How to make Pasties

How to make Cornish Pasties

One of my favourite foods from our time in England is the Cornish Pasty. A buttery pastry filled with beef, lamb, vegetables and gravy, purchased for 70p at Sainsbury's, their ancestors were made by housewives in the 1700's and carried out to the fields wrapped in a handkerchief by farmers for their midday meal. They are hearty, sturdy and filling, plus they are one of those foods that tastes delicious both piping hot and at room temperature, making them an ideal convenience food.

So! Let's get started!

1 cup of cold butter, chopped
1 tsp salt
and 3 cups of flour go into your big bowl.
Cut the butter into the flour with a pastry cutter or two forks - it takes a little while to figure out, but once you get the rhythm, it is easy peasy. We're looking for a coarse meal texture, here.
Add about 1/2c water, 1TB at a time, until your dough sticks together and makes a ball. Knead it a few times to mix the butter through, and form it back into a smooth ball.
Dust the ball with flour, wrap it in wax paper and stick it in your fridge while we make the filling.
SO chop about half a large onion
2 ribs of celery
1 carrot
2 handfuls of cabbage
2 or 3 small potatoes - enough for about a handful of chopped spud
and about 1/2-3/4lb of beef or lamb. I like to use a London broil for this, because it gets so tender. This needs to be in 1/4in cubes, super tiny, so that it will cook through inside the pastry.
This is 2TB of Dale's Marinade (or worcestershire sauce, or liquid seasoning of your choice), 1tsp pepper and 1tsp salt.
Put all the veg, the meat and the spices into your bowl, top it with a good sprinkle of flour (that will help make gravy inside the pastry) and mix it up. Ta da! Filling!
Retrieve the dough from your fridge and divide it into six pieces.
Roll out a piece on a lightly floured surface, aiming for about 1/4in thick. Flip the pastry over so that the floury side is facing up. Put about 1/2c of the filling into the middle of your pastry - don't worry about spreading it out, just let it be a little pile of tasty goodness.
Fold over the pastry, and press around the filling, to kind of seal it in there. Don't worry if there is a huge excess of dough around the filling because...
You get to cut it off with a knife! Leave about a 1/2in 'rim' around the filling.
Seal the edges of the pastry with a fork, like so ^ and cut a few holes in the top with a knife to let the air escape.
Brush them with butter and pop those suckers in your oven (preheated to 350'F, of course) for about an hour. You don't have to use parchment paper, but I like it because I know they won't stick. I don't play when it comes to my pasties.
An hour later, this will emerge fragrant, buttery and golden brown, from your oven. Go ahead. Admire your handiwork.
Oh, check out the flakiness of the crust, the tenderness of the beef, the spice of the pepper - truly, these are a gift from the angels!