Jamaican Cookery

Jamaica's delectable and mouth-watering patty, once a lunch-time staple and now an anytime-of-the-day meal on the go across all socio-economic groups, has had its international rating bumped up on one of the world's most popular .
The Jamaican patty has over the years evolved to offer varieties such as chicken, soy, lobster, and cheese with beef - a 'cheese patty'

Ingredients For Filling

1 lbs. lean ground beef (beef trimmings are used to make the fillings, but let’s keep it somewhat ‘healthy’) 

1 onion , minced

2 tbsp.  ketchup

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. black pepper

2 tbsp. oil

Salt to taste

1 stalk scallion, minced

1 small hot Scotch Bonnet pepper, minced (if you desired) Jamaican spicy, yea mon!

1 tsp. dry mustard (optional, but enhances the taste)

1 small onion, minced

1 sprig fresh thyme

Ingredients For Pastry

Do you want a flaky crust? Because Jamaican Juicy Patties have flaky crusts, however, some others don’t. Let go for flaky, zeen ? (OK ?

1/2 cup butter

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. salt

1 cup ice-cold water

Forming

1 1/4 cups cold butter, in a 4-inch square

Method for crusts (about 2lbs.)

step1

In a bowl, cream butter. Fold in flour and salt, mixing until granular. Make a well in the centre. Pour in water, with a spatula, gently glide flour into water.

step 2

With hands, knead 4-5 times until dough is smooth and no longer sticks to hands. Shape in a ball

step3

Transfer dough to a floured cookie sheet. Cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes.

step4

Remove butter and dough from the fridge.

step5

Deeply mark dough with a cross-shape incision

step6

With hands, unfold each cross section outwards.

step7

With a rolling pin, flatten dough into a cross. Place butter square in the centre

step8

Fold in all 4 dough sections to seal in butter. Flour lightly. Roll out dough into 15 x 8-inch rectangle. With a pastry brush, remove excess flour.

step9

Fold in rectangle, bringing both ends towards the centre, to form a 8-inch square. Brush away excess flour once more

step10

Fold in two to make 4 layers of dough. Wrap. Refrigerate at least 45 minutes.

Remove from fridge. Repeat steps 8 through 10 to make 8 layers of dough. For even flakier results, roll a third time. Return dough to refrigerator. Chill at least 8 hrs. before baking.

Method For Fillings

step1

In a blender or food processor, pulse the onion, scallion, thyme and hot pepper. Season the beef with salt, black pepper and garlic powder and pulsed seasonings. Rub in the seasonings with hands to combine evenly into the ground beef.  Cover and set aside for 20 minutes

step2

In a skillet or Dutch pot, heat oil over medium heat. Sauté the seasoned ground beef until it begins to fry, add a small amount of water (enough to barely cover the meat). Cover the pot and simmer over low heat until the beef is cooked (20-25 minutes, maybe less time;depending on the texture of the ground beef) Add the ketchup and adjust the taste by adding more salt if needed. Allow to be cooled.

Step3

Roll out dough to 1/8-inch thick. Cut the dough into 6-inch circles. Spoon 3 tbsp. of beef  filling into each circle. Fold pastry over to make a crescent shape. Seal the edge of the patty by crimping with a fork.

step4

Bake in a preheated oven for 20-25 minutes at 400 F or 205 C. Make about 12 patties

For Shortcrust Pastry

Ingredients

5 tbsp. cold water

1 tsp. salt

2/3 cup shortening

2 cups all-purpose flour

Method

step1

In a bowl, mix shortening and flour until granular. Make a well in the centre. In another bowl, dissolve the salt into the water, then pour it into the centre well. Gently hand-mix without kneading.

step2

Seal dough in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 15 minutes before using.

Variations

For a yellow coloured crust, add 1 tbsp. curry powder to pastry mixture.

To get cheese patty. Open the baked patty (look at the picture) Add a piece of cheese, microwave on high for 1 minute or so to melt cheese.