stopping by, and having a beverage …. the house smelled so good. fun holiday memories because of French meat stuffing. Mine is starting now.
I was born in Massachusetts and enjoyed this meat stuffing every Thanksgiving and Christmas. Though the recipe is basicly the same both Memere and my Mother would have 2 lbs of beef and 1 lb of pork ground together by their favorite market. The spices differed in that they used salt, pepper and poultry seasoning. Cinnamon was up to the cook’s taste. The picture at the beginning of this article looks so familiar that I can taste it. My Mother used this same stuffing when she made stuffed pumpkin every fall. After cutting a cap out of the top of the pumpkin and removing all seeds she would stuff it with the meat stuffing, replace the cap and bake it in a shallow pan of water. It was delicious and is part of our collection of favorite recipes.
Thanks for this article,
Rick O’Neal
Your the first person I’ve heard of that also had stuffed pumpkin! I use a variation of this recipe also and I use it to make stuffed pumpkin too. Leftover stuffing is always the best.
I love it cold in a sandwich.
I make stuffed pumpkin with this recipe every Fall. Recipe came from my memere – NE CT.
I have been searching for memeres meat pie and stuffed pumpkin. For the stuffed pumpkin, I know she did a meat mixture. I believe she also had rutabaga and carrots in it. Please share your stuffed pumpkin recipes and meat pie. Thank you
Does anyone have a recipe for couton?
My mom would use ground pork – not very lean or very fatty ground pork, put it in a sauce pan and cover it with water and add an onion, some ground cloves and cinnamon, salt and pepper. Let it simmer for over an hour and make sure it has enough water in it to keep it simmering. After 1 1/2 hours or so add a little more cinnamon and cloves to bring it back up to taste. It has to have just enough liquid in it for the fat to rise to the top. After it cools on the counter put it in the fridge and you should see the fat on top. I love it on toast.
My French Canadian Memere made this dressing often. I remember the sandwiches with ketchup and also the smell of cloves. Haven’t had this in years but it time to try something old again! So glad this recipe was shared.
My French-Canadian mom in Fall River MA made the best gourton (creton) ground pork pate for sandwiches and the Thanksgiving pork/potato stuffing which she called “faure.” The stuffing was always my favorite and I always blended in cranberry sauce to make it a real treat. Yummy! Bon Appétit! ????????????????
indeed we always mixed it with whole cranberry sauce at the table…. great stuff
My French-Canadian Mom’s side of the family are all from Fall River! I still have cousins there! Creton and Tourtiere are the best!
Ew.
omgoodness…my French-Canadian Memere made both Cretons as well as stuffing for the turkey which as almost the same flavor. However, I remember the stuffing was made with both pork AND beef and was obviously eaten hot, just out of the turkey! Nothing in the world smells as heavenly as Cretons at the holidays! I make my cold Cretons sandwiches with a layer of cranberry sauce on the bread!
my gorton is cooking on the stove right now. in my family, because my pepere had gut issues, my mother didn’t use many spices for gorton. just salt and pepper. but on thanksgiving, she would mix the gorton with plain mashed potatoes to make ‘fort’, which i think if from farce (stuffing). anyway, we would have the fort, which was mashed potatoes, gorton mashed into it and seasoned with bell’s as seasoning. yum. i am using this recipe thursday. my aunt would bring the meat stuffing in a pyrex dish to our thankgiving. everyone had a specialty. tourtiere is at christmas after midnight mass. but this year, no mass, it will be for breakfast on christmas morning. nice to hear everyone’s stories. good to keep the traditions going.
The proper spice is Summer Savory, Many also use Bell’s Seasoning, But the original recipe from Canada uses Summer Savory, And also the mix of pork and beef. Never tryed it with the sausage, but sounds good.
Oh, the pleasure I had reading all of the “stuffing “ letters! I am eighty-two years now so I have plenty of years enjoying
Many kinds of both bread and French-Canadian stuffing. Would be hard pressed to pick a favorite! So happy all of these ladies shared their stories!
My Mother was from upstate New York and she made the meat stuffing and passed the recipe down to her children – I am a Massachusetts native and I make it every T’giving and Christmas with ground pork and hamburg and my children make it also. My daughter makes the meat pie and the stuffing. The smell of it cooking is a great treat. I can no longer partake of the treat because of allergies but the smell is enough for me.
I use bread stuffing mix as the binder, 1 lb hamburg drained, 1 lb sweet/hot sausage not drained, 2 lbs of meatloaf mix (hamburg, pork and veal)… one pack of stuffing mix made to recipe…. mix it all together, add the same spices as above with some garlic…. and you have my Mom’s kicked up stuffing.
