Pasty Watch

News from the swamp

2009-09-10T14:32:00.005+01:00

An email has flooded in to the Pasty Watch newsdesk. Possum pasties are now on the menu.

From our South Carolina correspondent, this is our first USA-based recipe. This recipe is apparently steeped in history (and Bourbon) and allows us a view into the pasty culture of the deep south. Most interesting (aside from the hair removal technique) is the use of rutabaga (think 'swede'), grated rather than cubed. An interesting contrast with the carrot-and-pea approach of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, to be featured in forthcoming Pasty Watches...

Catch 1 large possum, or 2 medium possums in South Carolina swamp.
Put possum in 55 gallon drum and feed for 3 weeks (persimmons, apples, and cornbread).
Shoot possum between the eyes (his brain is real small).
Scald in 140 degree water for 10 minutes.
Scrape hair with fruit jar lid until all hair is removed.
Rub down liberally with salt and pepper.
Place possum on roasting rack with an apple in his mouth.
Place roasting rack in pan. 1 cup water and 1/4 bottle of Wild Turkey Bourbon in bottom of pan. (Rest of the Bourbon is used for sipping purposes).
Slow cook 2 hours basting often.
Remove and let stand for ½ hour.
Debone Possum meat and set aside.

FILLING:--
1 ½ lbs. Possum Meat, deboned
3 c. potatoes, sliced thin
1/2 c. finely grated rutabagas
1/2 c. chopped onion
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. butter
½ tsp. Instant unseasoned meat tenderizer

CRUST:--
3 c. flour
1/3 c. lard (the real thing)
Pinch of salt
1/3 c. water

Direction:
Mix together filling ingredients. Do not allow standing too long or potatoes will turn dark; set aside. Make crust using flour, lard and salt. Mix well. Gradually mix in water, using a fork. Pat together into a ball. Divide into 4 smaller balls and roll dough out to the size of an 8" pie plate. Place 1 cup mixed filling on half of the rolled crust; fold over and seal edges. Brush with milk and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake 30 more minutes. Serve with brown gravy if desired.

I assume that's 425 farenheit, which is 220 celcius or so. 375 is 190 celcius.

If you are unable to find Possum, substitute Koala.

Squirrel Pasties plus recipe - Article from The Observer May 11 2008

2009-09-09T14:38:00.001+01:00

Caroline Davies The Observer, Sunday 11 May 2008 Article history
Grey squirrel. Photograph: Corbis

It's low in fat, low in food miles and completely free range. In fact, some claim that Sciurus carolinensis - the grey squirrel - is about as ethical a dish as it is possible to serve on a dinner plate.

The grey squirrel, the American cousin of Britain's endangered red variety, is flying off the shelves faster than hunters can shoot them, with game butchers struggling to keep up with demand. 'We put it on the shelf and it sells. It can be a dozen squirrels a day - and they all go,' said David Simpson, the director of Kingsley Village shopping centre in Fraddon, Cornwall, whose game counter began selling grey squirrel meat two months ago.

At Ridley's Fish and Game shop in Corbridge, Northumberland, the owner David Ridley says he has sold 1,000 - at £3.50 a squirrel - since he tested the market at the beginning of the year. 'I wasn't sure at first, and wondered would people really eat it. Now I take every squirrel I can get my hands on. I've had days when I have managed to get 60 and they've all sold straight away.'

Simpson likens the taste to wild boar. Ridley thinks it is more a cross between duck and lamb. 'It's moist and sweet because, basically, its diet has been berries and nuts,' he said.

Both believe its new-found popularity is partly due to its green credentials. 'People like the fact it is wild meat, low in fat and local - so no food miles,' says Simpson. Ridley reckons that patriotism also plays a part: 'Eat a grey and save a red. That's the message.'

A glut of back-to-the-wild TV programmes featuring celebrity chefs such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has also tickled the public's palate, but squirrel is still unlikely to be found in the family fridge. The Observer's restaurant critic, Jay Rayner, said he had never tasted squirrel, but if he did have it for dinner 'it would have to be a big, fat country squirrel and not one of the mangy urban ones you see in cities'.

'People may say they are buying it because it's green and environmentally friendly, but really they're doing it out of curiosity and because of the novelty value. If they can say, "Darling, tonight we're having squirrel", then that takes care of the first 30 minutes of any dinner party conversation. I see it remaining a niche. There's not much meat on a squirrel, so I'd be surprised if farming squirrel takes off anywhere some time soon.'

Kevin Viner, former chef-proprietor of Pennypots, the first Michelin-starred restaurant in Cornwall, who now runs Viners bar and restaurant at Summercourt, believes it will remain a niche market. But with a plentiful supply of meat - there are estimated to be almost five million grey squirrels in Britain - there is room for the market to expand.

Viner - who comes from a rural 'if you shot it, you ate it' background - said the trick was to serve squirrel fresh and not to leave it hanging like other game. 'It looks a lot like rabbit, though it is a drier meat and slightly firmer. Most of the meat comes off the rear leg. The loins are so thin they need much shorter cooking time,' he said.

'A large squirrel would be enough for one-and-a-half people. The public really are being drawn to it. I think that it's because it is being perceived as a healthy meat. Southern fried squirrel is good. And tandoori style works. It is especially tasty fricasséed with Cornish cream and walnuts. But the one everyone seems to like is the Cornish squirrel pasty.'

And his own favourite recipe? 'I must admit, I'm a beef man myself,' he said. 'But my huntsman swears by squirrel with sausage meat and bacon.'

How to make squirrel pasties
Kevin Viner's recipe for two pasties

140g squirrel meat cut into 1cm cubes;

100g sliced potato; 100g sliced swede; 50g diced onion; 30g smoked bacon;

15g chopped hazelnuts; 75g butter;

5g chopped parsley; a good pinch of salt and pepper

Method

· Egg wash edges of pastry circles.

· Place the potato, swede, hazelnuts, parsley and seasoning on to each circle followed by the bacon, squirrel meat and, finally, the onion.

· Place butter in each pasty, then fold over the pastry and crimp the edges.

· Put the pasties on to a greaseproof baking tray, egg wash both pasties well, place in a pre-heated oven at 180C or gas mark 5.

· Bake for 45-50 minutes. The juices should start to boil and the pasties should be able to move on the tray with ease.

It's Pasty O'Clock!

2009-09-08T10:19:00.004+01:00

Hiya and welcome to the first ever PastyWatch blog - the only blog dedicated to all things pasty. Coming as we do from Plymouth Devon, the home of the mighty Ivor Dewdney, we thought a forum for the humble taddy oggy on the net would be an essential part of the digital age. Pasty pics, stories and recipes will be here PLUS we need to find the world's most far flung pasty eaters. At the moment, Northern Michigan in the USA is looking promising as a culinary outpost for the Cornish Pasty but so far this is only anecdotal evidence - we want the proof!!! And what about the Wiltshire pasty? The Yorkish pasty? Even the Squirrel pasty? All coming soon to the PastyWatch blog.