Cornish Miners' Pasties

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (turkey or venison)
• 2 cups diced potatoes
• 2 cups diced carrots
• 1 cup diced turnip
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 6 -8 tablespoons butter
• 6 -8 tablespoons water (see ** description)
• 2 tablespoons milk (more or less)
• 1 (10 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup (or leftover beef or chicken gravy)
• 0.5 (10 ounce) can milk
• thyme, to taste
• tarragon, to taste

Recipe

• 1 prepare pastry according to pasty pastry for cornish miners' pasties , set aside; preheat oven to 350.
• 2 mix meat, vegetables and salt in large bowl; divide into 6-8 portions; set aside.
• 3 divide pastry into 6 (large) or 8 (medium) equal pieces; roll each into a large circle, about 1/4-inch thick.
• 4 on one half of each circle, place equal amount of meat-veg mixture.
• 5 carefully lift and fold pastry over filling (half circle); moisten edges of pastry with water & pastry brush; use a fork to crimp the edges to prevent liquid (added later) from oozing out. if there is a thin edge of crust, fold it over on itself to make a nice crust.
• 6 transfer each pasty to a large baking sheet (i use two).
• 7 with a paring knife, poke a hole straight into just the top crust, shaped like an x, each leg should be about a half-inch long, then fold the little corners back (like a flower).
• 8 melt butter and water in the microwave; pour equal amounts into each pasty (through the little flower-hole you've created in the previous step).
• 9 more butter-water can be added about half-way through the baking, if you didn't use it all at this point.
• 10 brush tops of pasties with the milk.
• 11 pop it all into the oven; bake for one hour; tops should be golden brown (you won't be able to let them in there much longer anyway--as the aroma is beyond this world!).
• 12 serve with gravy made from the soup & a bit of milk; add your favorite herbs (thyme & tarragon are our favorites); just heat the soup & milk, sprinkle in the herbs & spoon over the pasty or into the little hole.
• 13 also -- you might want to let these "rest" for a few minutes before eating---the insides will be very hot!
• 14 tips on eating these: miners would've carried these in a lunch pail (wrapped in a dishtowel!) -- we serve 'em on plates and slather on the gravy after cutting them open to release the steam & heat; the crust is especially delish with the gravy!