Mint Pasties




Mint Pasties




This is a traditional Yorkshire recipe—or, at least, an updated version of it.   I've only made it a few times; but that's me being lazy.   Bought frozen puff pastry makes the job easier; but I still have to remember to buy the fresh spearmint.
        The pasty (turnover) shape is very old.   Medieval pies were generally made in this way, rather than with separate sides and top in the modern way.   They called those “coffins”, instead.   Pasties are a lot quicker, with only one lot of pastry circles to cut out.   However, you must remember not to put in too much filling.   If you do, it oozes out when you do the turning over bit, so be warned.
        Currants are popular in Britain, but especially so in cooking from the northern parts of the island.   In Scandinavia, on the other hand, they've a taste for sultanas.   A minor matter.   But it does mark this as a very British recipe.   So does the use of the term “mint” to refer to spearmint.   Although in candies the British use peppermint, in cooking they prefer spearmint:   for example, to flavour the water in which potatoes or peas are boiled.   Here it is used in a dessert.




Ingredients


1 pkg frozen puff pastry
4 oz currants
2 oz brown sugar
1 oz butter
1 bunch of spearmint
1 tbsp lemon juice

egg, to glaze the top





Directions


Preliminaries

  Thaw one half of the package of frozen pastry.

  Wash and pick over the currants to remove any bits of stalk.

  Melt the butter in a small saucepan, being careful not to let it scorch.

  Rinse the spearmint, and chop it finely.   Discard any longer bits of stalk.

Making the Filling
In a bowl, mix together the currants, chopped spearmint, melted butter, sugar, and lemon juice.

Assembly
Roll out the pastry on a clean flat surface (such as a kitchen counter) that has been dusted with flour.   Using a sharp knife, with a saucer as a guide, cut the pastry into circles.   Put part of the filling on each circle, being careful to put it in the center of the circle, and nowhere near the edges.
        Brush the edges lightly with beaten egg to help them adhere, and then turn one half of the pastry over on top of the filling.   (NOTE:   water is no good for this purpose, since puff pastry has a high fat content.)
        Press the edges of the pastry firmly togther.   Then turn the rim back over on itself, and crimp it up and down between two of your fingers, using your thumb, the same way you would crimp around the rim of a pie.
        Brush the rest of the beaten egg over the top of each of the pasties to glaze them.
        Jab the point of a knife through the pastry in the centre of each of the pasties.   Don't jab too deeply:   you just want to pierce the pastry.   This is to let the steam out as the pasty bakes.

Baking
Bake at 400°F for at twenty minutes, or until golden brown.   Serve hot.

Makes six to eight pasties.





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