Jamaican patties are one of my favourite snacks. They are like handy, portable little soup pockets of curry pie goodness. They can be a quick, cheap bite to eat on the run or they can become a meal when tucked inside a butterflap and dipped in oxtail gravy. Oh man. They warm you up when it's cold outside, and cool you down when its the dead of summer with their spicy spice. They're inexpensive to make at home, and come together pretty easily. This recipe makes 18 patties. Try not to eat them all immediately... we failed at that...

Full Disclosure: some of my pictures show 4x the ingredients needed, because I am hardcore addicted to patties and made a 4x batch this round. Sorry if that gets confusing! I have a patty problem...

Jamaican Beef Patties

Yield: 18 patties

Time: 2 hours

Cost: <$10

Hardware

- stainless steel or black iron pan (no nonstick, no cast iron)

- wooden spoon

- large bowl

- box grater or knife & cutting board

- measuring cup

- measuring spoons

- rolling pin

- small bowl of water

- brush

Software

Pastry:

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 cup cold butter or vegetable shortening

3/4 cup ice-cold water

Filling:

1 lb lean ground beef

1 tbsp butter

1 onion, finely chopped

3 whole green onions, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 or 2 Scotch bonnet peppers, seeded and minced

1 tsp dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Directions

Pastry: Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and curry powder in a large mixing bowl. Grate cold butter into the flour cut it into small pieces and add to the bowl. Squeeze together the flour mixture and butter and toss it together by scooping under the mixture with both hands. When the mixture resembles a very coarse meal, add the water to the bowl.

Mix and squeeze the dough just until it forms a ball. Knead it once or twice to combine it fully. Cut the dough into 2 pieces, flattening each into a thick disc shape. Wrap in plastic and set them in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

Filling: In a large bowl, mix together the beef, onion, green onions, garlic, peppers, and thyme in a large bowl. In a large skillet, heat the oil over high heat until it is very hot, and add the beef mixture.

Fry until the meat is brown and starting to dry out, about 8-10 minutes. Add the curry powder, salt, and black pepper, stirring occasionally over high heat, allowing a crust to form on the bottom of the pan.

Add the water and stir the mixture, scraping the bottom to incorporate the browned crust into the mixture. Add the breadcrumbs and stir to incorporate fully. The consistency should be like a thick stew. Add more water as needed. Cover, reduce the heat to very low, and cook for 15 minutes. Set it aside to cool.

To Assemble:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Cut each round of the dough into 9 equal pieces. Using a rolling pin on a floured surface, roll out each piece of pastry into a rectangle shape with rounded edges. Dust lightly with flour to keep dough from sticking if needed. Your dough should be very thin and about 6"x6".

Blob on a large spoonful of the cooled meat mixture over one side of the dough, leaving a 1/2" border on the outside edge. Using a brush or your finger, brush water around the border. Fold the other side of the dough over, and roll and crimp the edges. Lightly press a floured fork around the edge of the patty to seal in filling.

Place the finished patty onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or tinfoil, and repeat the procedure with the remaining dough. The patties may be covered in plastic and frozen at this point flat on a sheet tray and then bagged up later once their are frozen and easier to handle.

Bake your patties for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Step 1: Pat Your Patty Cake

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 cup cold butter or vegetable shortening

3/4 cup ice-cold water

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, and curry powder in a large mixing bowl.

Either grate cold butter into the flour using a box grater or cut the butter into small pieces and add to the bowl. I like the grater way better because its faster.

Squeeze together the flour mixture and butter and toss it together by scooping under the mixture with both hands. When the mixture resembles a very coarse meal, add the water to the bowl and begin to toss and mix with your fingertips to moisten the dough. You don't need big chunks of fat or for it to be dry, like when making a pie dough. Its a shorter pastry and will be a bit more on the moist end of things.

(Sorry I didnt get a picture of what the consistency you're looking for in your dough mix-- my hands were pretty doughy. All your butter pieces should be worked in to the flour and it will kind of look like a very light coloured bowl of breadcrumbs. )

Mix and squeeze the dough just until it forms a ball. Knead it once or twice to combine it fully--the less kneading, the better.

Cut the dough into 2 pieces, flattening each into a thick disc shape.

Wrap in plastic and set them in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.

Meanwhile, you can make your filling..

Step 2: Curry Time!

1 lb lean ground beef

1 tbsp butter

1 onion, finely chopped

3 whole green onions, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 or 2 Scotch bonnet peppers, seeded and minced

1 tsp dried thyme or 2 sprigs fresh

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tsp curry powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 to 2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

In a large bowl, mix together the beef, onion, green onions, garlic, peppers, butter, and thyme in a large bowl. I used bottled scotch bonnet puree because we couldn't get fresh here.

In a large pan, heat the oil over high heat until it is very hot, and add the beef mixture. (For this you will not want to use non-stick because you want the beef to stick and brown, almost black. Cast iron has a habit of absorbing curry flavours and getting into your subsequent meals.)

Fry until the meat is brown and starting to dry out, about 8-10 minutes.

Add the curry powder, salt, and black pepper, stirring occasionally over high heat, allowing a crust to form on the bottom of the pan.

Add the water and stir the mixture, scraping the bottom to incorporate the browned crust into the mixture.

Add the breadcrumbs and stir to incorporate fully.

The consistency should be like a thick stew. Add more water as needed. Cover, reduce the heat to very low, and cook for 15 minutes. Set it aside to cool.

Step 3: Roll, Roll, Roll Your Dough

Fill a small bowl with a little flour so you can use it to dust on your dough if it starts to get a bit sticky.

Cut each round of the dough into 9 equal pieces.

Using a rolling pin on a floured surface, roll out each piece of pastry into a rectangle shape with rounded edges. You can roll it out lengthwise, turn, and roll out widthwise to get the right shape.

Dust lightly with flour to keep dough from sticking if needed.

Your dough should be very thin and very roughly about 5" x 6".

Once each piece has been rolled out, place in a nice stack beside you. If your house is very warm you might want to transfer them to the fridge so they don't get all melty and hard to work with.

Step 4: Man Your Patty Stations!

Set up a patty filling station. You'll need

- bowl of dusting flour

- small bowl of cool water

- brush

- cool beef curry mix

- clean surface or plate to work on

- spoon

- sheet trays lines with tinfoil or parchment paper

Preheat your oven to 400F

Set out one rolled out patty pastry on your lightly dusted work surface.

Blob on a large spoonful of the cooled meat mixture over one side of the dough, leaving a 1/2" border on the outside edge.

Using a brush or your finger, brush water around the border.

Fold the other side of the dough over, and roll and crimp the edges with your fingers. Flip the patty over.

Lightly press a floured fork around the edge of the patty to seal in filling.

They don't have to be perfect, each one can be it's own perfect little piece of patty art. Each one will taste just as good as the next.

Place the finished patty onto a sheet tray, and repeat the procedure with the remaining pastries.

Step 5: Bake'm, Taste'em, Done!

When your patties are all assembled you can freeze them for later by placing the sheet tray in the freezer, to freeze your patties nice and flat and separate. Once they are frozen you can transfer them to freezer bags and they will keep for 3 months. Just take them straight out of the freezer into the oven, adding 5-10 minutes onto the baking time.

To bake immediately, put them into the 400F oven for 20-25 minutes. They will be golden brown, with a darker brown around the edges. Let cool on a wire rack to avoid seriously burning your face off on a number of levels.

Pour yourself an enormous beer or pineapple pop and PIG OUT!