Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Cornish-ish Pasties (not made in Cornwall)


Will the EU allow me to call my Cornish Pasties Cornish Pasties when they are not made in Cornwall? To avoid ambiguity as they are a tweaked version anyway and made by a Thai here in my kitchen in New Zealand, I will call them Cornish-ish Pasties (Cornish-style Pasties will sound a bit too commercial).

My pasty filling is chicken not beef mince and I cook it first, of course, in my old faithful wok. For 4 pasties you will need:

200 grams skinless chicken meat (thigh meat is better for this – don’t scream at me that it’s not beef, it’s a tweaked version and we just had beef for dinner the day before), cubed
1 Potato, peeled and cubed
1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
½ Onion chopped
¼ cup chicken stock
¼ Tsp mustard powder
Salt & pepper to taste
2 sheets savoury short crust pastry
1 egg, beaten

Pre-heat the oven to 210 degrees C.
Par-boil potato cubed with water to just cover the potato in the microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. Fry onion in a little bit of oil on medium high heat until soft. Add chicken and turn until cooked then add mixed vegetables, potato, mustard and stock. Mix well and cook further until the water has been absorbed and potato is well cooked. Add seasoning to taste. Leave to cool.
Cut the pasty sheets into 4 15-16 cm rounds. I use saucer as a guide. You will have to piece the remnants from the first 2 rounds together to make the 3rd and 4th, glue them with a bit of water and roll to smooth the seams. Divide the chicken mixture in each round of pastry. Brush the edge with egg and shape the pastry round into half circle. Press the edges together and pinch to seal and make wavy edge. Brushed the pasties with egg wash and bake for 10-15 minute before reducing the heat to 190. Bake further for 20 minutes.

Pasties are better when cold (according to Bob) but I like mine warmish with a bit of tomato sauce.

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