Jamaican Beef Patty

INGREDIENTS FOR BEEF FILLING:

* 2 lbs ground beef
* 1/2 teaspoon Accent
* 8 sprigs of thyme
* 2 ozs escallion
* 2 small hot peppers
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* half a loaf french bread
* 1 teaspoon salt

INGREDIENTS FOR PASTRY:

* 11 ozs suet (beef fat or shortening)
* 4 cups flour
* 1 level teaspoon salt
* 2/3 cup iced water

METHOD:

1. Grind escallion and hot peppers in a mincing mill.
2. Add to ground beef with salt.
3. Place meat in a saucepan making a well in the center into which place 4 sprigs of thyme.
4. Cook without adding any water or fat until meat has lost its broth and only certain amount of oil remains.
5. Pour off excess oil and add this to the paprika to be used later on, strained for coloring meat.
6. While meat is being cooked, pour sufficient cold water over bread in a saucepan to cover and soak for a few minutes, then squeeze dry, saving water.
7. Pass bread through mincing mill and return the ground bread water with 4 sprigs of thyme and cook until bread is dry.
8. Combine meat and cooked bread.
9. Add color, paprika in sufficient quantity to color the meat to taste.
10. Cook together for a further 20 mins.
11. Add Accent . Remove from fire. Cool for filling pastry circles.

METHOD:

1. Trim all skin and fatty membrane from suet and set overnight in freezer.
2. Next day, with a very sharp knife shave suet as finely as possible.
3. Combine salt and flour, then work in suet as you would shortening in plain pastry, cutting it in with two knives.
4. Add iced water in sufficient amount to have a dough which can be rolled out.
5. Form into a ball and with a rolling pin, pat gently, turning the dough over once or twice in order to have it all properly held together.
6. Set overnight wrapped in wax paper in freezer.
7. Next day, pull off enough dough (after defrosting) to roll into a circle the size of a breakfast saucer.
8. Dip dough in flour before rolling.
9. Roll quite thin and cut in a circle. (use saucer for help) In the center of each circle place a spoonful of meat, fold dough over to form a crescent shape seal edges with egg white or by crimping the edge and folding dough slightly under.
10. Do not prick the pastry.
11. Bake on ungreased tin sheet in a hot oven for about 35 mins.
12. This recipe will make about 3 dozen regular patties. if cocktail patties are needed, use a smaller cutter than a saucer.
13. Serving 3 dozen regular size patties.Try different fillings for experiment.


Number of Servings: 36

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user DANGEROUS_1.