Comfort Food

Have you ever had a pasty?
[Pronounced PASS-tee]

Pasties are, simply, Cornish meat pies, traditionally filled with beef, potatoes, onions, and some sort of carrot/rutabaga/turnip. My friend Kelsey's parents used to own a place called the Pasty Depot up in Coeur d'Alene, and Kelsey and I were often guinea pigs for taste-testing her Dad's latest creations. They were the ultimate in comfort food.

Wikipedia offers the following on the pasty's origins:

"The origins of the pasty are largely unknown, although it is generally accepted that the modern form of the pasty originated from Cornwall. Tradition claims that the pasty was originally made as lunch ('croust' or 'crib' in the Cornish language) for Cornish tin miners who were unable to return to the surface to eat. The story goes that, covered in dirt from head to foot (including some arsenic often found with tin), they could hold the pasty by the folded crust and eat the rest without touching it, discarding the dirty pastry. The pastry they threw away was supposed to appease the knockers, capricious spirits in the mines who might otherwise lead miners into danger.^[5] A related tradition holds that it is bad luck for fishermen to take pasties to sea. Pasties were also popular with farmers and labourers, particularly in the North East of England, also a mining region."

Anyhoo, I think this is what we're having for dinner tonight, and I thought I'd pass the idea along. I love warm, home-y foods in the fall time, and this is a fairly simple way to achieve just that. Here is a recipe I think I'll try:

Julie's Pasties

Pastry Crust
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 cup Crisco shortening
• ice water

Filling
• 2-1 pound ground beef (better if you use at least 15% fat content beef)
• 2 large russett potatoes, peeled and shredded (or just chopped)
  
• 1 medium onion, shredded
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbls. chopped parsley (I use fresh from my garden)

Egg wash
• 1 large egg
• 1 tbls. water

Beat these two together and set aside to assemble pasties.

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

To make crust, put flour and shortening in bowl and cut in shortening until coarse crumbs are made. Add ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time and toss with fork until mixture just hold together. (Do not overmix or crust will be tough.) Set aside while filling is prepared.

In mixing bowl, mix all ingredients together. Roll out crust until it's about 1/8th of an inch thick. Use about a 6 inch diameter place to cut dough into circles. Place circled on pastry board and brush perimeter with egg wash and place about 3/4 cup fill in middle. Fold crust over filling to make a half moon shape and then use a fork to seal all around edges. Place finshed pasties on ungreased cookie sheet and then brush tops with egg wash. Use fork to prick several marks on top to let steam escape. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 40 minutes or until tops are a golden brown and you can smell the aroma of the filling. Serve hot or cold.

Julie Davis
julie@jminc.com


I like my potatoes chopped (not shredded), and I'm adding carrot
to mine! MMm... Pasties are best served with ketchup or a warm
gravy... I'm excited to give 'em another try!

**Post-edit: We had these for dinner. They were A-MA-ZING!**