Pasties

[handmc]

Beef; Chicken with gravy, without what is your favorite pasty. I like my beef and chicken fillings but don't like the crust. Too heavy and too bland. Any ideas?

I also like them with gravy. But is has to be from scratch.

[Pan]

I think something other than food when I see the word "pasties."

[patti]

I think something other than food when I see the word "pasties."

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Tastes like (breast o') chicken?

[SobaAddict70]

I'm reminded of William Grimes' infamous article on the Cornish pasty and the resulting outcry.

Hell hath no fury like a pasty lover scorned.

Soba

[handmc]

Thank you Soba, maybe that explains that lack of responses. I had hoped there was at least one U-per (someone from the upper peninsula of Michigan or maybe someone from Canada who could help me out.

The pasty does not have to be bland. I add lots so herbs and spices, a parsnips, carrots and all sorts of things to the filings. You can pretty much put anything in it so long as it is not too runny.

Oh well.

Grimes however..."The man is obviously a complete imbecile."

Edited to resemble the english language - a work in progress

Edited December 21, 2004 by handmc (log)

[joey madison]

While not a Youper, I have visted the UP frequenly enough to know the humble pasty pretty well. And, in fact, Madison has a little pasty joint that I visit on occasion.

I, too, prefer my pasties with gravy. I think achieving a sufficiently light crust with a good browning is key. Not over-stuffing them with potatoes is also important. I appreciate lots of vegetables.

The place in Madison that sells them has quite a number of fusion-pasty selections (hehe, what a funny concept ). They've got a calzone-esque number with marinara, mozzarella, and pepperoni, a mexican influenced option, and the fella that cooks 'em has experiemented with all sorts of more exotic ingredients. I'm just waiting for a curry pasty.

[SobaAddict70]

I think that curry pasties already exist...in England. I seem to remember reading somewhere that they could be had in London. I just don't recall where though.

Think of it as your typical Cornish pasty, except with curry powder flavoring the mix.

Soba

[Bux]

I have a vague memory of enjoying a pasty in the U.P. many years ago. In New Buffalo this summer, which is as close to Indiana as one can get and still be in Michigan (and thus far enough from the Upper Peninsula for me to have been cautious) I passed a table in front of a church selling pasties at a church benefit. I ordered one. Actually I ordered the dinner plate which came with potato chips and pickle slices and would have been better off just getting the pasty, or maybe not. I was offered gravy or ketchup and when I hesitated, more from surprise than confusion, I was told that ketchup was traditional and the better choice. Yes it was. The pasty itself, besides being pasty, wasn't very tasty with it's lackluster crust and abundance of potatoes in the filling. You win some and you lose some. There was some really great fruit and produce around at the height of summer, but New Buffalo didn't prove to be a gastronomic destination otherwise.

I really like meat pies. There's nothing like a good Argentine empanada with chopped beef, onions, olives and raisins, (I hope those were raisins) although the best meat pie I ever had was filled with foie gras and braised duck at a three star restaurant in France. Then again there was that warm slice of a large round flat empanada stuffed with tuna fish, tomato sauce and olives in a not very imposing bar and restaurant just east of Leon in Spain. I was looking at the menu when the owner said there was an empandada de atun almost ready to come out of the oven if I could wait -- canned tuna fish I'm sure, but don't knock good canned Spanish tuna packed in olive oil. It's a toss up between the foie gras and the canned tuna fish. Trust me.

[the_cow_whisperer]

Thank you Soba, maybe that explains that lack of responses. I had hoped there was at least one U-per (someone from the upper peninsula of Michigan or maybe someone from Canada who could help me out.

The pasty does not have to be bland. I add lots so herbs and spices, a parsnips, carrots and all sorts of things to the filings. You can pretty much put anything in it so long as it is not too runny.

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I'm from the U.P. Pasties recipes are more of a guideline than an actual rule (apologies to Pirates of the Caribbean). They key to a good pasty is FAT and lots of it. Add extra suet to the filling. Make the crust with LARD, not vegetable shortening. If you think you have enough fat in it, you don't. If you eat it and have terrible heartburn afterwards, you'd done it just right ;-)

As for the filling I echo handmc's thought - any root vegetables such as parsnips, rutabagas, potatoes, carrots, and onions are nice with coarsely ground pork/beef and lots of pepper and salt.

