Cornish Miners' Pasties

Submitted by Debber

"These are SO good, I really should make them more than once a year! Upper Michigan (USA) has several small towns that were originally populated by Cornish miners who worked the mines there. Walking down Main Street in these towns will usually take you past a mom-n-pop cafe' where you can buy a pasty similar to this recipe. This makes 6 LARGE or 8 MEDIUM pasties--adjust the water** & butter depending on the size you choose. Recipe Recipe #230316 will complete your trip down a Cornwall Main Street."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Yields: 6 pasties
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• 453.59 g ground beef (turkey or venison)
• 473.18 ml diced potatoes
• 473.18 ml diced carrots
• 236.59 ml diced turnip
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 9.85 ml salt
• 88.74-118.32 ml butter
• 88.74-118.32 ml water (see ** description)
• 29.58 ml milk (more or less)
• 283.49 g can cream of mushroom soup (or leftover beef or chicken gravy)
• 141.74 g can milk
• thyme, to taste
• tarragon, to taste

directions

1. Prepare pastry according to Recipe #230316 , set aside; preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix meat, vegetables and salt in large bowl; divide into 6-8 portions; set aside.
3. Divide pastry into 6 (large) or 8 (medium) equal pieces; roll each into a large circle, about 1/4-inch thick.
4. On one half of each circle, place equal amount of meat-veg mixture.
5. Carefully lift and fold pastry over filling (half circle); moisten edges of pastry with water & pastry brush; use a fork to crimp the edges to prevent liquid (added later) from oozing out. If there is a thin edge of crust, fold it over on itself to make a nice crust.
6. Transfer each pasty to a large baking sheet (I use two).
7. With a paring knife, poke a hole straight into JUST the top crust, shaped like an X, each leg should be about a half-inch long, then fold the little corners back (like a flower).
8. Melt butter and water in the microwave; pour equal amounts into each pasty (through the little flower-hole you've created in the previous step).
9. More butter-water can be added about half-way through the baking, if you didn't use it all at this point.
10. Brush tops of pasties with the milk.
11. Pop it all into the oven; bake for one hour; tops should be GOLDEN BROWN (you won't be able to let them in there much longer anyway--as the aroma is BEYOND this world!).
12. Serve with gravy made from the soup & a bit of milk; add your favorite herbs (thyme & tarragon are our favorites); just heat the soup & milk, sprinkle in the herbs & spoon over the pasty or into the little hole.
13. ALSO -- you might want to let these "rest" for a few minutes before eating---the insides will be VERY hot!
14. TIPS ON EATING THESE: Miners would've carried these in a lunch pail (wrapped in a dishtowel!) -- we serve 'em on plates and slather on the gravy AFTER cutting them open to release the steam & heat; the crust is especially delish with the gravy!

Reviews

[susanjorgensen]

Every home is different. Every cook modifies the recipes to accommodate her families likes and dislikes. This is a well written, detailed recipe, thank you for taking the time to post it.

 

[fuff8162]

ground beef? carrots??? my Cornish grandmother is rolling in her grave. I'll use the crust recipe but the filling is only steak, onions, potatoes, turnips and salt and pepper. NEVER ground beef and certainly no vegetables.

 

[Tony B.]

I just made a batch of 5 yesterday. I changed it around a bit. I added butter in the pastry instead of lard, and left out the turnips (didn't have them), and gravy. Pasties are not served with gravy, in fact, not even with hamburger meat, should be cubed beef, but still, quite good. Next time I will get beef and cube it, and also will leave out the butter for a filling, too much butter, but I will use beef stock instead (wish I had some Bovril). Also, the pastry only made 5 thin pasties (large ones) not 6, so I would have to increase the pastry portions accordingly. Still, I never made these before, but used to eat them in England all the time (yes, I am British). Will make them again next week. And the choice of vegetables, really, you can add what you like, it isn't rocket science.

 

[AndyN]

Sadly, this is NOT a CORNISH miner's pasty! As before, ground beef isn't used. It should be skirt beef, cubed. Neither should there by turnips (the Cornish name for a swede or rutabaga) or carrots. Pasties are never served with gravy, because there should be sufficient juices from the potatoes and meat to do that - maybe a knob of butter can be added.<br/><br/>So, it may be a meat pie, turnover or whatever, but it can't be called a Cornish Pasty. In fact, if you tried to sell them like this in the UK, you'd be banned from using that name!

 

[Susan N.]

I always make extra filling so I can eat it with rice or even alone!! We use rutabaga, potatoes, carrots, onion and ground beef and our recipe was from someone who grew up in Michigan's UP. She would take me up there to visit her brother when I was a child, 1960s & 1970s. Maybe they used ground beef because it was cheaper, I don't know. I've never eaten it differently so we stick to what we love. We do serve it with homemade chili sauce whenever possible or ketchup when it's not. Never have we ever considered gravy. That seems sacrilegious somehow!! Whichever way you enjoy YOUR pasties, just DO enjoy them!!