Monday, February 18, 2008

Jamaican Meat Patty....


I was watching Anthony Bourdain tonight and he was in Jamaica. He had some of these and they looked and sounded great! So I looked them up online and sorta created my own. Not sure how authentic they are....but they sure tasted yummy!







Pastry:
2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 cup solid shortening
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) margarine
1/3 cup cold water


Meat filling:
1lb ground beef
1 medium onion
4 scallion (or 1 more medium onion)
2 stalks fresh thyme or 2 tsps ground thyme
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tbsp curry powder
2 cloves garlic
1 cup water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp sugar
1 teaspoon nutmeg

Prepare the pastry:
Sift the flour, curry powder and salt into a large bowl. Cut in the shortening and margarine until crumbly. Add the cold water to make a stiff dough. Lightly flour a wooden cutting board and roll out the dough until about 1/8-inch thick. Cut out 8-inch circles. Cover with wax paper or damp cloth until ready to use. You can place the dough in the refrigerator overnight. If you do refrigerate, remove the dough at least 15 minutes before using.

Prepare the meat filling:
Dice up onions and scallions. Fry them until tender. Add meat, thyme, garlic, curry powder, salt, pepper, paprika, sugar and nutmeg. Fry until mixture is fairly dry, drain off excess fat if necessary. Add water and breadcrumbs, cook until the mixture has a thick, saucy texture.

Make the pies:
Place 1 tablespoon of the filling on one side of each pastry circle. Moisten the edges of each patty with water and fold pastry over to make a crescent shape. Seal the edge of each patty by crimping with a fork. Preheat oven to 375 deg f, 200 C or gas mark 6. Place patties on aluminium foil.
Cook for 35 minutes (or until golden brown)