Like many of French Canadian decent only knew meat stuffing at Thanksgiving. Grew up in the Worcester/Shrewsbury MA area. Still a favorite in our family and so glad that the next generation is already making sure they know how to make gramma’s stuffing. Ground beef, potatoes, onion, Bell Seasoning, salt, pepper and of course turkey drippings. Always made more than enough (5lbs beef/5 lbs potatoes) for leftovers which was the best with turkey gravy and homemade cranberry sauce. It seemed like turkey was just the excuse to make stuffing. Stuffing was not to be confused with Tookay (pork pie) for Christmas. My grandmother and mother were master pie bakers and kept the tookay simple. Twice-ground pork, onions, salt and pepper. Serve Christmas Eve with dill pickles on the side. Would usually make ahead and freeze which just deepened the flavor.
May memere made meat stuffing and I remember that as a young child – that recipe is lost, but we Pork Pie is essential for Christmas Eve. It was my dad’s family tradition (Pelletier from Woonsocket, RI) and my Irish mom continued the tradition, and now I make the Pork Pies. Always served with dill pickles – and ketchup.
Happy to hear someone else use the term Tookay! My husband’s family was from Worchester, originally French Canadian, and they have always called it Tookay. A must have for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and sometimes New Year’s as well.
It’s fun to see others with the same food traditions. You probably meant tourtiere not Tookay. It’s the Canadian meat pie similar to the Canadian meat stuffing. Meat stuffing on thanksgiving and meat pie on Christmas. We’re also from Mass. I see some used crackers. My family only used crackers to thicken. Meat, potatoes, Bells seasoning, cloves and/or allspice. My mom added celery to the stuffing. Delicious with homemade cranberry sauce next to it on the plate!
Tourtiere! Our favorite! Thank you for the memories – we make my grandmother’s Canadian turkey stuffing and meat pie every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The tourtiere is something I’ve been experimenting with – can’t find my Mother’s recipe. Thank you for the great memories!!!! We never used crackers in the stuffing – only potatoes, Bell’s Seasoning, salt and pepper! So good!
I grew up in Mendon,MA an am french canadian we call meat pie tookay and always had it new years day, but we had meat stuffing as well.
M mother used to make a version of this with just pork common crackers and sage for the stuffing, cooked with a bit if celery during the simmering nothing else, the recipe she used to use for tourtiere would be with pork potatoes and a bit of cinnamon, nothing else. I don’t care for pork pie but I loved my mothers pork stuffing I still can’t seem to make mine turn out like hers!
A little to the west of most of you, my great grandparents were early settlers of Iron Mountain, MI, from Canada. My Mom made this as a side dish at the holidays and she and Gram called it “Fode” Any ideas on this name? Google wasn’t much help
My dad was from Ironwood,MI. His grandmother was French Canadian and we also ate “fode” with every holiday meal. We have recently wondered about the name as well and just thought maybe it was a thing my dads family called it, but now I see we are not alone. My siblings and I are all comforted to know that there is someone else out there that knows what fode is! Haha! Maybe our great grandparents are related and just passed down that slightly strange name for meat dressing. Haha!
Just across the Detroit River from you in Windsor Ontario, my dad carried on his mother’s French Canadian stuffing recipe, almost identical to this one. The family carries on the tradition. I also use it for my meat pie recipe (tourtière). My idea about the word “fode” is that it might be derived from a mispronunciation of the French word “farce”, which means stuffing.
we called it farce or force pronounced in french never saw it spelled, recently found it came from french word meaning to stuff “farce”, i am 69 and both my family and my wife s family made it the same 50/50 mix of ground pork boiled on stove top add 3/4 potatoes 1/2 onions cooked slowly 3hours mashing frequently just before done add salt and pepper only spice used was sage maybe 2 tps to taste
That’s what we called it faul I was wondering if you had the recipe I have been looking for years for it
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My Mere used to make tourtiere, she was Acadian and eventually came back to Canada, but she also made a pork side meal that all us grandkids use to lap up, as the parents ate the tourtiere. I also have been looking for the recipe we called it faul … I was wondering if you could send me the recipe for your Gorton.
My paternal great-grandmother was French Canadian and she made a meat stuffing very similar to this recipe. No potatoes or cinnamon in her recipe, though. Instead, she used saltine cracker crumbs and sage. My Dad still makes her stuffing to this day. I’m not much of a stuffing person but out of all of them, my Great Grandma’s French Canadian one is the best.
