Cornish Pastie: A Handful of Delight

Pulled from the oven, the golden, pregnant crescents glisten with butter. The pastry is so flakey while hot it can barely maintain its shape. Savory steam escapes from vents filling the kitchen with the smell of onions and beef. I break a pie in half, engendering a new burst of steam and revealing pearly bits of onion, orange shreds of carrots, golden smudges of potato, and juicy browned beef. It's too hot to eat but, unable to resist any longer, I tear off a bite and blow on it before popping it in my mouth. Still too hot, but delicious anyway.

In "Sidewalk Meals" I wrote about my introduction to Cornish Pasties. I was addicted from my first bite and ate them frequently while I was in England. In fact, if I had pictures of my time in England you would probably have a shot of me at Buckingham Palace, pastie in hand; wandering up the lane at Windsor Palace, brushing pastie crumbs off my shirt; surveying Stonehenge, mouth full of pastie.

I did eat and enjoy other things. The fish and chips were good except for the chips (chips shouldn't be soggy, so dousing them with vinegar is just a bad idea). I liked Bangers and Mash. Spotted Dick isn't bad - once you get past the mental image. I ate lots of cheese, though I was seriously underwhelmed by the bread (having reached England from France). For the most part I ate pub food and for the most part it was fine, if not great - except for the pasties. They were superb.

Returning to the states, I attempted to duplicate my favorite English meal and eventually largely succeeded, if not in duplicating, then in producing something as good. But when it came to the crust I liked mine both more and less. What I had in England was usually tough and heavy, an industrial strength pastry suitable for carrying down into a mine, but not ideal under less stressful circumstances. I made a more typical American piecrust, something light and flakey. The texture was a genuine improvement in my book, but the flavor wasn't quite right.

Over the years I played with the crust, adding herbs (a good move), using just vegetable shortening without butter (a bad move), but there was always something missing. Then at a Cooks Bash I was discussing my efforts with an English friend and he said, "Lard. You've got to use lard." I tried lard (for the first time in my life) and he was right, that was the flavor I was missing. At long last I had a pastie recipe I was completely happy with.

Cornish Pasty

Pastry - click here
Filling:
1/2 lb ground chuck roast
1 c potatoes - 1/2" dice
1 lg carrot - shredded
1 c yellow onions - diced fine
1 1/2 tsps dried thyme
1 tsp mustard powder
1 1/2 tsps dried sage
3 good splashes of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 c beef broth
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cracked black pepper
Egg Wash:
1 ea egg yolk
1 tbsp milk

Heat oven to 375F.

Put diced potatoes and 1/2 inch of water in a covered microwave dish and cook in microwave until potatoes are just tender - seven to eight minutes. Drain potatoes and dump into a large bowl. Mash coarsely with a fork.

Add ground beef and all remaining ingredients to the potatoes and mix thoroughly.

Roll the pastry out to a 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured board. Using a five inch round plate as a template, cut as many circles as you can. The scraps can be combined and rolled out one more time. You should have nine to ten rounds.

Moisten half the edge of a pastry round and place about 1/3 cup of the filling in the center. Fold the round over the filling and press the edges to seal. Repeat for remaining pastry and filling. Arrange pasties on a pair of foil covered baking sheets.

Mix egg yolk and milk together and brush glaze over pasties. Cut two one inch slits in the top of each pastie and bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until golden.

These are wonderful for supper on a cold winter night served with potato chowder, boiled cabbage, and beer. If you're going to eat them hot then place a slice of cheddar cheese on top of each pastie that will be eaten that night about ten minutes before the pasties are done.

They're as good at room temperature as they are hot, so they also make great picnic fare. Cold hard cider is a great beverage for washing them down.

Kevin Weeks is a Gather food correspondent (Paisano), personal chef, cooking teacher, and writer in Knoxville, Tennessee who spends too many hours on his feet, cooking. "Paisano" is a column focused on peasant dishes from around the world. To read more of Kevin's writings or connect to him click here. His blog,Seriously Good, is read by 100,000 cooks a month and in addition he writes a weekly column forSpot-Onand is the Guide for Cooking for Two at About.com.