The Fighting 44s

This is what happens when you mix something Indian and something Jamaican.

Jamaican beef patties!

Granted, sometimes IR tastes like crap. Like Philly cheesesteak eggrolls? WTF? Some Chinese take out places in Philly offer these pieces of crap on their menus, and people actually order them. But now that I think about it, cheesesteak eggrolls aren’t necessarily two races mixing. Eggrolls aren’t actually Chinese, and being a fatty cheesesteak gobbler isn’t a nationality either.

Back when I lived in NY I used to eat these pretty often. I know of a couple of places in Philly where I can get beef patties, but I don’t always enjoy being “ching chonged” during the walk between my car and the beef patty place. Luckily these are relatively easy to make and in all actuality I prefer my own patty crust anyway.

So this is what you need:

For the crust:
2 cups of flour (~10 oz)
1/2 stick butter (~ 2 oz) chilled
1/4 c shortening (~2 oz) chilled
1 tsp salt
1/2 Tb curry powder
2/3 c ice water

For the filling:
1 medium onion
2 chili peppers (your choice) chopped fine
1 scallion, chopped fine
oil for sauteeing
1/2 Tb curry powder
1/4 tsp thyme
1/2 lb of lean beef
pinch of sugar
1 tsp salt
3/4 c dry bread crumbs
your favorite hot sauce (optional)
1 egg, beaten

So this is what you do:

Combine your dry ingredients. Using a pastry cutter, or a food processor, cut the fat into the dry ingredients until it takes on a semi-chunky consistency. You want the biggest pieces to be about the size of peas and the smaller pieces to look corn meal-ish.

Then add the water slowly, mixing until you have a cohesive ball that isn’t sticky. Only mix until it’s combined. Overmixing will give you a tough crust. It’s ok if it’s slightly tacky. Go ahead and wrap that with some plastic wrap and let it rest in your fridge at least an hour.

Then take your aromatics in a frying pan over medium high heat and let them brown.

Add the salt, curry powder and thyme until thoroughly mixed.

Add your meat and cook through. Then add 1 cup of water stir in, and then cover, lowering heat to low and let cook 30 minutes.

Now add your dry bread crumbs and stir to combine. Yeah, I know it looks like dog food. Give it a taste to see if it needs any extra seasoning, like hot sauce, or salt. Allow the filling to come to room temperature.

So take your dough, divide it up into 10 even balls. Then take your meat and divide it up into 10 ovallish balls.

Roll out your dough balls into a sort of oval shape about 7 or 8 inches long, a little less than a 1/4 inch thick. Place a meat oval on top. To seal, spread a bit of egg along the edges. Fold dough over the meat, seal, and trim off the excess edges.

So now go ahead and preheat your oven to 400. While your oven’s preheating, you’ll want to stow your patties in the fridge.

Once your oven is heated, brush your patties with egg and bake them for 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time. Let cool for 15 minutes before eating.

If you’ve played your cards right, your crust should be flaky and your filling should be moist.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 16th, 2007 at 8:30 pm and is filed under Food & Wine, Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Comment »

Share