Pasties: Meat and Potatoes Pastry
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Traditional Yooper Cuisine
If you have ever spent time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, you have probably heard of pasties. They are a meat and potato filled pastry that is served as a main course for lunch or dinner.
The recipe I learned was passed down from my Finnish ancestors who settled in Ironwood, Michigan and the surrounding areas. But the origins of the recipe are Cornish. The Irish and the Finns worked together in the mines in Northern Michigan. Pasties happen to be the perfect meal for a hard working miner who wants a hot lunch.
Miner's wives would heat a pasty in the morning (usually in a wood stove) and then wrap it in newspaper to hold in the heat. The whole thing was placed in a lunch pail and the miners took them down into the mine. Thanks to the dense meat and potato interior, the pasties would still be warm when lunch time rolled around - no microwaves and break rooms for miners.
Every family had their own unique tweaks to the recipe. What follows is the tradition passed down by my grandmother Elizabeth Kilponen.
The recipe I learned was passed down from my Finnish ancestors who settled in Ironwood, Michigan and the surrounding areas. But the origins of the recipe are Cornish. The Irish and the Finns worked together in the mines in Northern Michigan. Pasties happen to be the perfect meal for a hard working miner who wants a hot lunch.
Miner's wives would heat a pasty in the morning (usually in a wood stove) and then wrap it in newspaper to hold in the heat. The whole thing was placed in a lunch pail and the miners took them down into the mine. Thanks to the dense meat and potato interior, the pasties would still be warm when lunch time rolled around - no microwaves and break rooms for miners.
Every family had their own unique tweaks to the recipe. What follows is the tradition passed down by my grandmother Elizabeth Kilponen.
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Learn How To Make Pasties
The Ultimate Meat and Potatoes Pastry...
Get in the kitchen and start Cooking with Liz. Let my Grandma show you how to make a pasty like a yooper.
Elizabeth Kilponen's Pasty Recipe
Grandma didn't cook from recipes very often - she just rolled up her sleeves and baked. This Ironwood Michigan native created these meat and potato meals in a pastry shell for her husband, children, grand children and great grand children. The recipe below was transcribed from the video she created in 1997 to share this family favorite with her grand children and great grand children.
Click here to learn more about making a 'Recipe Video' to preserve your family story.
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THE RECIPE CARD
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INGREDIENTS:
Filling
4 Medium Onions (chopped)
1 Pound Stewing Beef
7 Medium Sized Potatoes (peeled and chopped)!
1 Package Baby Carrots
1/2 Rutabaga (chopped)
1 Stick of Butter
Pastry Crust
4 Cups Flour
2 Tsp Salt
1 1/3 Cups Shortening
2 Cups Ice Water
Preparation Time: About 30 minutes
Cooking Time: About 60 minutes
SERVES 12-13
Preparation Directions:
Peel and chop potatoes, rutabaga, and onions. Using food processor or meat grinder, grind all of the ingredients for the filling. Place in a large mixing bowl and blend the ground mixture thoroughly.
Mix pastry ingredients together - add ice water slowly until the dough reaches the proper texture.
On a floured surface, roll out dough in a circle. Place one cup of filling mixture into the center and add a pat of butter to the top. Fold over dough into a half circle. Crimp edges and poke vent holes in top of pastry.
Baking Directions:
Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place pasties on cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes on the lowest rack in the oven. Then, move to top rack and bake for an additional 30 minutes before serving.
Pasties may be prepared ahead of time and frozen. To freeze, bake pasties for 30 Minutes and then freeze. To eat, bake for an additional 30 minutes (no defrosting required) before serving.
ALL MEASUREMENTS GIVEN ARE UNITED STATES IMPERIAL - Grandma was NOT into the metric system.
(Here is an Imperial-to-Metric conversion chart, if you need one.)
Click here to learn more about making a 'Recipe Video' to preserve your family story.
================
THE RECIPE CARD
================
INGREDIENTS:
Filling
4 Medium Onions (chopped)
1 Pound Stewing Beef
7 Medium Sized Potatoes (peeled and chopped)!
1 Package Baby Carrots
1/2 Rutabaga (chopped)
1 Stick of Butter
Pastry Crust
4 Cups Flour
2 Tsp Salt
1 1/3 Cups Shortening
2 Cups Ice Water
Preparation Time: About 30 minutes
Cooking Time: About 60 minutes
SERVES 12-13
Preparation Directions:
Peel and chop potatoes, rutabaga, and onions. Using food processor or meat grinder, grind all of the ingredients for the filling. Place in a large mixing bowl and blend the ground mixture thoroughly.
Mix pastry ingredients together - add ice water slowly until the dough reaches the proper texture.
On a floured surface, roll out dough in a circle. Place one cup of filling mixture into the center and add a pat of butter to the top. Fold over dough into a half circle. Crimp edges and poke vent holes in top of pastry.
Baking Directions:
Pre-Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place pasties on cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes on the lowest rack in the oven. Then, move to top rack and bake for an additional 30 minutes before serving.
Pasties may be prepared ahead of time and frozen. To freeze, bake pasties for 30 Minutes and then freeze. To eat, bake for an additional 30 minutes (no defrosting required) before serving.
ALL MEASUREMENTS GIVEN ARE UNITED STATES IMPERIAL - Grandma was NOT into the metric system.
(Here is an Imperial-to-Metric conversion chart, if you need one.)
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