Cornwall Meat Pie Food

CORNWALL MEAT PIE

Steps:

• Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30-45 minutes, or until chilled.
• In a bowl or directly in your food processor, mix flour and salt together before adding in cold, cubed butter.
• Pulse for 10-15 seconds, or until mixture is crumbly and butter is the size of small pebbles.
• With the motor running, slowly drizzle in 2/3 cup ice water and pulse until dough ball begins to form. Note: if mixture is too dry, add more ice water, 1-2 teaspoons at a time.
• Once dough is formed, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it into a large, flat rectangle.
• The key to the dough is to use both butter and shortening (lard is even better); this gives the dough its rich flavor and flakiness, while still keep it sturdy and easy to transport.
• While dough chills, combine beef with potato, turnip, carrot and onion, and season generously with salt and pepper, thyme and rosemary.
• Don't precook the meat. If you have enough veggies, and layer the meat on top of them, they will absorb the fat and flavor. If you do it correctly, your pastry shell will NOT get soggy.
• Preheat oven to 400º F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Remove dough from refrigerator and cut it into 6 equal pieces. On a floured surface, roll each piece out to an 8-inch circle.
• Spoon 1/2-2/3 cup beef mixture into the center of dough, then top with 1/2 tablespoon butter.
• Take the far edge of your dough circle and fold it over the beef, towards yourself, to form a half moon.
• Seal edges with a fork and repeat with remaining pasties.
• Transfer to lined baking sheet and brush the tops of dough with beaten egg.
• You don't have to bake them all at once. You can wrap in fil, then in lastic and freeze. Just defrost as needed and bake.
• Bake for 20 minutes, or until lightly browned, then lower oven temperature to 350º F and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
• Serve by themselves, with gravy, ketchup, or brown mustard.

CORNISH MINERS' PASTIES

Steps:

• Prepare pastry according to Recipe #230316 , set aside; preheat oven to 350.
• Mix meat, vegetables and salt in large bowl; divide into 6-8 portions; set aside.
• Divide pastry into 6 (large) or 8 (medium) equal pieces; roll each into a large circle, about 1/4-inch thick.
• On one half of each circle, place equal amount of meat-veg mixture.
• 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.
• Transfer each pasty to a large baking sheet (I use two).
• 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).
• 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).
• More butter-water can be added about half-way through the baking, if you didn't use it all at this point.
• Brush tops of pasties with the milk.
• 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!).
• 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.
• ALSO -- you might want to let these "rest" for a few minutes before eating---the insides will be VERY hot!
• 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!

CHEF JOHN'S CORNISH PASTY

Steps:

• Cut flour, lard, cold butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt together in a bowl with a pastry blender until mixture has the consistency of coarse crumbs. Make a well in the center and pour in ice water. Mix with a fork until mixture begins to come together; use hands to form into a dough ball.
• Turn dough out onto a lightly-floured work surface and knead until dough is smooth and forms a firm ball, about 2 minutes. Wrap dough tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat.
• Stir steak, potatoes, onion, turnip, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together in a bowl until evenly-combined.
• Beat egg and 1 teaspoon water together in a small bowl.
• Divide dough into 4 equal rounds and roll each round out to about 1/8-inch thickness and 8-inches in diameter. Brush each dough round with egg mixture.
• Place 1/4 of the steak mixture slightly off-center on each round of dough, and top steak mixture with 2 slices butter. Fold dough over steak filling to form a half moon shape and press edges together to seal. Trim excess dough from edges of pasties. Transfer pasties to the prepared baking sheet and crimp edges with the tines of a fork; poke fork 1 time into the top center of each pasty and brush tops with egg mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and bubbly, about 1 hour. Cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes.

THE COAL MINER'S FAST FOOD - CORNISH PASTIES

Steps:

• Pre heat oven to 400 F (200 C) (gas mark 6).
• Rub the shortening into the flour and salt and add just enough water to make a firm pastry dough.
• Divide the pastry into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece out until is about 7 inches (18 cm) around. Cut the meat into small very cubes, removing all of the fat.
• Cut the potatoes, swede and onion into very small pieces and add to the meat. Place 1/4 of the mixture into the centre of each of the pastry circles and add salt and pepper to taste. Top each with 1/4 of the butter.
• Use a little water to dampen the edges of the pastry and bring the sides of the pastry circle up to meet each other so that the weight of the filling flattens out the bottom a little and you can crimp the edges together at the top.
• Pinch the edges firmly together and the result will look like a little pie with a Mohawk !
• Cook on a floured baking tray for 45 minutes.