I was feeling a little more ambitious than usual, so I attempted a somewhat complicated recipe.. Jamaican beef patties. Jason and I feel in love with some meat and cheese patties at a restaurant called Caribbean Spice while in college and we’ve never found anyone else who makes beef and cheese patties. Until now… me! :) And if you have a little extra time on your hands and love Jamaican patties like we do, you might want to try out this recipe too. The patties are absolutely delicious! I should add that they are not spicy. The flavor is great, and I seriously love them, but if you like your patties spicy (and I do), I suggest adding a little something extra for kick. And let me know what you add so I can add it next time. :)
The ingredients. Minus the onion and sharp cheddar cheese. It’s my first photo recipe. Cut me a break.
Ok, let’s get started. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of curry powder, and a pinch of salt. Add 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup vegetable shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Then, stir in some water and mix it all together with your hands.
Keep mixing and mixing and mixing until you can form a ball with the dough.
My photos came out pretty good for a little point and shoot, didn’t they?
Next, form the dough into a log and cut it into 10 equal sections.
Or not-so-equal sections if you’re anything like me. I rolled my sections into balls so I could adjust the size and make them more equal. You can skip this step if you’re better at equal cutting than I am.
Now the fun but tedious part. This would definitely go faster and be more fun if you cook with a friend, but how often does that happen? Not often enough.
Roll each piece of dough into a six inch circle. If you’re doing this by yourself, you’ll be thankful at this point that you didn’t double the recipe.
I covered a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and sprayed some Pam cooking spray on the foil. Then I put the first three rolled out shells onto the foil. Look, Mickey Mouse!
I laid out the rest on some parchment paper. Once they’re all assembled, they will all fit onto one cookie sheet. So don’t go crazy lining multiple cookie sheets.
Now we move to the stove. Yay! No more dough to roll! If you’re anyone but me, you’ll buy a small onion and cut it up. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat and toss in the cut up onion. Me? I hate chopping onion. I don’t even really like onion all that much, but somehow I keep picking recipes with onion. And they still taste good. Go figure. :) Anyway, I buy chopped onion in the grocery freezer section so I don’t have to chop my own. I tossed what I figured was roughly one small onion’s worth into my 2 tablespoons of heated butter and cooked until translucent.
Then add one pound of lean ground beef (or ground turkey, or ground chicken, or ground chuck if you like your food nice and fatty). I used lean ground beef and it was perfect.
Then toss on top 1 teaspoon each of curry powder, salt, black pepper and dried thyme. Mix it all up, raise the heat to medium high, and brown the meat.
Once the beef is nicely browned, add 1/2 cup of beef broth and 1/2 cup of bread crumbs. And mix it all up. Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is all absorbed. Remove the meat from the heat and let it cool. Now go to your computer and catch up on your friends’ blogs. By the time you’re done, the meat will be cool and ready to add to the shells.
Now is a good time to heat your oven to 400 degrees. Then, evenly distribute the meat mixture on top of the ten shells.
Then top with some sharp cheddar cheese. For some reason, no one else does this, but I absolutely love my beef patties with cheese.
The shells are a little dry from sitting out, so wet your finger with some water and moisten the edges. And if you take pictures of your recipes, choose a prettier shell than this one.
Now pick up your shell, fold it over the meat so the edges touch, and press the edges together.
It’ll look something like this. Put it onto the cookie sheet, and seal around the edges with a fork.
Now, the final step before putting it in the oven is to brush some beaten egg over the top of each patty.
I don’t have a pastry brush, so I just used my hands. And I didn’t want to touch my camera during that process, so you’ll just have to use your imagination for that one. I think you can handle it.
Cook the tray of patties in a preheated 400 degree oven for 30 minutes.
Once they’ve cool slightly, serve them to your husband and he’ll love you forever. And eat one yourself too. And then email me and thank me for introducing beef AND CHEESE patties into your life.
Jamaican Beef and Cheese Patties
Ingredients:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
- 1 dash salt
- 1/4 cup butter or margarine
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 1/3 cup water
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup beef broth
- 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 egg, beaten
- In a large bowl, combine flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder, and pinch of salt. Cut in 1/4 cup butter and shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Shape dough into a log, and cut into 10 equal sections. Roll each section into a six inch circle (approximately 1/8 inch thick). Set aside.
- Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until soft and translucent. Stir in ground beef. Season with 1 teaspoon curry powder, thyme, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Cook until beef is evenly brown, stirring constantly. Stir in beef broth and bread crumbs. Simmer until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat. Let cool.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spoon equal amounts of meat filling into each pastry circle. Top with cheddar cheese. Fold over and press edges together, making a half circle. Use a fork to press edges, and brush the top of each patty with beaten egg.
- Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.
