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Big Black Dog: Welsh Pasties and Aloo Partha

February 23, 2010

Welsh Pasties and Aloo Partha


This week for HBinFive we are making 100% Whole Wheat Bread with Olive Oil which makes a good flatbread. I had some trouble with this recipe in the beginning and I don't know why. Maybe it just wasn't my week for making bread, but then I settled down and got to work!

For some reason I've been thinking so much about Michigan lately and many of my memories involve food. When I lived in Flint, right across the street was a tiny restaurant, King Arthur Pasties, pronounced PASS-tee. King Arthur's had a very limited menu with Welsh Pasties, some people call them Cornish Pasties, being the main item and they were excellent. The unique flavor in the Pasties is Rutabaga, a large, clunky looking root vegetable with a flavor similar to a peppery potato and when cooked it turns a beautiful deep yellow.

Instead of adding Olive Oil to the HB5 Whole Wheat Dough I decided to use butter and make a flaky pastry dough or detrempe and whip up some Pasties. Detrempe is easy to make, just mix up the dough and chill. Then roll out the dough about 1/4" thick, spread a thin layer of soft butter, fold up the dough letter style and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Then again roll out the dough, spread with soft butter, fold and refrigerate. This makes the dough nice and flaky similar to puff pastry.

The Welsh Pasties were outstanding..totally delicious..definitely a keeper recipe!


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Welsh Pasties
Recipe adapted from Milwaukee Journal March 28, 1943

Dough:
3 c. flour
1 1/2 sticks butter (cold and cut into bits)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
6 tbsp. water

Filling:
1 lb. round steak, coarsely ground
1 lb. boneless pork loin, coarsely ground
5 carrots, chopped
2 lg. onions, chopped
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 c. rutabaga, chopped (can substitute turnip)
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper

Dough:
In a large bowl, combine flour, butter and salt. Blend ingredients until well combined and add water, one tablespoon at a time to form a dough. Toss mixture until it forms a ball. Kneed dough lightly against a smooth surface with heel of the hand to distribute fat evenly. Form into a ball, dust with flour, wrap in wax paper and chill for 30 minutes.

Filling:
Combine all ingredients in large bowl. I browned the meat and added the vegetables and sauteed for a few minutes.

Making the Pasties:
Divide the dough into 6 pieces, and roll one of the pieces into a 10-inch round on a lightly floured surface. Put 1 1/2 cups of filling on half of the round. Moisten the edges and fold the unfilled half over the filling to enclose it. Pinch the edges together to seal them and crimp them decoratively with a fork. Transfer pasty to lightly buttered baking sheet and cut several slits in the top. Roll out and fill the remaining dough in the same manner. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Put 1 tsp. butter through a slit in each pasty and continue baking for 30 minutes more. Remove from oven, cover with a damp tea towel, cool for 15 minutes.


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For our second recipe we made Aloo Partha. For the filling I used white potato, sweet potato, peas, garlic and salt/pepper. I have to admit this was not one of our favorite breads but in all fairness, if I had rolled the dough thinner I think the loaf would have been better. But you can see in the below photo that the "crust" is far to thick. In the dog world we call this a handler error meaning the dog was not at fault but rather the handler had made the mistake but in this case it was the cook!


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Whole Wheat is a strong flavor and if I was making this bread again, instead of making one large loaf, I would roll the dough thinner, less then 1/8" thick, into individual loaves and add a bit more garlic and maybe some bacon bits to the filling.


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If you'd like to see Tradtional Aloo Partha, Aparna, a member of HBinFive, has a wonderful post on her site My Diverse Kitchen. And please take a minute to watch the video embedded in her post, definitely worth your time.







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26 Comments:

Blogger Fresh Local and Best said...

These pasties look so hearty and comforting. I'm imagining how wonderful it must be to bite into the flaky crust. Great job!

February 23, 2010 at 12:25 PM  
Blogger Julie Harward said...

These look SO good, I love whole wheat...love the cite little pasties! I make whole wheat bread..it turns out perfect every time..I did a post on it (September) it makes 4 loaves, it takes 90 minutes from beginning to end..so easy too, no second rising..come see what you think! :D

February 23, 2010 at 12:25 PM  
Blogger Bonnie said...

I love your pasties. I've made them before and yours sound and look so much better.

I'm re-thinking my aloo partha and foccacia bread. I might try to vary them. Thanks for the advice.

