Best Pasties Ever

Ahh, April. It seems like it's been raining for one hundred years, and so last night I whipped up some down-home comfort food. Warning: Those of you afraid of calories, stay away! I have a feeling this will clog even the most hearty of arteries...or at least make you wear your fat pants for the evening.

Feel free to alter the recipe to suit your leftover needs. Also, if you'd rather use all fresh, canned, or leftover veggies, simply adjust the sizes of the veggies to suit the cooking time required for the dough (or is it a pastrie? hmmm...)

Best [Chicken] Pasties Ever

Difficulty: Moderate

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

***

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 cup shortening

1 cup cold water

extra flour for dusting

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken (leftover)

1/4-1/2 cup diced red onion

1/4 cup frozen  corn

1/4 cup frozen  peas

1/4 cup frozen carrots

1 small potato, chopped

1 tsp crushed coriander

1/2 tsp rosemary

1 pinch celery seed

2 hefty pinches of paprika

1/4 cup chicken drippings/gravy/melted butter  (approximate)

salt to taste

pepper to taste

butter for serving

plastic wrap

rolling pin

large non-stick cookie sheet

***

In a large glass bowl, mix together flour and salt. Cut in the shortening with hands or pastry cutter until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Slowly stir in water until you get a doughball. Wrap the doughball in plastic. Place in fridge while prepping.

Preheat oven to 350. In another large bowl, mix together chicken, onions, corn, peas carrots, potatoes, coriander, rosemary, celery seed and paprika. Add any other spices you may wish. If using chicken drippings, lightly drizzle the bowl; mix. If using gravy or butter, wait. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Remove doughball from fridge. On thoroughly floured surface, pound out dough and separate into six doughballs. Flatten each doughball and roll into 6-inch circles. Dust non-stick cookie sheet with flour.

Place even amounts of meat-and-veggie mix onto the dough circles. If using gravy or melted butter, drizzle now; be careful to not add so much that the dough is effected.

Fold the dough circles over the meat-and-veggies. Pinch the edges closed like pie crust. Poke each with a fork (I do three fork pokes per pastie). Place on non-stick, floured cookie sheet. To promote browning, brush tops with a bit of milk (optional). Bake at 350 for one hour, or until pasties are done.

Serve with a bit of butter melted on top and nice thick beer. Delish!