Jamaican Beef Patties!

These bright yellow meat pies are among my favorite items from the frozen aisles in the supermarket. They're often sold in box of 2, probably so you don't notice you're paying ~$2/patty - which doesn't sound too bad, if they weren't so addictive. They're like Doritos, it's very hard to stop at one, not to mention my husband often scarf down my share. So I resolved to making a satisfying batch myself - eat until everyone's full, on the cheap!

This is mostly a copycat of the Golden Krust beef patties, with the preservatives and stablizers left out, and replaced with some classic Jamaican patties components. The main ingredients I gathered from Golden Krust's official list are: Ground beef, bread crumbs, msg, sugar, garlic powder, dehydrated onion, paprika, hot peppers, beef base, soy sauce, and thyme. I'm using ketchup in place of the sugar and the msg (tomato is a natural source of glutamate), and scotch bonnet pepper sauce in place of the actual pepper - which is much, much harder to find in US groceries. Look for the pepper sauce in the taco aisle! Habanero is a close cousin of scotch bonnet if you can't find the pepper sauce. The taste is distinctly different from other hot peppers, and really gives the beef patties its signature flavor. 

I'm using margarine instead of butter here because it's slightly softer and easier to work into the flour. That is true of plant "butter" in general. Plus, you can use Beyond Meat to make this recipe vegetarian-friendly! Feel free to use half a stick of butter if you don't keep margarine around. The Golden Krust recipe for calls for a mix of shortening and tallow (which are also softer than butter at room/fridge temperature), so feel free to use those if you have them available.

Ingredients: 

for the dough:

• 1 cup flour (~ 125g)
  
• 4 tbsp butter/margarine/tallow (~ 60g)
  
• 4 tbsp water (~ 60g)
• 1/2 tsp tumeric
• 1/4 tsp salt

spice blend:

• 1/2 tbsp onion powder
• 1/2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt* 
• 1/2 tsp allspice (optional) ** 
• 1/2 tsp cumin (optional) *** 

for the filling:

• 1/2 lb beef (~200g)
  
• 2 scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp oil
• 1 spice blend
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp scotch bonnet hot sauce****
• 1/2 cup beef or chicken stock
• 2 tbsp breadcrumb

note: 

* salt amount varies based on stock and soy sauce brands, taste & add more as needed. 

** optional allspice - traditional but not in commercial patties ingredient list

*** optional cumin - not traditional but taste good

**** scotch bonnet hot sauce is easier to find than the pepper itself, look in the Latin aisle or on Amazon.

Instructions: 

1. Sauté the scallion until fragrant.
2. Add spice blend, fry until fragrant.
3. Add beef, stock, pepper sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, and breadcrumb. Stir until everything's evenly mixed. 
4. Cook on medium-high until thickened. Make the dough while liquid reduces. 
5. Stir together flour, turmeric, and salt. 
6. Cut margarine into flour mixture until crumbly.
7. Add water to the crumbles and stir with a fork until a dough forms.
8. Divide the dough into 4 portions
9. Roll each portion into a ball. Press down & roll it out into a round sheet. Dust with flour as needed.
10. Stuff each dough sheet with filling. Fold over & seal with a fork. 
11. Airfry at 400F for 8~10 min, or until pastry is cooked through.

Check out my YouTube channel for step-by-step video!