Michigan Miner's Pasties

[LAJ]

Seasoning Mix
1 tablespoon salt, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons onion powder, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dried sweet basil leaves, 1/4 teaspoon white pepper,
1/4 teaspoon ground savory (spice)
Combine seasoning mix ingredients in bowl.

Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon seasoning mix (above) 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 7-8 tablespoons cold water
Combine flour, 1 teaspoon seasoning mix and butter in bowl and blend with fork. Gradually add water and work dough lightly until all ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Form dough into a ball. Refrigerate, covered overnight.

Filling
10 oz lean pork butt, very finely chopped, 1/4 pound lean beef roast (I use chuck) finely chopped, 2 tablespoons plus 2 and 1/2 teaspoons seasoning mix(above),4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 cups chopped onions, 1 cup chopped celery, 3/4 cup finely diced turnips, 3/4 cup finely diced rutabaga, 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
Melt butter in skillet and add onions and celery 4-6 min. Stir in 2 and 1/2 teaspoons seasoning mix and cook 4 min. In large bowl, combine vegetable mixture to chopped beef and pork. Put mixture in refrigerator overnight. (The potatoes should be sliced just before filling pasties so they dont discolor) I brown my beef and pork in skillet after chopping.

Finish
1 egg, 2 tablespoons water, 2 large potatoes, 1 teaspoon seasoning mix, all purpose flour, veg oil cooking spray
Make egg wash by beating egg white with water. Remove dough from fridge and divide into 5 equal portions. Sprinkle clean surface with flour and roll out each portion of dough to 1/16 thickness. Using a plate as a guide cut a 9-inch round from each. Peel potatoes and cut them into 30 thin pieces. Sprinkle the 1 teaspoon seasoning mix over both sides of slices. Remove filling from fridge and place 3 potato slices on half of each round, cover potatoes with 1 cup filling and arrange 3 momre potato slices over filliing. Bring the other half of each round of dough over the filling to make a half-moon shape. Brush the edges with egg wash, fold them over to seal, and crimp with fork tines. Brush egg wash over top of each pastry. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray and place pasties onto sheet. (If you have trouble picking up pasties, use an oiled spatula). Bake until golden brown, about one hour and 10 min.

5 servings

I vacuum seal mine, at times and ship overship in dry ice to my son's ship in Florida. They freeze nicely. When I fly, I vacuum seal them with an ice pack and put them in my purse or carry on.


For the Non-Michiganders:
Pasties were brought to upper peninsula by Cornish miners who settled there in mid nineteenth century. They were able to work long hours in the copper mines and have this unique pocket food. They sell from $6.00- $10.00 each most places. The commercial type you may find in lower peninsula are not high quality and not worth buying.

 

[rockinup]

Pasties......

Generally, pasties can be just about anything you want them to be.
But, when the Cornish miners came here, spices were pretty scarce.
And, they were mainly found in the mines of the central and western U.P. where these miners worked. Not in the eastern end of the peninsula.
Anyway, mostly they contained either pork or beef, but mostly beef and the basic vegetables like carrots, potato's, onion and if available rutabega's.
Now days usually they are offered either with or without rutabegas at most Pasty places.
Pasties served two purposes.
One, they were a meal in one. And two, when warmed in the morning and wrapped in a cloth and stored in the miners lunch box, they would stay warm until lunch which the miners took down in the mine.
Most love them the way they are.
Some like lots of Katchup on them.
And I've even seen them served with a beef gravy.
Whatever you prefer.

 

[CWS4322]

I vacuum seal mine, at times and ship overship in dry ice to my son's ship in Florida. They freeze nicely. When I fly, I vacuum seal them with an ice pack and put them in my purse or carry on.


For the Non-Michiganders:
Pasties were brought to upper peninsula by Cornish miners who settled there in mid nineteenth century. They were able to work long hours in the copper mines and have this unique pocket food. They sell from $6.00- $10.00 each most places. The commercial type you may find in lower peninsula are not high quality and not worth buying.

Those sound really good...I have a hard enough time figuring out what to put in the ziplock bags re: toiletries...are you telling me that Homeland Security has no problem if you bring pasties...hmmm...maybe I could bag my nailclipper and knitting needles in a pastie, go in the washroom after take off and retrieve my knitting needles so I could knit during the flight...hadn't thought of that.

 

[Zhizara]

Those sound really good...I have a hard enough time figuring out what to put in the ziplock bags re: toiletries...are you telling me that Homeland Security has no problem if you bring pasties...hmmm...maybe I could bag my nailclipper and knitting needles in a pastie, go in the washroom after take off and retrieve my knitting needles so I could knit during the flight...hadn't thought of that.

What are the nail clippers for if you're going to be knitting?

 

[sparrowgrass]

I lived in northeast Minnesota, in Ely, for 5 years, and Cornish miners brought pasties to that area, too.

Here is a pasty story an old miner told me.

