Recipe: Jamaican Patties with Ground Turkey
This recipe is literally 10 years in the making. Back in Hubby and I first met we used to grab beef patties from the city for $2 a pop. Then we found frozen patties that were sold at Costco that were pretty authentic. So we started getting them in bulk. Finally, Hubby, who is the real chef out of the two of us, decided he wanted to try making them. He tried several different times. And while each time was better than the last, there was something that just wasn’t quite right.
Fast forward to today. I cook more than he does, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost his chops. He’s been itching to cook but has been super busy. So he took a work break and decided to give patties one more try. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any beef for the patties. BUT, we DID have ground turkey…let’s see how that major ingredient change went…
Ingredients:
Dough:
4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground turmeric (or curry powder)
9 ounces (250 g) cold vegetable shortening
1 cup ice cold water (plus more if needed)
Patty Filling:
1 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
1 Scotch bonnet pepper minced
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1 ¼ cups low-sodium beef broth
1 ½ tablespoons Pickapeppa or steak sauce
1 ½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon yellow curry, preferably Jamaican
½ teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon kosher salt
2 bay leaves
4 sprigs fresh thyme
½ cup breadcrumbs
Egg wash made from 1 large egg beaten with ¼ cup water
Directions:
For the Dough:
1. To a large bowl, add flour, 1 teaspoon salt and turmeric and mix thoroughly.
2. Rub shortening into flour until there are small pieces of shortening completely covered with flour.
3. Pour in ½ cup of the ice water and mix with your hands to bring the dough together. Keep adding ice water 2 to 3 tablespoons at a time until the mixture forms a dough.
4. At this stage, you can cut the dough into 2 large pieces, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes before using it.
5. Alternatively, cut the dough into 10 to 12 equal pieces, place on a platter or baking sheet, cover securely with plastic wrap and let chill for 30 minutes while you make the filling.
For the Filling:
6. Brown ground beef in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, breaking meat into little bits. When beef is nearly cooked through, nudge meat to the side of the pan, reduce heat to medium and add onion, pepper, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until vegetables have softened, 4 to 5 minutes.
7. Add broth, Pickapeppa sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, cayenne, curry, allspice, salt, bay leaves, and thyme. Stir to combine, reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid is evaporated, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Add breadcrumbs and stir thoroughly.
8. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
9. Flour your work surface and rolling pin. Roll the dough out to 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into 6-inch circles and place 2 tablespoons of the meat filling onto half of each round of dough. Brush the edges of the dough with egg wash. Fold dough over the filling to make a half-moon shape. Press edge with tines of a fork to seal.
10. Set patties on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake until dough is golden brown and cooked through, about for 25 to 35 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
Swapping out the beef for the turkey was a happy little accident because not only could we not tell the difference, but turkey is healthier than beef any damn way.
I will say that this recipe is more involved than I ever want to get with cooking. So I’ll leave this one up to hubby.
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