I still make my French Canadian grandmother’s & my Moms meat stuffing. My children are now making it. My grandchildren love it. So I guess they will make it as well.
This is the only stuffing I will eat. Memere always made it and my family carries on the tradition. We use half pork and half beef. Love it!
I grew up in Brockton, Massachusetts. This is the only stuffing we eat on Thanksgiving. My maternal French-Canadian grandmother (ne Cloutier) made it with half ground pork and half ground beef, potatoes, a little bit of sage, and Pepperidge Farm stuffing mix. My mother made it for years, too. And now she has passed on the recipe to my brother and me. The tradition lives on.
I would love to know the recipe. Your mom passed out I’m trying to find a recipe to make on Thanksgiving of meat stuffing if you could please email it to me at Aprilknightly123456@gmail.com thanks so much
I was born in Brockton as a Beliveau. My Pepere also made this stuffing but we called if foudre (not sure the speloing is correct, but my family makes it still today.
So happy to find this recipe.and read all the comments. My Memere use to make a meatpie that sounds simular to this. Does anyone have that recipe? She also made stuffed pumpkin, I remember flavors and look but I dont recall how she made it. Thank you
Oh my goodness, absolutely love this! I grew up in Virginia, but my parents are French Canadian and grew up in New England. Funny story…when I was in elementary school the lunch menu stated “turkey and stuffing” I was so excited, only to be terribly disappointed to discover some kind of bread mashed up on my plate. I went home and explained to my mother that I had lunch but it was missing the stuffing and had something strange on my plate instead. She laughed and explained to me that the bread stuff was their style of stuffing. It actually took me years to acquire a taste for their strange stuffing…lol I used to ask my mother about the recipes and she would always say it was just something they always made, I didn’t realize it was an actual French Canadian recipe until I was an adult and saw it in a magazine. We always had the stuffing for Thanksgiving, had it stuffed in pie as a pork pie, had it stuffed in a pumpkin and baked, and also had it stuffed in bell peppers! We also had it mixed with cream corn and she called it “Chinese Pot Pie.” When I asked her about that recipe, she said it was just her way of making their version of Shepherds Pie. Once again years later, I discovered that it was “Pate Chinois” that she was referring to. I have since passed the tradition down to my children. And every fall they anxiously await stuffed pumpkin night! And one of my daughter-in-laws makes it now also…love the traditions being kept alive. On a side note, anyone else grow up eating “dynamite sauce” on buns?
I always thought dynamite was just something my mom made up. Like you yrs later I found it in a magazine. My mom’s cookbook disappeared when they moved to assisted living. It had my Memere’s hand written recipes from the late 1800’s. We have amassed a few index card recipes that mom shared with other relatives, but that book was a treasure. Maybe someone will share memere’s treasures and publish a book.
In Woonsocket, RI, you can get a dynamite sandwich. It’s one of those extremely local dishes.
I bave been looking for this! Thank you so much! My great grandparents came from Quebec. I never got to meet them. My uncle used to make this eveey year. I think he quadrupled it!!! He did the pork beef ratio. Always a huge pot. The evening before we always had tje hamburger stuffing sandwiches, then of course the rest for Thanksgiving day. I making this week!
You MUST be from Woonsocket because dynamites are a local specialty! Some people describe them as Sloppy Joe Subs but they are much more than that. Really great!
my mother’s mother made this stuffing with the potatos. my father’s mother user bread soaked in milk. the meat pie[tookay] was crushed butterthin crackers. no cinnamon or cloves in the stuffing only in tookay. bells seasoning for the stuffing.my siblings and I make these every year. loved allthe little differences that make each family tradition.
My family is french canadian from nova scotia and it is called tookay.
My husband’s family is French Canadian & that’s what they called it too. Big deal after midnight mass.
I grew up on meat pies made by my Memere. She would lovingly stuff her turkey with this delicious aromatic concoction. After our feast she would use the leftover stuffing and bits of turkey and encase it in her delicious flaky pastry. We would have it for our evening meal which was shared with relatives and friends. What memories! I too have had my ancestry traced back to the early 1600s in Quebec and France. Oh, I too have four grandparents who were Canadian French. Only my paternal grandmother made this stuffing abs meat pies. She was the better cook. Loved them both. I will be making this real soon.
The Canadian word for the pie is tourtiere. I don’t use clove in mine. I use poultry seasoning and cinnamon. Mashed potato is used as a thickening agent. My daughter is celiac, so I will be making this in place of our usual bread stuffing.