There was a guy in Lansing, MI a few years ago that made them with duck fat and produced a pretty good product.

[LaurieA-B]

I was brought up on classic steak and potato pasties (in Portland, Oregon) because my father is the son of a Cornishwoman. They were a special treat we had a couple of times a year, my dad's favorite. When Matthew and I visited Penzance three years ago, I thrilled to the delicious fragrance on every street. Of course homebaked pasties are the best (and my cousin obliged with some for dinner on our first night), but I found even shop pasties delectable. I was surprised to see all the variations for sale. I remember tuna and sweetcorn as well as chicken curry. But at home we always have steak and potato. Diced steak, NOT ground meat; I don't think of ground meat as a real pasty. Regarding too much potato, my granny wrote, "Grandma’s pasties were really a throw back to the war years – when meat was very scarce – So she never got over the habit of using too much potato." I haven't measured but I'd guess that we use about half meat, half potato in ours.

I'm including one of my grandmother's recipes here, as she wrote it. But the best way to make a pasty is to have a lesson from someone with experience. I think she specifies shortening/margarine because she didn't always have access to good lard in the U.S. Matthew used freshly rendered leaf lard the last time we made pasties, with good results.

For 2 Pasties

Pastry

2 cups flour

Sprinkle of salt

2 Rounded Tablespoons Shortening

1        "                "          Margarine

Water

Crumble the flour, salt, shortening & marg. Together – (or use a pastry blender.)  Add water a little at a time – until the pastry rolls easily into a ball – Set aside (but don’t refrigerate – it makes it harder to roll out.)

Filling

2 cups meat

2 medium potatoes

2 Tablespoons onion

2        "          Yellow Turnip

Sprinkle of Parsley—dried or fresh

    "        "  Flour

Salt & Pepper to taste

I've guessed at the amounts – I've never really measured them – You can add, to the meat and potato if you wish – and leave out the turnip.

It is better to put the turnip on the bottom (if you're using it) then the potatoes – and next the meat – and onion, parsley, flour & suet on the very top.

I think the best thing to look for when buying the meat is a round steak that has a circle of white fat around it or if you use a flank steak – ask the butcher for some kidney suet (and don’t ever use just a lump of yellow fat.)  I like to use Spencer steak – but it is awfully expensive – they’re nicely marbled with a white fat – and you don’t have to worry about the suet.

The dough or pastry shouldn’t be rich like for a fruit pie – but a little stretchier, like Pizza dough – more water and less fat – so that it’s crisp and hard when cooked, not rich and flaky like regular pie pastry.

It’s easier too – to have everything cut up ahead of time.  Peel potatoes and leave them covered with cold water until you’re ready to chip them into the pasty (they will turn brown if you chip them ahead of time)  In individual dishes put the meat that has been cut into pieces about the size of a dice.  Chop the onion – the yellow turnip(if you’re going to use it) and fresh parsley – or you can use dried parsley.  Have a small dish with beaten egg – and a pastry brush for the brown glaze on top of the finished pasty.  Also have handy a cup of water and a little flour for sprinkling.

Have ready a cookie sheet or shallow pan with two squares – 1 for each pasty – of wax paper – that has been lightly greased – and a pre-heated oven 400

To put the pasty together roll out a circle of pastry – about pie size and slip the rolling pin under the half nearest you, on the other half – put first a few bits of turnip – then the potato – Sprinkle with salt & pepper – then the meat and on top of the meat sprinkle the onion & parsley – and the flour (about 1 teaspoonful).  Also a little suet if the meat is not fatty enough, this helps to make the gravy.  Wet the edges of the pastry on the filled half – and bring the edges together and up across the top of the filling – crimp from right to left in a rolling motion.  With a knife make 2 little slits in the top of the pasty – to let the steam out.

Then pick it up carefully in 2 hands and transfer it to the wax paper.  Then brush egg on the top and put it in the hot oven 400 for half an hour – turned down to 350 to 325 for the second half hour.

Cool the pasty for 10 minutes – then peel off the wax paper – and cool it on a rack for another 10 minutes – this will keep it from getting soggy on the bottom.

Pasties are good the next day – warmed over in a low 325 oven for ½ hour.

The Pasty Book by Hettie Merrick is an interesting history with good recipes.