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To celebrate the premiere of the third season of Downton Abbey in the U.S., I thought we’d celebrate with some beef pasties, which are classy enough for the “upstairs” crowd and delicious to those “downstairs” as well.
This recipe is adapted from one in the “unofficial” Downton Abbey Cookbook.
I’m not usually a fan of these kinds of cookbooks, but this one is kind of fun because it combines both recipes for food that has been featured on the show and recipes that might have been served both “upstairs” and “downstairs” in the times of Downton.
Classic Cornish Pasties were a simple recipe to make to eat Sunday while I watched the first episode of the new series. Here’s the recipe, with my notes and tweaks.
RECIPE: (adapted from The Unofficial Downton Abbey Cookbook
)
Filling:
*Note: the original recipe didn’t make clear whether or not to put the beef in cooked or uncooked. In general, I’m not a fan of making handpies or dumplings with raw meat fillings. I took a small eye round roast, tenderized it, and braised it gently for about 2 hours.
1. Whisk together salt and flour, then cut butter and lard into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. A pastry blender is nice for this, but you can use your fingers if needed.
2. In a separate small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and water. Mix into the flour until a dough begins to form. Knead gently until the dough is smooth and fully combined.
3. Shape the dough into a wide disc and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or more.
4. While the dough is chilling, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Dice the onion, potatoes and beef. Combine in a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. If the beef is still warm from cooking, you may want to put into the fridge for a bit to help it cool down.
5. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and split into 6 equal pieces. Roll out on a nonstick surface to until 6-inches across. Flour the surface and pin if needed.
6. Whisk together remaining egg and milk in a small bowl.
7. Place a rounded ¼ measuring cup of filling in the center of each pastry piece, then brush the edges with the egg wash. Fold each pasty over and press the edges to seal. You may need to shift some of the filling to make the half-moon shape.
8. Place each pasty on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush with the rest of the egg wash and cut 3 tiny slits into the top of each. You can crimp the edges of the pasty for a little style.
9. Bake for 17 minutes at 400 degrees, then lower the temperature to 350 and bake an additional 18 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.
Additional note: this recipe makes enough filling to potentially make about 10 pasties. You can multiply the pastry recipe by 1.5 to create an equal amount of pastry dough, or, as I did, freeze the filling until next time.
Emma Carew Grovum is a data journalist working at the Chronicle of Philanthropy in Washington, D.C. She previously worked as the Digital Editor for The Cooking Club of America and blogs at kitchendreamer.blogspot.com Emma loves Star Wars, pandas and all things Joss Whedon. Find her on twitter at @emmacarew.
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