I learned how to make tookay from my memere an the stuffing from my mother. We had tookay on New Years day and the stuffing every Thanksging and Christmas. We used ground beef sausage onions and garlic celery salt and pepper and bell seasoning all ground with old fashion grinder and mixed with mashed potatoes . Then stuffed in turkey and extra would cook later with drippings from turkey . we also used all giblets (heart,liver,etc through grinder and mixed in stuffing) I add a little fresh garlic and accent.
Tourtière… not tokay (unless it’s an anglicization of the French Canadian term for French Canadian meat pie. Not to get into family pedigree, but my Mom would agree with that description and she grew up in Montréal before moving to RI in the French Canadian enclaves in this state.
My family and I have been trying to find this recipe forever. I am 86 and the last remaining member of the family. My mother was widowed with 5 children in 1930 and I was the 4th of 5. She was so busy that she had no time to show us much of anything and thus the recipe was not passed down. She died in 1983 at age 85 but by that time I was married and we used my husband’s family (Hungarian) recipe for the turkey. I do remember that the dressing was very bland and I would always eat it with cranberry sauce. Brings back so many memories. We have traced my mother’s family (Charest/Charette) back to Quebec – 1643! My father (Rochon) was born in Montreal and we traced his family back to 1649. So my Canadian roots are very long and deep. They spoke French at home but he died when I was only 5 so that was lost, unfortunately. I am thankful for all the ladies who made comments. It helps me to put together so many memories of my youth. My son came upon this while looking up a French recipe for his wife who is French and from Lewiston, Maine. She makes tourtiere every Thanksgiving and Christmas.
What a sweet story! I, too, have lost my mom (I was only 33) and connection to our French Canadian heritage. I’m so glad you found this recipe! I’ll be making it on Wednesday night!
Wow Mary! What amazing story. Tracing roots back to 1649?? Holy cow! Glad you were able to find this recipe. (Ps my Memere used the pork/beef mixture).
Such a wonderful story. My dad (French) would make meat stuffing every year just before Thanksgiving. It was always an event in my house. He would make enough for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, ensuring enough was made for pies. It was the best part of my holiday dinners! Thankfully, for about 5 years before he passed, he would guide me with making the stuffing. Mind you, there was no recipe; he would smell it to make sure it was right. His recipe includes celery along with the onion, no cinnamon-just cloves, and Bells Seasoning (along with salt and pepper). He would use the fat from cooking the meat to add to the potatoes! (That’s one part I leave out!) I will be making it again this year in his memory.
Hi Mary,
My maiden name is Charette.
My brother did our family tree in 2000 & traced our family back to Quebec in 1643. The man was born, in France, in 1624. Reading the information is very interesting. Dave did a great job putting our family tree together.
My mom (Her maiden name was Langlois) used to make a stuffing for the turkey that was made with ground beef, sage, onion, salt & pepper. Her mom made it, as well.
I like it much better than bread dressing.
Take good care of yourself, Mary.
I am very impressed by your work and would love to know more. Alas, through the generations my Québécois heritage has weakened (and I have no culinary treasures!!), but I am happy to be part of it. Did you use the Drouin Index for your family research? My g-g-grandfather (Joseph Theodore Cloutier) came down from Napierville/St Bernard de Lacolle (near Montreal, I think) to eastern Michigan (via either the St Lawrence and/or far upstate NY) in the mid-1800s. I was able to get back to the late 1700s, but between the splotchy handwritten entries, the fading of the records, French (I can read some of it but it’s not strong), AND the very common surname Cloutier, I just got stymied. Anyway, wonderful notes and great recipes here.
I had so much fun reading all of the different ways to make this wonderful dish!! Thank you all for sharing in your traditions!
Loved all these wonderful stories! Growing up this was our Thanksgiving stuffing & I Love It! Hamburg & ground pork, celery, onion, pepper, onion salt & lots of Bells Seasoning, potatoes, if still soupy a little cracker meal. Mom made it the day before & would make me a stuffing sandwich when done. On my Dad’s side we have roots in Quebec. I made the French stuffing early on in my marriage but my husband’s bread stuffing that he grew up with won out. Sometimes I would make both. After reading this I have such a craving I am going to make it this weekend to enjoy with my Thanksgiving leftovers!
I know this recipe as Gorton (French pronunciation) and got the recipe from our French Canadian neighbors who served it like pate with crackers at the holiday get togethers. Very distinctive with the cinnamon and clove and always delicious!
The Groton is a little different and is made with a layer of pork fat or lard on top. My family has been making it as far back as my family goes in Quebec. It is a favorite of mine.
My Mere used to make tourtiere, she was Acadian and eventually came back to Canada, but she also made a pork side meal that all us grandkids use to lap up, as the parents ate the tourtiere. I also have been looking for the recipe we called it faul … I was wondering if you could send me the recipe for your Gorton.
