Jamaican Beef Patties

by Erin

Jamaican Beef Patties

When I've got winter break, spring break, or just some random day off from school I always try to make something a little bit more involved for dinner, and usually I ask Max what he wants, since he happily creates a delicious meal for us when I don't feel like cooking.  This happens, like, more often then not.   Anyway, usually when I ask him if he wants anything special for dinner he requests Jamaican Beef Patties.  Are they really Jamaican?  I have no idea, I've never been there, but these curry and beef filled pockets are a delicious treat.  Once you make them once you will probably start dreaming up other delicious fillings for these flaky bits of heaven.  Samoas filling?  I'm down.  Goat cheese empanadas ala 90 Mile Cafe.  I'm with ya!

So these are a little bit more involved because you've got to make the crust and the filling, but I find I can make these in a little over 1 hour, and if you are like me, you will put on some groovy tunes, poor yourself a glass of wine, and relish in the fact that you can get your hands dirty in some delicious dough.   So let's do this!  I have modified this recipe from allrecipe.com, which was a tip from my friend Danielle who introduced these to us one fine Memorial Day.  I think I've got it perfect.

The Dough (makes 15 patties)
1/2 cup butter (room temp)
1/2 cut shorting
2 1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/4 teaspoon curry
2/3 cup water
3 cups flour

Cutting in the butter and shorting with a pastry cutter

Combine flour, curry, and salt in a medium sized bowl.  Cut in butter and shorting with a pastry blender.  (If you don't have a pastry blender use a fork, but keep your eye out at garage sales for pastry blenders.  I see them all the time and they quite helpful in making pie crusts, biscuits, and the like.)  Your dough should look crumbly.  Next add the water and mix together.

  Turn the dough out on to a floured surface and shape the dough into a log.

Lightly mark the dough into 15 pieces and when you are satisfied, make the cut.

Cut the dough into 15 equal sections.  Roll out each section into a 6" circle of about 1/8" thickness.  Don't worry too much about the diameter unless you are entering this in the fair or something.  I don't mind too much if some are bigger than others, because sometimes people want big ones and sometimes they want small ones.

The Filling

2 tablespoons butter
1 lb ground beef
1 onion
1 t curry powder
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg beaten

Melt butter, saute onions over medium heat until translucent.  Stir in ground beef, curry, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cook until meat is browned.  This is where your house starts to smell fantastic.  Drain if needed.  Add beef broth and bread crumbs.  The bread crumbs help absorb the beef broth, which is necessary for an intense flavor. 

 Simmer until liquid is absorbed.  Once this is done, I put my filling in the food processor so the filling sticks together a bit more, making it easier to work with.  If you don't have a food processor, don't sweat it.  I often skip this step if I don't feel like washing my food processor.

Assembly

Put equal amounts of filling onto each pastry.  Fold over the pastry and press the edges together with a fork.  Place on a sheet pan and brush the top with a beaten egg for a beautiful golden brown finish. dfd

 

Bake for 30 minutes or until they are golden brown.  You will love the strong curry flavor from the infused pastry dough and in the filling.  

Don't let this process scare you off.  Take your  time, enjoy yourself, maybe make them with a friend, and you will feel so proud of yourself when you are done.  I know I do. 

Did you try a new filling?  Let us know what it was in the comment section.