Miners took pasties to work often--or sometimes their older children or wives would carry them up the mine at noon, if the miner was allowed to come to the surface for a break. The sturdy crust kept them together, and a broad crimped edge served as a handle so dirty fingers didn't touch the meal --mining is dirty work. After the miners ate, the crust was tossed over a shoulder as food for the tommyknockers, mischievious little guys who lived underground. If the tommyknockers didn't get fed, they would cause the miners all kind of trouble--misplaced tools, lamps that wouldn't stay lit, rocks in the path to stub your toes on.

If you ever get the chance to visit a mine listen for the tick, tick, tick of the tommyknockers' little picks hitting the rocks.

Soudan Underground Mine State Park is an iron mine where you take a ride half a mile down in the original 'man-cage' elevator. I worked there as a tour guide for 5 years, and spent lots of time talking to the old timers who worked in the mine before it closed in 1962.

 

[babetoo]

what a clever little story!!

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

Laj a good pasty recipe with an interesting filing I will give it a bash, I live in Wales the name of the little people here is Bwca, in the Cornish Tin mines it is Bucca. Welsh coal miners are some of the hardest men I have ever played rugby with or boxed. There is no history of the Pasty in Welsh coal mines but in the copper mines of Anglesey there is, the pasty had two filings meat one side fruit the other.
I live 4 miles from Gresford 266 men died down the pit on sept 22 1934.
Miners should carry a nations automatic respect.

 

[Zhizara]

Seasoning Mix
1 tablespoon salt, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons onion powder, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dried sweet basil leaves, 1/4 teaspoon white pepper,
1/4 teaspoon ground savory (spice)
Combine seasoning mix ingredients in bowl.

Dough
2 cups all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon seasoning mix (above) 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, 7-8 tablespoons cold water
Combine flour, 1 teaspoon seasoning mix and butter in bowl and blend with fork. Gradually add water and work dough lightly until all ingredients are mixed thoroughly. Form dough into a ball. Refrigerate, covered overnight.

Filling
10 oz lean pork butt, very finely chopped, 1/4 pound lean beef roast (I use chuck) finely chopped, 2 tablespoons plus 2 and 1/2 teaspoons seasoning mix(above),4 tablespoons unsalted butter, 2 cups chopped onions, 1 cup chopped celery, 3/4 cup finely diced turnips, 3/4 cup finely diced rutabaga, 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
Melt butter in skillet and add onions and celery 4-6 min. Stir in 2 and 1/2 teaspoons seasoning mix and cook 4 min. In large bowl, combine vegetable mixture to chopped beef and pork. Put mixture in refrigerator overnight. (The potatoes should be sliced just before filling pasties so they dont discolor) I brown my beef and pork in skillet after chopping.

Finish
1 egg, 2 tablespoons water, 2 large potatoes, 1 teaspoon seasoning mix, all purpose flour, veg oil cooking spray
Make egg wash by beating egg white with water. Remove dough from fridge and divide into 5 equal portions. Sprinkle clean surface with flour and roll out each portion of dough to 1/16 thickness. Using a plate as a guide cut a 9-inch round from each. Peel potatoes and cut them into 30 thin pieces. Sprinkle the 1 teaspoon seasoning mix over both sides of slices. Remove filling from fridge and place 3 potato slices on half of each round, cover potatoes with 1 cup filling and arrange 3 momre potato slices over filliing. Bring the other half of each round of dough over the filling to make a half-moon shape. Brush the edges with egg wash, fold them over to seal, and crimp with fork tines. Brush egg wash over top of each pastry. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray and place pasties onto sheet. (If you have trouble picking up pasties, use an oiled spatula). Bake until golden brown, about one hour and 10 min.

5 servings

I vacuum seal mine, at times and ship overship in dry ice to my son's ship in Florida. They freeze nicely. When I fly, I vacuum seal them with an ice pack and put them in my purse or carry on.


For the Non-Michiganders:
Pasties were brought to upper peninsula by Cornish miners who settled there in mid nineteenth century. They were able to work long hours in the copper mines and have this unique pocket food. They sell from $6.00- $10.00 each most places. The commercial type you may find in lower peninsula are not high quality and not worth buying.

Bake @ 350?

 

[LAJ]

As for Homeland Security They can xray the pasties and see they are all clear. I like to carry them on as opposed to putting them in checked bags. Although they are vacuum sealed. I don't want them handled so much and smashed.

 

[sparrowgrass]

Miners do some of the most dangerous jobs around, and, remember, if you don't grow it, you have to mine it!!

I have heard of the meat and fruit pasty, but I have never tried one. I have a friend whose grandmother was Cornish, and she would bake the pasties til they were almost done, and then cut a slit and pour cream in, to make a kind of gravy.

Babetoo--I used to lead a group of people underground in the Soudan mine, and tell that story, by candlelight--the first miners worked underground by the light of candles in their hats. As I told the part about tommyknockers getting cranky if they didn't get fed, I would say that they might misplace your tools. or----BLOW YOUR CANDLE OUT!

It is very, very dark underground when the tommies blow your candle out! Of course, I had a light switch at hand, and didn't leave them in the dark long.

 

[blissful]

Soudan Underground Mine State Park is an iron mine where you take a ride half a mile down in the original 'man-cage' elevator. I worked there as a tour guide for 5 years, and spent lots of time talking to the old timers who worked in the mine before it closed in 1962.