Connie we call it faul (fo) too! Mom doesn’t know why. But we love it and converted quite a few friends????
Tourtieres and meat Stuffing, Quebec to Fall River/Central Falls
Enjoyed writing “memories of Memere and Mom”. I learned great French-Canadian cooking for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Memere wanted me to help her but I think I was a pain.
This article was great!
I thought my mother created this recipe herself. I couldn’t believe I found this. We are Portuguese/Irish from Acushnet Ma. THE best part of Thanksgiving was the dressing. My mother would use hamburg cooked with onion, half a bag of Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing, 6 slices of white bread torn up, a 14oz chicken broth, sprinkle with poultry seasoning & add a 1/2 stick of butter. Half in the bird & 1/2 on the stove.
My husband’s diet cannot include white potatoes. Do U think I could use parsnips or sweet potatoes? I’m concerned it might change the flavor, these are both a little sweet but do combine with the spices
Ty for any responses!!
I would use milk crackers
My mother was from Acushnet. Her family name was Gonneville. My father was a Medeiros from New Bedford. My mom never used this as a stuffing but made a fabulous meat pie with the same ingredients!
Mary,
My paternal grandmother’s family name was Charest (also from Quebec but moved to New Hampshire)!
In my family we use ground pork, not ground beef. Also potatoes, onions, poultry seasoning, and cloves. We stuff the turkey with it and make pies. We have always called it “toucaire,” but I imagine it’s a regional name.
My Mom made it with pork & beef. I only use pork. Pork used to be very fatty, but now it’s almost too lean. I get it at tge Nexican market, they grind it & it has perfect amount of fat. Only poultry season, no cloves. Only use cloves in tourtiere for New Years eve.
We always made it with pork and beef also. Still make it every year. It’s a tradition….
Rosemarie, My maiden name is Charest! My dad was from Rhode Island with ancestors from Quebec. We always had the stuffing for Thanksgiving, also in Pies, and stuffed and baked in a pumpkin. A delicious tradition that I’ve passed on to my kids and grandkids.
I still make my mother’s stuffing with ground pork, onions, cinnamon, salt and bread. She was Québécois and I loved her dearly after all these years. Everyone loves her stuffing!
Thank you for posting this and for everyone who commented, really brought me back to my childhood. I also thought this was just a strange dish that my mémère made and no one else knew about. I got her recipe and it was a little different. She used crackers to thicken instead of potatoes. My immediate family doesn’t eat meat, so I’m going to start working on a mushroom version of this which I think would make it still pretty French Canadian!
I make my mother’s stuffing sausage hamburger pork sausage bread the only thing I cannot get it to stick together so every year I decide not to make it but I end up making it
I searched for this “recipe” for years! I’ve come to realize that there isn’t a “recipe” but there are tons of traditions. I was born in RI as were my parents…French Canadian father and Irish mother…and my food memories are centered around the French side. Meat pie and meat stuffing are top among them but because we moved to MI in the 50’s and only returned to New England for brief visits, my Irish mother only made the stuffing so the meat pie is a only vague memory. Oddly, she never used potatoes which makes no sense because she loved her “padaydahs”! My iteration of her version is simply onions, celery, and carrots cut/processed finely and sauteed in lots of butter, ground beef, stuffing mix, sage, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper, and broth to moisten…it’s all done by “feel/taste”, no measurements at all, which makes it difficult to share with those who have been converted from bread stuffing! LOL It would not be Thanksgiving without it! I’ve loved reading the comments from all the French Canadian descendants of Memeres and Peperes, like me…especially the one who attended a parochial school taught by French nuns. Mine was Good Shepard in Uxbridge, MA.
My Meme and Pepe (Olivina and Freddie Cloutier) taught my grandmother, who married their son Alfred Cloutier, to make this recipe. We use pork, and sirloin (ground), cloves, all spice, secret others, onions, garlic and mushrooms – simmer for an hour or more. Cool, Ritz Crackers crumbled (I use quinoa as I have celiac and honestly, it takes to to a whole new level of wonderful) and stuff that bird. It comes to me via my very French via Canada – great grandmother and great grand father, who lived in Winchester, NH. #OregonGirl
My grandmother’s maiden last name was Cloutier. Never thought I would see that name again. She makes hers the same way. I make this every year also.
It is call tourtières the meat pie more or less same recipes for the stuffing
Mom used ground pork butt I grew up on tourtiere, corton and the stuffing. All three recipes were Memeres
My dad was from fort Kent and my mom did a great job of recreating the original recipe. The one thing I remembered was that she cooked it casserole style at time in a Bundt style pan and sliced it.
