I'd have to say there is no meal closer to my heart than warm, classic Northern Michigan pasties. The secrets to the perfect flaky pie dough were lovingly shared with me by my grandmother during the many summers I spent with her. There are a few dishes which she can undoubtedly prepare better than anyone else, and one of those is pie of any flavor or form. Sometimes I wonder if I should be sharing our family secret, but I believe everyone should be able to taste something as wonderful as my grandmother's good old American cooking!
North:
Pasties are known as an all-around efficient and convenient meal. Being introduced to Michigan in the 1840s, Cornish pasties quickly became a staple in the mining communities in the north. While workers were hacking away in the copper mines, pasties offered a compact, portable, and nutrient rich lunch to keep them going strong. The "pot pies without a pot" are traditionally stuffed with a roast (shredded into more manageable pieces), carrots, potatoes, or other healthy vegetables.
South:
Barbeque itself is a fusion of different cuisines. It combines traditional flavors of Southeastern Indian, West African, and West European cooking to create a southern American staple. A lot of the traditions associated with BBQ sauce likely originated from African cooking. When millions of Africans were enslaved and brought to the Americas in the 16th to 19th centuries, they brought their flavors with them. Their cooking favored tart, spicy, and flavorful foods, including the use of lemon and lime juice to flavor meats. By 1698, West Indian cooks were using lime juice and hot peppers to flavor their barbecued meats, as witnessed by the Dominican missionary Père Labat. Vinegar became the staple BBQ sauce base in the South around the 1800s, and is still one of the most popular preparations today. Tomato-based sauces, the most widely-known today, did not become common until the early 20th century. There are infinitely many different ways to prepare barbecue sauce, so get creative!
Time: 90 minutes Serves: 3-6 people
Ingredients:
For the pie dough:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup vegetable shortening, cut into smaller chunks
1 tsp salt
4-8 tbsp ice water
For the filling:
3 Yukon Gold potatoes
3 corn cobs (or 1/2 package frozen corn)
Spice rub
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp rosemary
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 chicken breasts
BBQ sauce
Preparation
Preheat oven to 425°.
Prepare the pie dough. Add the flour, a few chunks of the vegetable shortening, and salt. Pulse in a food processor, then add more vegetable shortening and a few tbsp ice water. Continue to alternate between pulsing the mixture and adding shortening and water until you've added 3/4 cup shortening and the dough starts to clump up into a ball. Split the finished dough into 3 sections, and roll out each section individually to about 1/4 inch thick.
Boil potatoes until soft, about 20 minutes. Cook/defrost corn. If you are using fresh corn, cut it off the cob once it is nearly fully cooked.
Blend the spice rub. Combine brown sugar, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, ginger, rosemary, ground coriander, and ground cloves in a small bowl and mix thoroughly. Rub this mixture into the chicken breasts and set aside.
Heat a griddle over medium-high heat and sear chicken. Once nearly fully cooked, remove from griddle and chop into bite-sized pieces.
Chop potatoes into bite-sized pieces and combine with corn and chicken in large bowl. Lay out one section of dough and spread filling over half of it, leaving a 1 inch margin along the edge. Drizzle BBQ sauce evenly over filling and fold the other side of the dough over the filling. Pinch the edges together and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat this process for the other two pasties.
Bake for 30 min at 425°, then reduce oven temperature to 375° and bake until edges begin to turn golden brown, about another 15 min.
Food history sources:
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