Blame Gertie Johnson…she let
Deb Baker print the recipe in
Murder Grins and Bears It. Gertie, early-sixty-something “recent” widow, lives,
enjoys her friendships, and otherwise helps her son Blaze the sheriff, solve
murders which seem to plague the U.P. – somewhere around Escanaba – whether he
needs her help or not. He usually doesn’t, but Gertie doesn’t have a whole lot
else to do, besides try not to get caught driving since she doesn’t have a
driver’s license and staying out of her former mother-in-law’s sight, which is
hard to do since Grandma moved in. I’d tell you more, but then you wouldn’t
have the pleasure of reading all the
Gertie stories yourself.
Anyway, my mouth started watering the first time I read the
recipe. Took a couple more years to remember to ask hubby to plant rutabagas in
the garden. This year I actually remembered, and…voila.
And that’s PASS-tee, not the other pronunciation which is a
whole different thing. Okay, I know you’re
dying to know, what exactly is a pastie? Just hold on there now, we’re getting
there. It’s a meat and veggie pie, easily packable. Here, let me show you.
Gertie’s recipe as found (
James G. Baker Jr. BEAR BAIT(Kindle Locations 3833-3837), makes 6 large pies, and I’m only sharing the
pastry recipe because I actually followed it, sort of, and it worked well, and
it’s not a secret—I’ve seen it before. For the filling, I’ll add my commentary,
and if you want the actual recipe, you’ll have to buy the book.
For pastry
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup butter cut
in pieces, 3/4 cup ice, water, 1 egg (divided – use yolk here and whites later)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Make up the dough like standard pie crust by cutting the
butter (I used butter flavored Crisco) into the flour and salt, then adding the
egg yolk, keeping the white for brushing the top, ice water while stirring with
a fork, then kneading just a few times to make all the ingredients meld.
Refrigerate for 20 minutes. In large bowl combine all
filling ingredients. Grease baking sheet.
Create the filling – yes, all these are raw:
2 pounds coarsely ground meat (you can certainly adjust the meat/veggie ration to your preference) – I used venison and pork, you
can use nice beef in place of the venison, but remember, the fat will melt out
while you’re baking. I used ground venison and pork and course-ground some
steaks to make up two pounds. Pork is important, though, for flavor. Add 1 1/2 cups chopped onions—I used hubby’s
purple ones & you really need that many, 1 cup each of peeled diced rutabagas
& peeled diced potatoes; add some salt and pepper to taste. Between the meat
and onions and rutabaga, those are the ingredients that combine for the flavor.
There really isn’t any other seasoning. You can make a gravy to serve with it,
or ketchup, or steak sauce if you want.
To make the pastie, flour up your counter, divide dough in 6
pieces and roll each into an 8 inch circle. On half of each pastry, spread 1
cup of filling (I divided my filling into 6 as well, to avoid issues if a cup wasn't exactly a cup, ya know? and really, don't make a ball of it, leave it loose). Fold over and crimp edges either fluted like pie, or with a
fork, or a hearty pinch. The dough is a bit tender, even chilled, so take care
not to tear it up.
Place each on baking sheet (a spatula is handy – I got three
on a tray – and while I used a cookie sheet the first time, I wouldn’t do it
again due to the fat running out of the pastie while baking) Cut a few slits in
each top, brush with egg white, and bake 1 hour.
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