Wrap 'Em In Pastry

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Want to turn your "every" meals into mouthwaterin' treats?

If you're on the lookout for a new way to serve your meat, grain, and potato meals, why not try a main-dish pastry? Most anything can be (deliciously) wrapped up in one of these melt-in-your-mouth crusts, which not only add to the "eye appeal" of food but can also help make a little bit of dinner go a long way ... to accommodate unexpected guests or just stretch that shrinkin' dollar.

Interested? Well, then, here are two tried—and—true pastry recipes—one for individual turnovers (called "pasties") and another for a meal-in-a-dish pie crust—as well as enough filling suggestions to get you started in pastry cookery.

THE "PERSONAL" PASTY

The luscious little pasty (it rhymes with "nasty") originated in Cornwall, England. It's about the handiest carry—along meal imaginable, because a pasty is big enough to satisfy a hearty appetite and small enough to fit easily into a pocket or a school lunchbox.

The key to successful pasty cooking (or to making any filled pastry) is a good crust. If you can keep your dough so cold that the flour will bake before the shortening melts, the crust will come out of the oven flaky and delectable. To assure this result, always [1] begin with cold shortening, [2] work the dough as little as possible, and [3] chill your dough before you roll it.

Ready? OK, mix 2 cups of flour (one each of whole wheat and unbleached white) with I teaspoon of salt. Cut 1/2 cup of cold shortening (margarine, lard, or butter) into the flour and combine the mixture with your fingers until—it forms lumps about the size of split peas.

Then add 5/8 cup of ice water and mix just until the dough comes off the sides of the bowl in one lump (if it won't hold together, add one tablespoon of water at a time until it does). Chill the finished dough in your fridge while you cook the filling. To make a meat pasty filling,

brown 1 pound or so of ground beef and I chopped onion in the "hamburger's" own grease. (if the meat is lean, use a tablespoon or two of oil.) You can also—if you'd llke—saute 1 or 2 cloves of garlic with the meat and onions.

While the above ingredients are slowly browning, cut 2 medium-sized potatoes into 1/2" cubes and boil 'em just until they're tender. Then, drain the spuds and—as you always should—save the vitamin—rich cooking water for use in bread or soup stock. (For variety, you can saute' 2 stalks of chopped celery with the meat, or boil 2 carrots—cut into 1/2" cubes—with the potatoes.) Last of 'all, mix everything together, add a chopped raw onion, and season the filling with salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. Add a couple of chili peppers, too, if you like your food hot.

Some folks prefer a grain—based pasty filling. To make a really hearty grain pasty, begin by heating 3 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan. Saute' a chopped onion in the oil, add I cup of buckwheat, brown rice, or millet, and cook the grain until it starts to brown.

Then, add 2 cups of hot meat or vegetable stock (if no stock is available, just substitute 2 cups of hot water or—if you'd prefer—2 cups of hot water with 3 bouillon cubes dissolved in it), and simmer the mixture until the grain is tender. (Millet will have to cook about 20 minutes, buckwheat half an hour, and brown rice 45 minutes.)

Let the grain and broth simmer while you cut, cook, and drain 2 medium-sized potatoes as directed In the meat filling recipe above.

Finally, mix all of the ingredients together and add a raw chopped onion. (Or, if you want some "extras" chop 1 or 2 sticks of celery, a couple of carrots, a stalk of broccoli, or a quarter head of cabbage into the grain five minutes before you remove the pan from the stove. These vegetables don't need to simmer long, as they'll get "done" while the pasty bakes.) Season this "stew" with lots of pepper (at least 1- 1/ 2 teaspoons) and either soy sauce or salt to taste.

Obviously, the Cornish pasty can accommodate most any filling, so use whatever ingredients you have around. Combine grains with meats, for instance (or mix together two different grains) and throw in a variety of vegetables. It's nearly impossible to make a bad pasty filling.

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