I am also Canadian French on both sides to family Grew up in Upton Massachusetts Every Thankgiving we had meat stuffing Thankgiving night we would have Turkey meat stuffing and Cramberry sandwiches with Mayo every Christmas we had meat pie’s after midnight Mass that was the tradition
My madden Name was Dufresne my dad came from Lewiston Maine my Mom side was Bertha latte My grandfather worked at the famous hat shop in Upton as a boss and a few of my relatives I have relatives in Maine Fall River Rhode Island Upton Worcester Grafton
I also come from a Canadian background from Worcester. Would love to compare our history if you want to. Feel free to get in touch.
Wow! My Memere’s maiden name is Dufresne and she taught my father and myself a version of this recipe which I have continued to cook at thanksgivings. She and our family settled in Lowell/Dracut Massachusetts.
What happy memories this article invokes! My grandmother made this recipe every holiday. My father loved it and every year my mother would ask my grandmother for the recipe. And every year my grandmother would reply, “I’ll make it.” So, my mother, who wasn’t a very good cook, would play around with the recipe but it was never quite like my grandmother’s. I laugh to think what Grandma Charbonneau would think about the whole world seeing her meat stuffing recipe!
My husband is 100% French Canadian as am I. Both of us grew up in the 40’s and 50’s and we have fond memories of meat pie after midnight mass. I have never made it myself but there are many people in Northern Vermont who do so I have not gone w/o, I even introduced it to my NY Italian son-in-law who absolutely loves it.
I have some Greek relatives who made a meat stuffing and used ground walnuts along with ground beef, spices, sautéed onions and celery. The ground walnuts became the binding agent instead of potato or bread. Delicious.
how many walnuts? A cup?
My parents were from Fort Kent Maine my mother made this stuffing it was called fail she use two potatoes boiled half to one pound ground beef and one large loaf of. Bread stuffing also she used a can of turkey broth one onion salt and pepper poultry seasoning and some Sage she lied it together and then baked in a 9 by 13 Pyrex dish she poked some holes on the top and sprinkle some broth baked it at 375’ for 45 min to one hour I watched my mom make this so many times very tasty
100% French Canadian here – in the UP of Michigan.
We have always called it potato dressing. Recipe varies slightly (seems to be a common theme here). We use sausage (Jimmy Dean sage is my favorite).
Green peppers, onion, and allspice.
Boiled potatoes mashed with milk only.
Combine the sausage mixture with the potatoes.
Having read some of the other comments, I’m going to experiment a little bit next year.
My Memere & Mom & now me and my sisters all make a stuffing similar to this stuffing. We triple the potatoes & add Bells poultry seasoning instead of the clove & cinnamon. It’s what we grew up on and for us it’s the best. Our bread stuffing is made with onions, celery, saltines, Bells poultry seasoning, bread & water. Again, nothing like it for us!!
So did we!!! Same seasonings!
We grew up having the same stuffing…. delicious! Reminds me of our large French Canadian family holiday celebrations, especially Mèmére.
Yes! That is the way to make French Canadian “dressing” as we called it. The recipe here is seasoned more like tourtière filling. Bell’s seasoning for the win!
This was a blast from the past, reading these lovely ‘quips’.
My mother’s family was French-Canadian (D’Amour) from the Chicoutamie area
in Canada. They moved into Maine and then Massachusetts (Taunton). My mom’s parents still spoke w/a French accent (which I loved – I thought it ‘delightful). Meme taught my mom how to make wonderful ‘Tourtiere’, pork-pie (no beef) with the onions, Garlic, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, s&p, and everything NICE. I have continued to make this almost every year for our family, even when we were stationed in Germany. One trip to the commissary in Baden-Baden, the ‘deli’ case presented “Tourtiere”, and I mentioned that my mother used to call it “Creton”, pronounced ‘kret-tone’ w/a French hit. It was JUST as my mom had always made it.
My father’s father lived with us from ’47 til his death in ’61, but Dad would always
insist that my mother also make Grampa’s ‘Yorkshire Pudding’ w/every roast beef
dinner. (Gramps & his wife(she died before I was born in ’50) lived w/us all. So Grampa always insisted on my Mom making the Yorkshire Pudding as often as possible. And he would show us how we were to lightly dribble fresh OJ on the wonderful hot dish. (A friend years later would nickname it “English Pizza”).
Anyway, we’ve spent time in old Quebec city and always loved it. And my husband’s mother was born in northern Maine, with Passamaquoddy blood!
