Karelian Pastry

I made this recipe the other day when I roasted a whole chicken and had left-over potatoes.  I decided to make it when I was sitting in my educational psychology class and looking up Baltic foods.  It looked amazing. I saw it right on the main page of wikipedia's page on Finnish foods.

Traditional Karelian Pasties are made using very simple ingredients.  Often it's a filling of just rice, milk, butter, and eggs OR potato, butter, cream and eggs.  But they have also been know to contain other cereals like buckwheat, talkkuna, or millet.  They are made using rye crust, and since rye doesn't have much gluten, you have to be careful when molding the crust.

I decided to mix it up and make it more of a french tasting recipe like croquettes inside a nice rye crust.  I added in the onion and cheese because I think it'd make it better tasting....Om nom nom!

Karelian Pasties

Crust:

½ cup finely ground rye flour

½ cup all-purpose flour

½ tsp salt

2 Tbsp Softened Butter

1 Tbsp peanut oil

1/8 cup water plus 1 Tbsp

½ tsp Baking Powder

Filling:

½ cup toasted mashed potatoes

1/8 cup cheddar cheese

1 Tbsp sour cream

1 egg yolk

1/8 cup onion minced and sautéed

1/8 tsp salt

Sprinkle garlic powder when you cook it

First you have to mix up the filling and crust.  Since the crust doesn't have much gluten in it it will be hard to handle and thus it's best to try and avoid over mixing or putting too much oil/fat so that it's more manageable.  But try not to make it all water because then it'll be too tough.Now roll out the dough into a piece about 9'12 inches across.

Now spread on the filling.

Crimp up the edges like a pie and fold it over and then press it down a little. It should look better than mine...like wavy crimp instead of just folded over...

Then you cook it at about 350 degrees or a bit more if you want it browner and crispier. It should cook around 25 minutes.

Just basically eat it like a pie.  It's yummylicious.  Betsy approves!

If you wanted to do the traditional filling, then use potatoes, an egg, salt, cream, and chunk butter.  If you want rice filling you can add in cooked rice, milk, an egg, salt, and a little butter.

That's all...luv ya....cyber hugs!!!

BYE!
Kyle!