Left-over roast of mutton

For Easter dinner, we had a lamb roast -- but on account of our youngest guest who arrived with her favorite stuffed purple "lambie", we just said we were having "mutton" for dinner, and despite a few slip-ups by the adults "pass the lamb/er mutton", Little One never questioned the origin of the roast at the table.

Having leftover meat is one of those things where I'm in need of inspiration. And a few years ago I stumbled upon this set of recipes -- the first based on a real dish, the second entirely my creation.


Miner's or Cornish Pasties
(pronounced with a soft "a")
from Chef Paul Prudhomme's Seasoned America, based on the recipes from Cornish miners who settled Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
ASIDE: I also found a much simpler recipe for Finnish Miner's Pasties (Lihapastaejat) in Beatrice Ojakangas The Great Scandinavian Baking Book. She tells how miner's wives would bake these fresh in the morning with beef, potatoes and onions at one end, and apple filling at the other end for dessert. The traditional recipe calls for the potatoes to be sliced and added raw, but it also works to use cooked.
I make this with leftover corned beef or whatever I have at hand, and I prepare all the steps ahead, until assembly time. These also make great lunches!

Seasoning mix: 1 teaspoon each salt, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, basil, black pepper.
optional, add ground savory.
(I found that was more than I ended up using, but was able to use it easily in other cooking)
Dough:
2 c flour
1 t seasoning mix
6 T butter
7-8 T cold water

Use pastry cutter, or Cuisinart to mix dough. Form ball and refrigerate 1 hour.

Filling:
up to 1 pound meat (lean, chopped very finely), or left-over roast or corned beef
seasoning mix, to taste
2 c onions, chopped
1 c celery, chopped
1-2 c turnips, finely sliced
fresh garlic
potatoes, sliced thinly

If using raw meat, sprinkle it with seasoning mix, and work in by hand.
Heat oil and saute vegetables, add meat, more seasoning if desired. Add small amounts of water as needed. Let it cool completely (frig) before assembling pasties.

Assembly:
Divide dough into 5 balls and roll out (circa 9 " diameter). Place filling (plus raw potato slices, if using) onto half, fold over (after brushing edge with water to help seal), crimp the edges.
Optionally, brush with egg-wash (scramble an egg with 1-2 T water), and bake for about 1 hr at 350 F.

Gimme-more Mutton Pie
Same idea, invented by moi, named by the huz & kids!

Dough:
2 c unbleached white flour
1/2 c whole wheat
1 stick butter (cold, cut into pieces) = 8 T
1/2 c cold water, about
salt

I use the cuisinart: first use pulse setting until get crumbly mix, then slowly drizzle water while blade is running. Mix into ball and refrigerate in waxpaper for 1 hr. Roll out dough, top and bottom.
Prebake bottom for 10-15 min, using pieweights.

Filling:
Same idea as Miner's pasties above. Any good leftovers can be used that way. If ingredients are very dry, add some gravy. You can also grate a raw potato into the filling to help absorb liquids if too moist!

Assemble pie, cut shapes or slits into top to let steam escape.
Bake for 45 min-1hr.