Brown 1/2 pound of cubed lamb or beef in 2 tablespoons of fat. Remove from heat, and add 2 cups diced, raw potatoes, 1 1/2 cups dried raw carrots, a cup of diced celery and leaves, a tablespoon of salt, and a quarter of a tablespoon of black pepper. Mix well. Make a rich dough by sifting 4 cups of flour, 4 tablespoons of baking powder, and one and a half teaspoons of salt. Cut in 3/4 cups of shortening. Add milk to make a soft dough.

To make a meat and vegetable pasty, brown one-half pound of cubed lamb or beef in two tablespoons of fat. Remove from heat and add two cups of diced raw potatoes, one and a half cups of dried carrots, a cup of diced celery and leaves, a tablespoon of salt, and one-quarter teaspoon of black pepper. Mix thoroughly. Make a rich dough by sifting together four cups of enriched flour, four teaspoons of baking powder, and one and a half teaspoons of salt. Cut in three-fourth of a cup of shortening. Add milk to make about two cups of a soft dough. Turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead gently for a half minute. Roll to a quarter thickness, cut into 8-inch rounds. On half of each round, put one cup of filling. Fold the other half of the round over the filling, sealing the edge firmly with fingertips or a fork. Bake on an ungreased baking sheet in an oven preheated to 375 degrees F for an hour, or until the crust is golden brown. Makes six pasties.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of round steak, cubed to a quarter-inch
• 4 cups of peeled potatoes, cubed to a quarter-inch
• 1 cup of chopped carrots
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of dried parsley

The best results will be had when the steak and potatoes are cubed neatly. Mix all of the above in a large bowl.

Now for the lazy part. Buy ready-made pie crusts, and form pasty crusts out of them. Get the kind that come two in a box in the dairy counter of a grocery store, not the frozen kind, or the kind that comes with pans. Divide 4 pie crusts into 6 pastie crusts, and roll them out. Fill each of the 6 pastie crusts with a cup of the filling, and fold the crusts over the mix, pinching the ends together. Put 3 pasties on each of two cookie pans, and cook them for an hour at 400 degrees F. Remove and cover with a clean towel. Wait at least 15 minutes before serving.

Pre-cook the beef and the potatoes. In a large fry pan, brown the following:

• 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 c. chopped onions
• 3 diced potatoes
• 1 pound cubed steak
• 1/2 cup dry wine

Cook until the onions are translucent. Add beef, potatoes, and dry wine. Cook down until there is no wine left.

Make the pasty dough by cutting a couple of cups of flour into 2/3 cup Crisco and a half a teaspoon of salt. Add a half a cup of cold water slowly, mixing and kneading until the mix is well blended. Form into 4 balls and chill in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes. Make 4 pasty squares and fill half of each with the meat/potato filling. Fold one end over to the other, and crimp. Put a couple of slits in the top of the pasty, and place onto a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-30 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.

If desired, you can also make a sauce in the same pan that the meat and potatoes were in. Add a half cup of beef stock and 3 tablespoons of wine.  Cook down a little, and bring it to a simmer. Add corn starch or arrowroot. Thicken until the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

• 1 can (7 oz.) of tuna, drained and flaked
• 1 cup (4 oz.) of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup of chopped parsley
• 1/3 cup of sour cream
• 1 package (8 oz.) of refrigerated biscuits
• 1 tablespoon of melted butter

In a bowl, combine the tuna, cheese, celery, parsley, and sour cream. Pat or roll each biscuit into a 3-4" oval. Place half the biscuits on a buttered baking sheet. Place about a third cup of tuna mixture on each biscuit. Top with remaining biscuits, seal the edges with a fork. Brush the tops with butter, and let stand for 15 minutes. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups lard
• 10 tablespoons ice water
• 2 pounds top round steak, cut into quarter-inch cubes
• 5 red potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 3 turnips, peeled and cubed
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon salt

1. Place the flour, 2 teaspoons of salt, and lard into a bowl. Quickly rub the lard into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles small peas. Pour in the ice water, and form into a ball. Add more water if it feels too dry. Divide the dough into 6 balls, and wrap in plastic. Chill for an hour.
2. In a bowl, combine the meat, turnips, potatoes, onions, the remaining tablespoon of salt, and a teaspoon of black pepper.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205C).
4. Roll out one of the balls on a floured surface to about a quarter of an inch thickness. Using a cake pan, trace a 9" circle in the dough; cut out the circle. Place about 1 1/2 cups of the meat mixture into the middle of the circle. Fold the edge of the circle up to meet along the top of the meat filling, and crimp the dough along the top to seal. Repeat until all of the dough is used up.
5. With a spatula, transfer pasties to an ungreased skillet.
6. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Serve hot, or at room temperature.

