MICHIGAN PASTY ~ 'FAST FOOD of the UPPER PENINSULA'

Real Michigan Food

The pasty came to the Upper Peninsula through Cornwall England. When tin mining started going bad in England during the 1800's the Cornish miners immigrated to America hoping to earn there fortunes in newly developing mines … When the Cornish came to the copper mines of the Upper Peninsula, they brought with them a lot of mining knowledge which the other ethnic groups did not have. The other ethnic groups looked up to the Cornish and wanted to emulate their mining successes. Many Cornish practices were then copied by the other ethnic groups, including the pasty as the standard lunch for miners. The pasty became popular with these other ethnic groups because it was small, portable, was very filling, and could stay warm for 8-10 hours.

~ Absolute Michigan

~ 'The Mighty Mac'

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MICHIGAN PASTY

~ The recipe for pasties is well known, however, every cook has a few special secrets. This treasured recipe is adapted from the Upper Peninsula Travel and Recreation Association, clipped from The Bay City Times (Monday, March 1, 1993)

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CRUST:

1 1/3 cups flour

1/2 tsp.salt

1/2 cup lard (or healthier Crisco)

1/3 cup cold water

FILLING:

1/2 cup cubed turnips

1/2 cup cubed cubed potatoes

1/2 cup cubed rutabagas,

1/2 cup cubed carrots

1 diced small onion

2 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 lb. 1/4-in. cubed boneless beef

1/2 tsp. coarse salt

1/4 tsp. freshly ground black

1 Tbsp. butter

• For crust, sift flour and salt together; cut in lard until the size of small peas. Add cold water. Mix with pastry blender until dough is well blended. divide into 2 equal parts. Roll into 9-inch circles.
• For filling, mix ingredients together. Equally divide onto rolled crust and top with butter. Lift and fold top half of crust over filling and seal; fold and crimp a rope edge along top of pasty.
• Slit each pasty crust a 1/2-inch in several places. Place on cookie sheet several inches apart and bake on bottom rack at 375 for 1 hour or until lightly browned.
• Remove pasties from oven and place on a rack. Cover with towel and allow to stand for 30 minutes before eating. (2 servings)

Note: To bake frozen pasties, preheat oven to 375-degrees. Place frozen pasties in the oven and lower heat to 350-degrees. Bake roughly 1 hour and 20 minutes. Cover with foil is getting too brown.