Sparrowgrass, sometimes I think we may have met or be related, when I read your stories.
My father's family lived in Ely and worked in a mine (which one, I do not know). When we visited, we collected some ore and brought it home (southern wisconsin) and kept it near the patio fireplace while I was growing up. (some of it was shaped like pellets)
I learned to make pasties with grandma in Ely (farm lake). We picked wild blueberries along the road to the cabin. We didn't make fruit pasties, I think we just ate the blueberries with ice cream. Learned to play horse shoes there too.
Around, 1970 to 1974 (?) --around that time, I went on a tour of a mine, and I still remember the elevator like box we went down into the mine in, and how pitch black it was in the mine. If I remember correctly, the box didn't go straight down, it turned a little as it decended and the ride was a little bumpy. I remember how scary it was to think of all the earth/rock over my head and I wondered if I would get out alive.
I haven't thought of it in years!

 

[chopper]

Miners do some of the most dangerous jobs around, and, remember, if you don't grow it, you have to mine it!!

I have heard of the meat and fruit pasty, but I have never tried one. I have a friend whose grandmother was Cornish, and she would bake the pasties til they were almost done, and then cut a slit and pour cream in, to make a kind of gravy.

Babetoo--I used to lead a group of people underground in the Soudan mine, and tell that story, by candlelight--the first miners worked underground by the light of candles in their hats. As I told the part about tommyknockers getting cranky if they didn't get fed, I would say that they might misplace your tools. or----BLOW YOUR CANDLE OUT!

It is very, very dark underground when the tommies blow your candle out! Of course, I had a light switch at hand, and didn't leave them in the dark long.

On a tour inside of a mine once, they took us in a small area with only candles, and blew the candles out. The absence of light was amazing. That is a dark you don't usually experience. I cannot imagine how it would be to work in a mine. Thanks for the stories, info, and recipe.

 

[chopper]

Sparrowgrass, sometimes I think we may have met or be related, when I read your stories.
My father's family lived in Ely and worked in a mine (which one, I do not know). When we visited, we collected some ore and brought it home (southern wisconsin) and kept it near the patio fireplace while I was growing up. (some of it was shaped like pellets)
I learned to make pasties with grandma in Ely (farm lake). We picked wild blueberries along the road to the cabin. We didn't make fruit pasties, I think we just ate the blueberries with ice cream. Learned to play horse shoes there too.
Around, 1970 to 1974 (?) --around that time, I went on a tour of a mine, and I still remember the elevator like box we went down into the mine in, and how pitch black it was in the mine. If I remember correctly, the box didn't go straight down, it turned a little as it decended and the ride was a little bumpy. I remember how scary it was to think of all the earth/rock over my head and I wondered if I would get out alive.
I haven't thought of it in years!

Growing up in MI, my brother and I used to hang out near the railroad tracks. We would find that ore shaped like pellets that had fallen off of the train cars. I was in "rocks and minerals" in 4-H, and I even had some of those pellets in my collection for the fair. They were a hit, and it was thought that they came from mines in the UP.

 

[blissful]

Growing up in MI, my brother and I used to hang out near the railroad tracks. We would find that ore shaped like pellets that had fallen off of the train cars. I was in "rocks and minerals" in 4-H, and I even had some of those pellets in my collection for the fair. They were a hit, and it was thought that they came from mines in the UP.

Chopper, there were many iron ore mines in Michigan too. From reading, it looks like there were times in history when Michigan mined more iron ore than anywhere else.
Memories! 4-H sounds like fun. I was in Girl Scouts.

 

[chopper]

Chopper, there were many iron ore mines in Michigan too. From reading, it looks like there were times in history when Michigan mined more iron ore than anywhere else.
Memories! 4-H sounds like fun. I was in Girl Scouts.

Oh, I did the Girl Scout thing too! They are great memories too, but I had many varried memories from 4-H. We had a softball team, I learned to cook and sew, and I was able to enjoy other outdoor things with the rocks and minerals, etc. I think those organizations are just wonderful. I only had boys, and they didn't do 4-H, but they were both Boy Scouts. My husband and I were involved with scouting for many years.

 

[LAJ]

Laj a good pasty recipe with an interesting filing I will give it a bash, I live in Wales the name of the little people here is Bwca, in the Cornish Tin mines it is Bucca. Welsh coal miners are some of the hardest men I have ever played rugby with or boxed. There is no history of the Pasty in Welsh coal mines but in the copper mines of Anglesey there is, the pasty had two filings meat one side fruit the other.
I live 4 miles from Gresford 266 men died down the pit on sept 22 1934.
Miners should carry a nations automatic respect.

My hats are off for all miners.

 

[Bolas De Fraile]

The great tradition of Mining in Wales was ended, before its premature demise the only way to escape(welsh father in general did not want their kids to be miners) from the pit was education or boxing, Howard Winstome MBE the amateur was my hero, he won the 1958 bantam weight World Title, because he lost the tips of three fingers in an accident he had no knock out punch, his jab and move style using both hands was beautiful Mohamed Ali was nearly as good.