• Pastry Crust
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/3 cup Crisco shortening
• Ice water
• Filling
• 2 1/2 pounds ground beef (at least 15% lean)
• 2 large russett potatoes, peeled and shredded
• 1 medium onion, shredded
• 1 egg
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• Egg Wash
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon water

Beat the egg wash ingredients together, and set aside to assemble pasties. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the crust, put flour in a bowl, and cut in shortening until coarse crumbs are made. Add ice water, one tablespoon at a time, and toss with a fork until the mixture just holds together. Do not overmix. Set aside while filling is prepared.

In a mixing bowl, mix all of the filling ingredients together. Roll out the crust until it is about an eighth of an inch thick. Use about a 6-inch diameter plate to cut dough into circles. Place the circles on a pastry board and brush the perimeter with egg wash, and put about 3/4 of a cup of filling in the middle. Fold the crust over the filling to make a half-moon shape, then use a fork to seal all around the edges. Place finished pasties on an ungreased cookie sheet, then brush tops with egg wash. Use a fork to prick several marks on top to let steam escape. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for about 40 minutes, or until tops are a golden brown and you can smell the aroma of the filling. Serve hot or cold.

This is what happens when a "yooper" spends too much time in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, as I did.

Crust:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 stick of Crisco
• 1 stick of real butter
• 2 tablespoons of salt

Cut the Crisco and the butter into the salt and flour until it has the texture of corn meal, using a pastry cutter, or two knives. Add cold water until the mix is doughlike. Refrigerate it while you are preparing the filling.

Filling:

• 2 pounds of fajita (beef skirt) meat
• 1 pound eye round steak
• 1 pound of boneless pork chops
• 6 medium red potatoes
• 3 jalapeno peppers
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 green bell pepper
• 2 medium onions
• 1 egg

Trim any excess fat from the meat. Cut the meat into small chunks about one-quarter to one-half inch in size. The pork chops should be cut slightly smaller than the beef. Do not peel the potatoes. Dice the potatoes into one-quarter inch cubes. Chop the jalepeno peppers and the onions finely. Cut the bell peppers into into one-quarter inch pieces. Mix the meat and the vegetables together in a bowl. Break the egg into a separate container with about one-quarter cup cold water, and mix it well.

Assembly:

• Remove the dough from the refrigerator, and roll it out on a lightly floured surface as you would a pie crust, about six inches in diameter, only more oblong than round
• Place filling on about one-half of the crust, leaving about three-quarter of an inch along the edges
• Dip a pastry brush into the egg-water mixture and make a line of moisture along the edges of the dough
• Flip the other half of the crust over the filling and press it down over the line of moist dough. Crimp the edges, getting fancy if you want to
• Dip a pastry brush into the egg-water mixture and lightly coat the top of the pasty
• Make two small holes in the top of the pasty
• Place on a lightly greased baking sheet
• Continue until you run out of filling. Should make about 4 pasties

Baking:

• Place in an oven preheated to about 400-450 degrees Fahrenheit
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Insert a pinch of butter into each of the holes that you have poked in the pasty top
• Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake for another 30-40 minutes
• Cool for 10-15 minutes before serving

Take three slices of streaky bacon and one hard-boiled egg to each pasty. Rind and dice the bacon, add the egg, shelled and flaked, as well as the chopped parsley, pepper and salt. A bacon and turnip pasty is equally good, especially if eaten with Cornish cream.

Chop and scald a quantity of well-washed parsley, watercress and spinach. Cut up finely some shallots or leeks and one or two rashers of bacon. Place the vegetables and bacon on rounds of pastry, crimp each pasty except at one point and pour into this a small amount of beaten egg. Seal the pasties and bake as usual.