Tropical travel with C is for Carribean

C is for Carribean latest cookbook in the Alphabet Cooking series is published on Thursday 13^th July. To celebrate we’re sharing a sneak preview of one of the delicious recipes.

 Patties (Jamaica)

Serves 8 Prep – 30 mins Cook – 60 mins   Ingredients 600g (1lb 5oz/4½ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour 2 scant tsp ground turmeric 300g (10½oz/1¼ cups) cold butter, cubed 1 egg, beaten sea salt 1 tbsp vegetable oil 500g (1lb 2oz) minced (ground) beef 1 onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 Scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded and finely chopped 4 sprigs thyme, leaves only 2 tsp Jamaican curry powder (see below) 500ml (17fl oz/2 cups) beef stock 3 tbsp fresh white breadcrumbs

Method

MIX

For the pastry, blitz the flour, turmeric, 1 teaspoon salt and butter in a food processor or work together with your hands until it is the texture of fine sand.

Add 70ml (2½fl oz/¼ cup) water and pulse or mix until the mixture comes together as a dough. Cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

BROWN

For the filling, heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan on a medium heat. Add the beef and break up with a spoon, then increase the heat and brown well for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

SIMMER

Add the onion, garlic, chilli, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt and stir-fry for 6–7  minutes until the onion has softened. Add the curry powder and stir-fry for a further minute before adding the stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes. Stir through the breadcrumbs, taste and season with salt as needed.

MAKE

To make the patties, preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) and line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper. Roll the pastry out on a floured surface until it is 2–3mm (1/16–1/8in) thick, then cut out 8-cm (3¼-in) circles. Place a heaped tablespoon of mixture on one side of each round, brush the edge with egg wash, then fold the pastry over the filling and crimp the edge with a fork. Brush the top with egg wash, then transfer to the baking sheet. Repeat until all the pastry is used up (makes approximately 32).

BAKE

Bake for 25–30 minutes until golden brown.

 Jamaican Curry Powder

Makes 1 jar Prep – 10 mins Cook – 10 mins   Ingredients 2 tbsp ground turmeric 4 tbsp coriander seeds 2 tbsp cumin seeds 2 tbsp yellow mustard seeds 1 tbsp black peppercorns 1 tbsp allspice berries 1 tbsp fenugreek seeds 2 star anise

TOAST Tip all the ingredients into a large frying pan and"toast on a low–medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes to ensure that all the spices toast evenly. Make sure they don’t burn.  COOL Once lightly coloured and aromatic, transfer the pices to a plate to cool completely.  BLITZ  Once cool, blitz the spices in a spice grinder or with a pestle and mortar until finely ground. Store in an airtight jar for up to 2 months.

 

Alphabet Cooking: C is for Carribean is available from all good shops that sell books and online at Amazon.

 

Photography by Kim Lightbody.