God’s blessings to all!
Hello Joan, My mother’s maiden name was D’Amour and she was from Canada also. We had this port stuffing at Christmas every year.. So yummy! My sister was just in Canada in August for the D’Amour family reunion. I am wondering if there is a connection??
The picture at the top looks like my mother’s meat dressing that we have had every Thanksgiving since I can remember. The biggest difference in our version is that ours is sweet! It is made by browning ground beef, then adding and cooking chopped pecans with the drained meat until they are fragrant. Then we add chopped and peeled apples and cook until apples are tender. Next we add sugar and cook until the sugar melts and coats the apples, pecans and meat . We then add bread crumbs, and boiled raisins with the water to bind it all together. It is served warm. The only spice I use is a bit of salt. I have never seen a recipe similar to ours. Its funny that I find this recipe in a New England cookbook site. We are Mexican-American and are from San Antonio, TX. My grandmother taught my mom how to make this dressing, and I have continued the tradition. I have been looking for a recipe similar to ours to find its origin. We call it Carne Dulce (sweet meat). It is just a name we came up with because we did not know what to call it. My mother never knew what it was called. Anyone ever hear about a sweet meat dressing? I would love to hear the origin of our dressing. I have some in my fridge right now! Leftovers are so good! I’m thinking of making stuffed pumpkin with the leftovers. Sounds delicious.
I have been searching every where for a sweetened ground beef stuffing recipe for quite some time. My grandma used to make one that had slivered almonds and I think it had cinnamon and brown sugar and I know it had rice in it. It had the warmth from the cinnamon but I cannot find it any where its just funny that I find something similar in a New England cookbook site and then come across your comment. My grandmother was from Morocco.
My mother was French Canadian from Winnipeg and grew up during the depression. She would make this at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have been known to make it through the years. My brothers love it! Never wrote it down but I use more potatoes. I also use chicken or turkey drippings to help with the extra potatoes. They had many mouths to feed during the depression. Potatoes and onions were easy to come by. Another favorite is Salmon Pie! I was just talking to some of my family on Christmas Eve stating that I need to pass this and other recipes down to them.
I decided a few years back to see if anyone else made what we called Hamburger dressing and I ran across this recipe. It happened after I was talking to someone that was from Canada and brought up Salmon Pie.
Love reading all the comments!!
Thank you for this print! We’re French Canadians (Pepèré orig from Quebec to N.GrosvenorDale CT, Memèré from Dudley, MA.) His fave dressing was this, recipe, but with 1lb grnd pork & 1lb hamburger. Her fave used same meats, dried bread cubes (my job to make, at age 4or 5, I’m 59 soon) & pultry seasoning. On the Holiday tables, our family called it “Faud”, with the french trill at the end. Memèré’s or Pepèré’s. I married a Midwesterner & raised his son. They love both. Right from the cast iron skillet. Today, Husband & I live in a 5th wheel camper, I make my own whole berry cranberry sauce (for myself) and use Pepèré’s faud to stuff a baked or open fire roasted pumpkin, sliced & served hot, while using Memèré’s faud for a mouthwatering “tourtque” (meat pie) with the cranberry sauce side. I served some to an old friend who said, while his eyes rolled back in his head “OH!. It tastes like North Grosvenor Dale” What a complement! I’ve learned so much from Memèré. She’d have approved of the open fire cooking, and Pepèré did love little adjustments I made to his dear wife’s recipes. Cooking is fond memories, to me. Thanks for allowing me to share! (Preparing for the wicked yummy, stuffed pumpkin!!)
So glad to see N. Grosvenor Dale make Yankee…Grew up with many French families in the village…”pork” pie and “meat” stuffing was always a favorite treat for me at friends homes…
I am French Canadian from Quebec City, Que – I grew up with meat pies (tourtieres) cretons (pate eaten on toasted bread or crackers) turkey stuffing is made of 4/5 lbs mashed potatoes w/butter/s & p – cook 2 slices of beacon, remove and leave 2TBs of bacon fat, add some butter add onions and celery small dices cook until soft add 1lb of ground porc, turkey liver(mashed) poultry seasonings, fresh parsley, onion
I have a delicious recipe for meat pies (porc), cretons (pork spread eaten w/toasted bread or cracker – A delicious turkey meat stuffing made of 3/4lbs mashed potatoes with butter, s&p. 2 slices of bacon, ground porc, onion, celery, poultry seasoning, turkey liver (mashed) cooked in butter – blend everything together and stuff the turkey – DELICIOUS! Nothing like it – Meat pies (porc) also called tourtieres, cretons (porc spread on toast or cracker as a pate) salmon pies are heavenly made w/canned or fresh salmon, onion & celery blanched in butter, mashed potatoes whipped with a béchamel sauce w/ whipped eggs, tempered with warm sauce to avoid scrambling the eggs – mix everything and bake in pie crust and served w/hollandaise sauce – very rich ut very HOLIDAY – Yummy! You guys – Bon Appétit!
