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Jamaican beef patties (meat hand-pies)

My girlfriend and I made jamaican beef patties last night from this SeriousEats recipe.
Holy crap, they turned out way better than expected for our first try, and the scotch bonnet right out of our garden was killer. I'd use even more next time.
 
 
If anyone is interested in making this, here's my two cents about the recipe.
  • The site says it makes 6 patties, but in reality we got 10 out of the dough, and the recipe for filling could have filled maybe 14 of them. 
  • Recipe says 25-35 minutes, we did 35-40. Let them go until they're crispy and starting to turn golden. Make sure the bottoms don't burn.
  • Recipe calls for 1 scotch bonnet, we used one and a half but in the future I'd use 2 or 3. The flavor is amazing and the heat is that low warm goodness.
 
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Looks great! I tried these at a local Jamaican place that opened up a few months ago for the first time; I originally went for the jerk & curry chicken (which was amazing... as were the coconut rice and pigeon peas too!) I was blissfully ignorant about the 'beef patties' (I chose the hot/spicy one); I thought it would literally be a seasoned or pepper infused piece of ground meat, not basically a Jamaican version of an empanada. I loved it! Nice job!  
 
Alchymystic said:
Looks great! I tried these at a local Jamaican place that opened up a few months ago for the first time; I originally went for the jerk & curry chicken (which was amazing... as were the coconut rice and pigeon peas too!) I was blissfully ignorant about the 'beef patties' (I chose the hot/spicy one); I thought it would literally be a seasoned or pepper infused piece of ground meat, not basically a Jamaican version of an empanada. I loved it! Nice job!  
 
I thought the same thing before checking the recipe out. Our friend who lived in Jamaica for a while suggested we make them using our scotch bonnets and I was a little skeptical of just making meat patties. 
 
I just ate another two for lunch and I have three thoughts.
  1. They reheat very well as leftovers.
  2. I am making these again and often.
  3. I want to take a nap under my desk.
 
SeaDuds said:
I just ate another two for lunch and I have three thoughts.
  1. They reheat very well as leftovers.
  2. I am making these again and often.
  3. I want to take a nap under my desk.
 
 
They indeed reheat very well; I also thought they were pretty good straight up cold the next day. Kind of goes in the category of other foods that are also good cold the day after (pizza probably being #1 for most people). I got two of them and brought one home for the next days breakfast or lunch... so I tried it different ways!  ;)  
 
I'm tempted to make them myself, but they're so good and cheap nearby, I haven't yet. I might give it a go and just freeze leftovers. That goes along with your #3 - definite comfort food! I'd probably just gorge myself on them if I made them and then just hibernate the day away! Lol. The ones I got are probably just as comfort/sleep inducing... but certainly more heavy (they were deep fried...Mmmm.) 
 
There is a Carribean restaurant a mere 5 minutes from my House, the owner is from Trinidad so I get to eat these all the time!   Nice job on finding recipe, looks a decent one! 
 
Buzzman19 said:
There is a Carribean restaurant a mere 5 minutes from my House, the owner is from Trinidad so I get to eat these all the time!   Nice job on finding recipe, looks a decent one! 
 
I need to see if there's anywhere around me to get them, making them wasn't hard but I could for sure see myself eating these drunk... or hungover.
As for the recipe, SeriousEats is the shit, I use their recipes all the time.
Thanks!
 
Love those J. patties. too..I  went to College in Brooklyn,there were so many Patty stores..they also had   a bread called "hard dough bread" that was sold separately,& some folks would put the patty in the bread...way too many calories there. for my liking.
Hard to come by where I am located ,the frozen ones in the supermarket  does not cut it..once in a while I  make some ..Ya mon ;) 
 
I never really wrote it down but
 
Vadouvan curry powder. Its a French based Indian masala. I used the one from myspicesage. Vadouvan has fried shallots, fried garlic and other spices such as thyme which are not usually found in Indian masalas. Jamaican curries do use them sometimes though such as thyme.
 
Enough Korean pepper flakes to get the heat level you prefer.
 
Pre-cook all your veggies and chicken in some ghee or coconut oil and the curry powder. I prefer my veggies with a little crunch left to them.
 
Add some chicken stock and thicken with a potato starch slurry. A small amount of cream is nice too. Instant mashed potatoes actually work fine for this. Make just enough (extra thick) gravy to hold it all together. The one in my pic turned out a tad thin.
 
Cheat on the crust. Get Pillsbury crust in the refrigerated section of the market. They are made with lard.
 
Roll out the bottom crust into a lightly greased Pyrex pie pan. Very lightly brown the bottom crust and remove it from the oven.
 
Fill the bottom crust with your curry mixture and add the top crust.
 
Make some slits in the top crust and brush with egg whites or a little ghee seasoned with garam masala.
 
Bake :D
 
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