Rough-Puff Jamaican Beef Patties with Braised Scotch Bonnet Beef

Method

1. Mix the flour, turmeric, pastry curry powder and salt in a bowl, then toss in the cold butter cubes just to coat them; don't break them up. Pour in the ice water and stir with a spatula until it comes together into a rough, shaggy dough with visible lumps of butter. Press it into a rectangle, wrap and chill for 20 min.

   Add in this stepPlain (all-purpose) flour 180 gGround turmeric ¾ tspCurry powder (for the pastry) 1½ tspSalt (for the pastry) ½ tspUnsalted butter, very cold, in 1.5 cm cubes 115 gIce-cold water 70 ml

2. On a floured surface, roll the dough into a long rectangle about 1 cm thick. Fold it in three like a letter, turn it 90 degrees, then roll and fold once more. Wrap and chill for 30 min, then do one more roll and fold, for three folds in total. Streaks of butter are a good sign; if the butter turns soft and sticky, put the dough straight back in the fridge. Return it to the fridge until needed.

3. Toast the allspice berries in a small dry pan over low heat for 1 min 30 sec, shaking, until fragrant. Tip them out at once and grind finely in a mortar or spice grinder.

   Add in this stepWhole allspice berries ¾ tsp

   low heat

4. Heat the oil in a 24 cm frying pan over high heat until it just starts to smoke, then spread the beef out in it. Leave it untouched for 1 to 2 minutes so the underside browns deeply, then turn and break it up, cooking for 7 min in total. For larger amounts, brown it in two batches so it fries rather than stews.

   Add in this stepVegetable oil 1½ tbspCoarse minced beef (about 20% fat) 240 g

   high heat

5. Lower the heat to medium heat and add the onion, spring onions, garlic, scotch bonnet and thyme; cook for 4 min. Stir in the curry powder, ground allspice, tomato paste, pepper and salt and cook for 1 minute, scraping up the browned bits. Wear gloves to chop the scotch bonnet.

   Add in this stepOnion, finely chopped 70 gSpring onions, thinly sliced 2Garlic cloves, minced 2Scotch bonnet pepper, seeded and very finely chopped ½Fresh thyme sprigs 2Curry powder (for the filling) 1 tspTomato paste 1 tspGround black pepper ¼ tspSalt (for the filling) ½ tsp

   medium heat

6. Pour in the stock and scrape the bottom of the pan to dissolve the sticky browned bits, then half-cover and simmer gently over low heat for 18 min. When the liquid has almost gone, stir in the breadcrumbs to get a moist filling that doesn't run. Remove the thyme stems, spread the filling on a tray to cool for 25 min, then chill it until cold.

   Add in this stepBeef stock 180 mlFine dry breadcrumbs 22 g

   low heat

7. Roll the pastry out 3 mm thick and cut 4 circles 13 cm across. Beat the egg with the milk. Spoon cold filling onto one half of each circle, brush the edge with glaze, fold into a half-moon, press out the air and seal firmly with a fork. Chill the patties on a lined tray for 10 minutes, then brush the tops with glaze and cut two small steam holes with the tip of a knife.

   Add in this stepEgg (for the glaze) 1Milk 1 tbsp

8. Bake in an oven preheated to 210 °C (oven) for 24 min, until the layers have puffed and turned deep golden and the bases are crisp. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes so the bottoms stay crisp.

   oven