Yooper Pasties with Venison and Roasted Root Vegetables and Spent Grain Hot Water Pastry
Traditionally, the meat and fillings for pasties are diced small (1/4") and put in the pasty uncooked, to finish cooking while the pastry case bakes. You can do this, but I prefer to cut veggies into a medium or large dice (1/2"-3/4"), sear the meat first (1" cubes raw, as they'll shrink slightly) and roast the veggies on lightly oiled sheet pans. It's an extra step, but the Maillard reaction you get from roasting and browning the components first adds sweetness to the vegetables, umami to the meat, and a general depth of flavor to the filling that I think is worthwhile, especially in winter! If I'm baking these in the summer, I'll go the traditional route to cut down on oven time.
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Perfect All-Butter Flaky Pastry Crust
Every baker and home cook should have at least one pie crust recipe in their repertoire. This basic flaky butter pastry crust is one of my absolute favorites, with a tender crumb and lots of flaky layers in the dough. Best of all, one batch of this pie crust recipe makes four crusts- enough for two covered fruit pies or four open topped pies or quiches. You can halve the recipe, but they keep for months in the freezer, so make the whole batch! This is THE recipe you'll find yourself reaching for again and again for holiday pies or for other festive occasions, or to freeze and have on hand for quick and easy pies, pastries, and quiches on a whim.
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Perfect All-Butter Flaky Pastry Crust
Every baker and home cook should have at least one pie crust recipe in their repertoire. This basic flaky butter pastry crust is one of my absolute favorites, with a tender crumb and lots of flaky layers in the dough. Best of all, one batch of this pie crust recipe makes four crusts- enough for two covered fruit pies or four open topped pies or quiches. You can halve the recipe, but they keep for months in the freezer, so make the whole batch! This is THE recipe you'll find yourself reaching for again and again for holiday pies or for other festive occasions, or to freeze and have on hand for quick and easy pies, pastries, and quiches on a whim.
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Yooper Pasties with Venison and Roasted Root Vegetables and Spent Grain Hot Water Pastry
Traditionally, the meat and fillings for pasties are diced small (1/4") and put in the pasty uncooked, to finish cooking while the pastry case bakes. You can do this, but I prefer to cut veggies into a medium or large dice (1/2"-3/4"), sear the meat first (1" cubes raw, as they'll shrink slightly) and roast the veggies on lightly oiled sheet pans. It's an extra step, but the Maillard reaction you get from roasting and browning the components first adds sweetness to the vegetables, umami to the meat, and a general depth of flavor to the filling that I think is worthwhile, especially in winter! If I'm baking these in the summer, I'll go the traditional route to cut down on oven time.
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