Jamaican Beef Patties

I have been going to "Keith's Deli" for lunch since I was a kid. My dad took me for a sausage sub and I was hooked. Over the years I started trying some of the other things on the menu. The Jamaican beef patties have become the "extra" thing that I order when I'm feeling glutenous. I was surprised how good mine turned out but they weren't as good as Keith's. The pastry turned out amazing but my filling wasn't up to par (I didn't have all the ingredients). I also stained our counter rolling out the dough.


Pastry Ingredients:

• 3.5 cups Flour
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp of baking powder
• 1 tsp of curry (try to find "hot Jamaican curry" I had a yellow curry and an old Jamaican curry that I mixed)
• 1 tsp of turmeric

Filling Ingredients:

• 1lb ground beef
• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (I only had Italian breadcrumbs with Romano cheese)
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper (I used a couple Thai red chili peppers)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup water or milk
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp paprika

Pastry Directions:

Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl (I am too lazy to actually do this but it is probably important). Stir in baking powder, curry powder, salt and turmeric. Cut the shortening into cubes then mix butter and shortening in with fingertips until mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the water until the mixture has a dough-like consistency (fairly dry and loose). Roll the dough in to a ball and wrap in cling film. Place in the fridge for about 1 hour. If the dough gets too warm is will start falling apart and you won't get as flaky of a crust.

Filling Directions:

Chop the onion into small pieces. In a medium/large pan soften the onion (you might want to use a little oil or butter). Add beef, garlic, peppers (finely chopped), salt, pepper and paprika. Cook until the meat is browned and most of the moisture has evaporated. If I had a food processor I would blend this mixture to give it a smoother texture. Add the water/milk and breadcrumbs, cook until the mixture thickens.

Putting them together:

Roll the pastry on a floured board until it is about 1/8 of an inch thick. I tried this on the counter and ended up with a giant stain that took a while to scrub out. If you don't have a big board you can roll it out on parchment paper. Cut as many circles out of the dough as you can. I used a small coffee can to cut mine out; they were pretty huge. Place 1 - 2 tablespoons of the filling on one side of each pastry circle (you will figure out how much after you destroy a couple). Moisten the edges of each patty with water and fold the pastry over to make a crescent shape. Seal the edge of each patty by crimping with a fork. I had excess on the edges after I forked them so I just took a knife and trimmed them.

Preheat oven to 375 deg f. Place patties on a non-stick cookie sheet, parchment paper or aluminium foil.
 Cook for 35 minutes (or until golden brown)