Turkey Cornish Pasty with Mushroom Gravy

     

     This turkey pasty entree is one that I cooked in an English Pub a few years ago.  Customers who were health conscious liked the idea of a pasty that was made with turkey.  I was the chef for two years at that pub.  I cooked plenty of nice regional English food.  English food is yummy old world comfort food!

     Make an Irish Pastry Dough (Pate Brisee) or buy a standard pre made pie dough from a grocer for this pasty recipe.
   
     Pate Brisee Recipe:
     Place about 1 cup of flour into a mixing bowl.
     Add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt.
     Add 3/4 tablespoon of sugar.
     Rice the flour by adding a few drops of ice water at a time while stirring with a whisk.  (The flour should look like grains of rice.)
     Cut 1 1/2 ounces of unsalted butter into pea size pieces and drop them in a bowl of ice water.
     Gently add a few pieces of the chilled hard butter at a time to the riced flour.
     Work the dough lightly with your fingers and for a minimal period of time leaving exposed small pieces of butter.
     Chill the dough till it becomes very firm.
     Roll the dough flat on a floured counter top.
     Cut the dough sheet into an eight inch round sheet.
     Keep the round pie dough sheet cool in a refrigerator.
   
     Turkey Pasty Filling Recipe:
     Boil 4 cups of water in a sauce pot over high heat.
     Add 1 tiny handful of diced rutabaga.
     Add 1 tablespoon of small diced onion.
     Add 1 tablespoon of finely diced celery.
     Add 1 tiny handful of diced potato.
     Add 1 tablespoon small diced carrot.
     Blanch the vegetables, till the vegetables become partially cooked.
     Drain the water off of the vegetables.
     Return the vegetables to the sauce pot.
     Add 4 pats of unsalted butter.
     Place the sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add 3 to 4 ounces of ground turkey meat.
     Add sea salt and black pepper.
     Add 1 pinch of marjoram.
     Stir and break up the ground turkey so it does not stick together.
     Saute the ingredients for 2 to 3 minutes.
     Add 1/2 cup of water.
     Simmer the ingredients over medium heat, till all the liquid has evaporated and the stuffing becomes dry.
     Add 1 tablespoon of fine bread crumbs.
     Stir the ingredients together.
     Remove the stuffing from the heat.
     Allow the stuffing to cool to room temperature.
   
     Cornish Turkey Pasty:
     Place a mound of the stuffing on one half of the round pie dough sheet.
     Fold the other half of the dough over the stuffing to form a half moon shape.
     Roll the edges of the dough to form a pasty handle.
     Press and seal the pasty handle edge with a fork.
     Place the pasty on a buttered baking pan.
     Brush the pasty with egg wash.
     Bake the pasty in a 350 degree oven, till the pasty turns a golden color.
     The mushroom gravy can be made while the pasty bakes.
   
     Mushroom Gravy Recipe:
     Heat a sauce pot over medium heat.
     Add 3 pats of unsalted butter.
     Add an equal amount of flour, while stirring constantly, to make a white roux.
     Constantly stir till the roux is thoroughly combined and so the roux is a light golden white color.
     Add 1/2 cup of light beef broth.
     Add 1 cup of mushroom broth.
     Whisk the gravy, till it begins to thicken.
     Season with sea salt and black pepper.
     Reduce the temperature to medium/medium low heat.
     Heat a saute pan over medium heat.
     Add 3 pats of butter.
     Add 1 handful of small mushroom halves.
     Saute and sweat the mushrooms, till they become tender.
     Add the sauteed mushroom halves to the gravy.
     Simmer and reduce the gravy, till it becomes a medium thin sauce consistency.
     Keep the gravy warm over very low heat.
   
     Assembly:
     Spoon some of the gravy onto a plate.
     Set the turkey pasty on the gravy.
     Spoon a little more gravy around the pasty.
     Place the mushroom halves from the gravy around the pasty.
     Place a vegetable of your choice on the plate.  (Wilted garlic spinach or buttered carrots are nice with this pasty.)
   
     This is plain simple Cornish tin mine community comfort food cooking!  Tin miners had a problem with lead clinging to their fingers.  The pasty was designed with a pie dough handle that could be held with fingers and then discarded after the pasty was eaten.  Spanish empanadas do not have a pronounced handle like a Cornish pasty does.
     This turkey pasty was designed to be served on a plate with sauce.  So, the handle is not quite as big as some of the handles on my dry pasty recipes.
     Making your own pasty is far better than a pre-made frozen store bought pasty.  The techniques are uncomplicated.  This is a tasty light turkey pasty!  Yum!  ...  Shawna