Wow, please share those pork recipes…. Especially the creton. My memere used to make it and since she passed I haven’t had any
Use mushrooms,,really alot of people do.. instead of bread or potato Happy Thanksgiving
It’s missing Bell’s Poultry Seasoning. Otherwise looks great.
I made a similar stuffing today from my Memere’s (Mimi’s) recipe. It just had half pork, half beef, onion, water, cinnamon and sage, simmered for 45 minutes, with bread added at the end, just enough to absorb any extra liquid. I never knew if it was a real recipe till I came across this! She French-Canadian, from South Grafton, MA. It was always my favorite part of Thanksgiving, over mashed potatoes. I also loved her torturers. I never knew anyone else who had a stuffing like this.
My great grandmother was French Canadian and lived in Bellingham, Mass. my Mother always made a delicious hamburger dressing for turkey stuffing, but did not leave a recipe. I have been trying to duplicate the recipe from taste, but finally found the MeMere’s recipe. I added the poultry seasoning and think the taste is very close to what I remember.
My Memere’s recipe was half hamburg, half pork potatoes, breaded, nutmeg, cloves, poultry seasoning and allspice this was a part of every holiday Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas
I can’t believe my husband found this recipe for our French meat stuffing. I called my grandmother Memere also, so crazy. I thought we were the only family that made this dish. I use turkey broth in it and also poultry seasoning. A favorite of everyone.
My grand parents both maternal and paternal were from northern Quebec, L’ Isle-Verte, my mother always used just ground pork and added crushed saltines to it but otherwise the same. She then would stuff the turkey. On Christmas eve we would have Toutiere, I have kept that tradition going
My mom made the best ground beef stuffing. We are French Canadian.Her father and relatives were born in Canada. B I was born in Gardner, Massachusetts, and we lived in Winchendon, massachusetts. She would also put Bell’s seasoning In the stuffing, we moved to arizona in 1969. She would have the relatives mail the bell’s seasoning because we couldn’t get it in arizona. Thank you for this post!!!!!
Small world! I grew up in Winchendon and have also lived in Gardner, Massachusetts as well. There was a big French Canadian population in both cities. You probably know my family. The Abare family that lived on 202 near lake Dennison. My ex husband is a Plante. My heritage is French Canadian as well.You probably know my older siblings. Paula, Debbie, Kenny Darlene Abare. I also lived in New Mexico for 7 years but came back to the New England area and now live in Maine. I do miss those desert skies. The Southwest is beautiful but I missed my family and became a grandmother. Just wanted to say Hello, from a Winchendon native. Be well and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
French Meat Stuffing was a staple for me growing up. Both of my grandmother’s made it. One better than the other.
I started making it for my family in recent years and believe that I figured out the recipe that I like the most and may be what my grandmother did. My cousins think that I’ve nailed my grandmothers recipe.
2 parts Ground Beef
1.25 parts Ground Pork
.50 parts ground breakfast sausage
Mashed potatoes
Finely chopped Sautéed onion, celery. Clove of garlic minced & sautéed
Mashed potatoes
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
Bells seasoning
All spice
Salt and pepper
The flavor is amazing.
My mom always made a variant of this that was the family recipe. Unfortunately I don’t have the official version, but I can make a very good copycat. Our recipe uses McKenzie “family recipe” sausage as the base plus I add 1lb of ground pork. The sausage adds some additional depth from it’s mild spices that is really nice, but not overpowering. My mom would always make this the day before and let it mellow and come together in the fridge before stuffing the turkey. I also like to make it the night before, but I use it as a side dish only. I seem to recall she would wait to add the cinnamon to the stuffing only once it was cold. I guess the hypothesis is that it made the flavor better as the cinnamon was only going to get heated once saving some of it’s intensity. I personally haven’t tested this and just add everything in, cooling and placing in the fridge until it’s time to reheat for serving. Still comes out amazing and it’s even better on toast with some gravy as a post-thanksgiving breakfast.
My dad use to make this but his version was he put Hamburg and onions with water and cook it till the hamburger was brown and then added crushed saltines at least three or four sleeves and the same spices and mixed it all together. Loved that stuffing especially over buttered toast.