Makin' pasties, eh!

[Root]

Plural of pasty. Meat pie, not boobie covers.

I'm making them tonight for the first time. Anybody here make these? Any recipes or tips?

[TimK]

Obligatory "It's pronounced "PASS-tee" post

[TimK]

I don't know anything about making them. I know some history though. They were brought to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by Cornish immigrants who worked in the mines. Pasties, being self-contained meals, were convenient for the miners to carry with them into the mines to eat on their lunch breaks.

Unfortunately for those poor bastards, there was no ketchup in the mine shafts.

[Allentown]

there was no ketchup in the mine shafts.

What how do you even eat them then?
No idea how to make them, but I'll be eating a few this weekend.

[convergentsum]

Never made 'em. I hear lard is involved. And my west-country wife is vehemently anti-ketchup. (brown sauce is acceptable)

[broseph]

In on new Michiganders of Exodus thread.

We’ve never made pasties, but have done calzones (pronounced “CAL ZONE NAYS” while making and shaking an “ok” sign with your hand). I think there would be plenty of calzone recipes out there you could borrow from for pasty tips.

If all else fails, just smoke some whitefish to preserve your Northern Michigan merit badge.

[omaniphil]

Ex-Michigander checking in here. Does Marie Catrib's in GR still make them? They were so delicious.

[Allentown]

Ex-Michigander checking in here. Does Marie Catrib's in GR still make them? They were so delicious.

No, because they are closed.

Owners were the children of the founders, and decided to move on and let the legacy rest.

Never made 'em. I hear lard is involved. And my west-country wife is vehemently anti-ketchup. (brown sauce is acceptable)

I thought gravy was bordering on heresy, but I've always seen it available. I haven't been to a pasty-exclusive shop in a long time, though, and am unfamiliar with the history.

[Root]

Well, we made them and they were fantastic. Best I've ever had. I used pre-ground pork (very fatty), and ground my own top sirloin steak in the food processor. The rough grind on the beef is key, I think.

Here's what we did:

6 pasties

Dough
4 cups flour
1 1/4 cup lard
1 1/4 cup water
1 tsp kosher salt

Filling

1 lb beef
1/2 lb pork
2 tbsp butter (a little pat on each mound of filling before wrapping up)
2 big russet potatoes
1 medium rutabaga
1 large onion
1 large carrot
Beef bullion tsp w 1/4 cup water
Tbsp kosher salt
Tsp pepper
2 Tsp garlic

They baked for about an hour. Initially I tried 325, but the crust didn't seem to be cooking well, so I kicked it up to 375.

Improvements
GF said she would literally not change a thing.
I would change:
- Grind my own pork (probably shoulder?)
- Fill beef, eat beef, more beef. I would add a half lb of beef
- Bake hotter. Maybe 400 the whole time.
- Egg wash on the crust for some color.
- Start earlier so they have time to cool before eating

[Ragholmes]

Its funny how things get changed around and words end up meaning different things in different places.
In Australia a meat pie is a meat pie. A pastie is a semi-circular pastry (kinda like a calzone) that contains vegetables, no meat.

[TimK]

A pastie is a semi-circular pastry (kinda like a calzone) that contains vegetables, no meat.

Sounds like the same thing except for the “no meat” part.

[Root]

Its funny how things get changed around and words end up meaning different things in different places.
In Australia a meat pie is a meat pie. A pastie is a semi-circular pastry (kinda like a calzone) that contains vegetables, no meat.

What kind of vegetables? They have pasties with no meat here. I watched someone order one once and died inside.

What are your meat pies like? What shape are they and what all do they have?

[alek]

Are these the same thing as empanadas?

[Ragholmes]

Its funny how things get changed around and words end up meaning different things in different places.
In Australia a meat pie is a meat pie. A pastie is a semi-circular pastry (kinda like a calzone) that contains vegetables, no meat.

What kind of vegetables? They have pasties with no meat here. I watched someone order one once and died inside.

What are your meat pies like? What shape are they and what all do they have?

Most have potatoes and peas, and then local preferences.

Meat pies are small, round and used to be just mince (ground beef) and gravy. But over the last 20 years or so they've evolved quite a lot. There's curry and all sorts of options nowadays.

[alek]

mince

As a younger person, my dad and I convinced my younger siblings that "mincemeat" was jackelope meat.

Jackelope:

[Allentown]

This thread has me craving them. Would a pastie shop be more or less romantic than The Dogpatch, Munising's classiest establishment (this is entirely false), for valentines dinner?

[Root]

This thread has me craving them. Would a pastie shop be more or less romantic than The Dogpatch, Munising's classiest establishment (this is entirely false), for valentines dinner?

I know nothing about the Dogpatch, other than what I've been told, which is "don't go to Dogpatch."

But, in my opinion, pasty shops are pretty darn romantic.

[Allentown]

I know nothing about the Dogpatch, other than what I've been told, which is "don't go to Dogpatch."

Every year we go, as a joke. I told my wife I was taking her there for valentines day dinner partly as a joke, but she seemed open to it. Then free beer after at the opening night of the fest.

[Inmyelement]

My wife makes them. We only use ground beef, or venison, but otherwise the recipe is pretty close to the one you used. They are so good. I grew up eating them and the only thing we ever put on them was salt and pepper. Recently I brought a bunch in to work for people to try since they drool over them when I eat them. We happened to have leftover brown gravy from the shift before, so I tried it on a pasty. It was god damned delicious. Not sure I will ever eat them without a little gravy in the future.

[Allentown]

I know nothing about the Dogpatch, other than what I've been told, which is "don't go to Dogpatch."

Every year we go, as a joke. I told my wife I was taking her there for valentines day dinner partly as a joke, but she seemed open to it. Then free beer after at the opening night of the fest.

Update: we did not go to the Dogpatch. Also, they did not have food at the after-parties, so I ended up not getting any pasties at all this year.