February 23, 2010 at 12:56 PM  
Blogger George Gaston said...

Michelle, oh how I love the concept of the Pasties. It's full dinner in a convenient wrap of dough. And, yours look amazing!

February 23, 2010 at 1:03 PM  
Blogger Shelley Kubitz Mahannah said...

I love pasties - we had them in Manitowoc, Wisconsin when I lived there and man do I miss them! :) Can't wait to try!

February 23, 2010 at 1:12 PM  
Blogger Joanna said...

Thse look great, Michele! How thin did you roll your dough? I'm going to do my Aloo Partha this weekend, so I guess thinner is better. Good to know before hand!

February 23, 2010 at 1:20 PM  
Blogger Michelle said...

Joanna,

I usually roll out dough less then 1/4" thick. To improve this bread would roll the dough less then 1/8" thick. If you make smaller loaves the thinner dough is easy to handle.

Michelle

February 23, 2010 at 2:17 PM  
Blogger Allie and Pattie said...

Michelle, your pasties are so similar to the meat and vegetable calzones my grandmother would make with whatever leftovers she had-sooo good
xoxo Pattie

February 23, 2010 at 2:47 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

everything looks great. I'll remember to roll my dough thin when i get around to making my Aloo Partha

February 23, 2010 at 3:45 PM  
Blogger Mimi said...

Your pasties look so tasty. Such a nice hearty filling.
Mimi

February 23, 2010 at 4:16 PM  
Blogger Joanne said...

Those pasties look delicious! I love all of your little pocket-filled treats.

I'm sorry you don't like this dough that much! I actually love it but then again, I really love the flavor of whole wheat...and olive oil...together. The filling for the aloo paratha sounds so good! I hope I get a chance to make them.

February 23, 2010 at 5:03 PM  
Anonymous Megan said...

Love the Pasties! This would be a meal my family would love to eat.

February 23, 2010 at 5:28 PM  
Anonymous tasteofbeirut said...

Beautiful! It reminds me how every culture intermingles with another; in the levant we have a type of pasty too called sambusek.
Yours look totally pro!

February 23, 2010 at 6:15 PM  
Anonymous Megan said...

I haven't had cornish pasties in years - my mom used to make them all the time.

February 23, 2010 at 6:42 PM  
Blogger Mama Peck said...

YUM Those pasties look delicious! What a great idea to layer the dough with butter. I love to read your posts- I learn something every time.

February 23, 2010 at 6:45 PM  
Blogger Kathleen said...

This looks like the perfect comfort food to me. YUM!!!

February 24, 2010 at 1:02 AM  
Blogger kat said...

We drove through the UP this summer & had the best pasties, yum. Your post is taking me back to those. We made parathas two weeks ago as well which was a first for us

February 24, 2010 at 8:15 AM  
Blogger Amanda said...

These look fab! Being from England, Cornish Pasties were a staple. My uncle still lives in Cornwall too :) YummY!

February 24, 2010 at 8:58 AM  
Blogger Sook said...

Oh wow... I don't think I've ever tried these... they look so beautiful!

February 24, 2010 at 1:07 PM  
Blogger Kim said...

You are a pro at these making these pocket breads! It think they look terrific. Sorry to hear that this dough wasn't your favorite.

I'm way behind on hbin5 and I need to catch up.

February 24, 2010 at 1:11 PM  
Blogger mrs. c said...

You make me so hungry!! I haven't gotten up the courage to make your breads yet....probably because i WOULD END UP EATING EVERY LAST BITE!!

February 24, 2010 at 2:28 PM  
Blogger teresa said...

FANTASTIC way to use your HBi5! they look so good, i'm excited to make mine!

February 24, 2010 at 4:08 PM  
Blogger chow and chatter said...

oh wow these look amazing!

February 24, 2010 at 9:28 PM  
Anonymous Jen @ My Kitchen Addiction said...

Beautiful! Looks so yummy and perfect for the cold, snowy weather we're having right now.

February 25, 2010 at 10:31 PM  
Blogger SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

What a wonderful idea to make pasties! They look mouth-wateringly delicious and so interesting that the recipe came from our newspaper ;) Of the two recipes, I'm sure the pasties would have been my favorite also.

February 28, 2010 at 7:52 AM  
Blogger Elwood said...

Those pasties look soooo good. I think I would like to have used butter instead of the olive oil also. As usual you're the bomb!

February 28, 2010 at 10:28 AM  

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