Cornish Pasties - Old and New

A very popular recipe in the mining communities, where many miners had come from Cornwall England to mine, were Pasties.  (Pronounced PASS-ti)  Here is an original version that I would not recommend making, and the newer adjusted version that makes this much better tasting.  Thank you to the Trevarton Family, also Pioneer Natives of Boulder County, for sharing this with me.

Cornish Pasties - the OLD way.

For the dough, mix
2 cups sifted flour
1 ½ cups finely chopped suet
½ cup lard
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup water

Filling, mix together
chopped up round steak
ruttabega or tunip
red potato
onion 
1 ½ Tablespoon ground suet
salt and pepper

Roll the dough out into circles and fill with the meat filling.  Seal pastry with water, vent the dough.  Bake in a moderate oven until done.

Remember, I don't recommend eating any of the recipes that I label as old.  Please refer to the subject of Recipe - New for the ones that we eat in our home, like the one below...

Cornish Pasties - the New way

For the dough

Sift 3 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of salt,

cut in 1 cup of shortening,

sprinkle with ½ cup of cold water and mix until it just holds together.

Wrap and let rest in the refrigerator like you do with a pie dough.

For the filling

Mix 2 ¼ cups of cooked, chopped round steak,

1 ½ cups of cooked, diced, red potato, 

¾ cup of chopped onion

1 ½ tablespoon soft butter

salt and pepper

Roll the dough out and cut into 6 inch squares.  Place some of the meat filling onto the dough.  Dampen the dough edges with water and fold over the dough, pinching it to seal.

Place Pasties on a cookie sheet and bake in a pre-heated oven at 365 degrees for 50 to 60 minutes.

Enjoy Pasties warm, after they have cooled from the oven.  Or eat them like a miner, cold and with a bit of brown grainy mustard.