Jamaican Beef Patties

I always want to start my e-mails saying Yummy, because that’s how serious I am about my food. I was looking for a good authentic recipe, and my best friend told me I need to find a website on Jamaican culture and use their recipes. I have to run this one by her, but I’m going to make some this weekend to test it out, and make any necessary adjustments to it. I hope to see you there, so you could try it! The recipe calls for it to be served wrapped in coco bread, another one of my favorites. I used to get this dish for lunch all the time, when I was working that Callaloo in Ashland, VA. Enjoy!

Pastry
1lb flour
1/2 cup ice cold water
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp salt 1 Teaspoon of baking powder 1 Teaspoon of curry powder medium hot 1 Teaspoon on turmeric or 1 drop of annotto

Filling
1lb ground beef
1 medium onion4 scallion (or 1 more medium onion)2 stalks fresh thyme or 2 tsp ground thyme½ cup breadcrumbs1 scotch bonnet pepper (or 1 tbsp curry powder / chilli sauce)
2 cloves garlic
1 c water
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp paprika
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp nutmeg

1. Sieve flour. Stir in baking powder, curry powder, salt and turmeric. Work the butter and shortening in with fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly drizzle in the water until the mixture has a dough-like consistency (it should only be slightly sticky). Roll the dough in to a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, and place in the fridge for 1 hour.
2. Cut onion and scallion in to fine pieces, fry gently so they do not quite get time to brown.
3. Add meat, thyme, garlic, peppers (finely chopped), 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.
4. Roll the pastry on a floured board until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut as many circles (about the size of a saucer) out of the dough as you can.
5. 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.
6. Preheat oven to 375º F. Place patties on aluminum foil. Cook for 35 minutes (or until golden brown).

Sincerely,
Saundra D. Jones, CC
Chef/Owner
Divine Cuisine Event Planning and Catering
www.divinecuisineepc.com
info@divinecuisineepc.com
"With man this is impossible, but through Christ all things are possible".