Traditional Yooper Pasties

Traditional Yooper Pasties

As many of you probably know, I am very fond of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. I have been going there every year since the late 1970’s. My favorite vacation is to spend a week or two camping in the UP’s national forest. I just finished one trip there camping with my son. I'll be back up their again very soon. I hope to some day retire there.

I would be remiss if I didn’t include at least one recipe for the state food of the Upper Peninsula: The Pasty. The pasty is the favorite dinner treat of the Yoopers, people who live ‘above the bridge’ in Michigan (Those who live in Lower Michigan - below the bridge - are referred to as Trolls).

Travel to any town in the UP, from the far western tip all the way east to Sault Ste. Marie, and you will find a bakery or restaurant or even a gas station selling pasties. Listen to any radio station in the UP and you will hear ads for a local establishment’s pasties. Pasties play such a large role in U.P. life that one of the major Internet providers in the UP is called Pasty.net.

I've been making my own pasties for over twenty years now. Over the years, my pasties have become more robust, heavy on the rutabaga and a little more spicy. I've grown to like the stronger flavor. 

Still, I enjoy the traditional UP pasties too. If you are ever in the Marquette area, try my favorite pasty shop: Jean Kay’s Pasties. In my opinion, they are an example of the UP's best pasties.

My favorite pasty shop

This version is the more traditional version of pasties, easy on the rutabagas, heavy on the potatoes. Try this and I might give you my more robust version. If you really want to make them like a Yooper, use lard or Crisco instead of olive oil in the crust. I prefer olive oil.

Crust:

5 cups flour

Olive oil

1 tsp salt

water

Filling:

2 pounds of coarsely chopped beef

4 large potatoes, diced

1 cup of diced rutabagas

3 carrots diced

2 large onions, chopped

salt and fresh ground white pepper

Corn meal

Preparation

Add the flour and salt to a mixing bowl. Start adding olive oil, or melted lard, to the flour while stirring with a fork. Keep adding the oil until the flour starts forming little pebbles. You have enough olive oil added when all the flour has a pebbly texture. Now, a little at a time, start adding cold water to the flour until a dough starts to form. You want a dough that is soft, not too stiff, but not real wet either. If it is easy to knead, you have it right. Now wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for a half hour.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl mix the beef, potatoes, rutabagas, carrots and onions. Stir well and season with salt and lots of white pepper. Mix real well.

Divide the dough into six or eight equal portions. One at a time, roll each out until you get roughly a 12” circle. Cover half the dough with the filling. Fold the empty half over the filling and roll up the edges to seal and form a twisted crust ending up with a half moon shaped pasty.

Place each pasty on a cookie sheet sprinkled with corn meal, but don’t crowd them. Poke about four vent holes in the top of each pasty to let the steam out. Bake at 400º for about an hour, or until golden brown.

Serving

A lot of Yoopers like to serve gravy or ketchup with pasties. I really prefer them just as they are, with just a little salt and pepper. Often I’ll sprinkle mine with a little Cajun seasoning too.

Fresh crisp coleslaw is always good with pasties. I also like to start with a bowl of potato soup, fresh bread and have a little steamed broccoli on the side. If you are still hungry, you can always have a second pasty, I always do. If you don’t want to do that, a bowl of ice cream is good for dessert.