Gluten Free Jamaican Patties

I know I bragged about the recipes I have pending on Friday but I'm going to do it all over again today! Mostly because I went to pick which recipe to post today and I was at a loss! Serious first world problem, right? I had the hardest time choosing just one. I really just did eenie meenie miney mo (is there a correct spelling of that?) and today I'm sharing Jamaican Patties! The rest will come in due time (like tomorrow and Thursday!).

This recipe is from a blog called Better Batter - original the recipe was gluten free, but I pulled some strings to also make it dairy free. You can see the original HERE.

Start with the meat filling by melting 3 Tablespoons of butter in a medium sized saucepan. I used vegan butter, but you can use pretty much any butter replacement here (I'm 99% sure coconut oil would even work!). Chop up one small onion and sauté the onion until it is translucent. Guess what? I started this recipe only to find out that there were no onions in my house! I chopped up 4 green onions instead and it was great! So lots of choices here - 3 Tablespoons of butter (or some sort of butter replacement and 1 small onion or 4 green onions.

Add 2 lbs of lean ground beef to the saucepan. Use a wooden spoon to the break up the meat as it cooks over medium heat. Stir the meat often and continue to break it up to get the desired texture.

Once the meat is browned, add in 1 1/2 teaspoons of Jamaican jerk seasoning, 1 1/2 teaspoons of curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon of allspice, 1 teaspoon dried thyme and 1/2 cup of gluten free bread crumbs. Stir until all of the meat is coated with the bread crumbs. The change in the meat will be very evident here - you will notice the texture change. It's hard to miss.

Once all of the bread crumbs are mixed in, stir in 1/2 cup of beef stock and continue to stir until all of the liquid is absorbed. It should be about 3 minutes. Once the meat is done, set it aside and allow it to cool completely before filling the Jamaican patties.

Around this part, I stopped taking pictures because things got messy and I had tumeric everywhere! So, I tucked my phone away, but I will do my best to explain everything and if you have questions, let me know!

For the pastry exterior of the Jamaican Patty, you will need to combine 2 1/2 cup of gluten free flour, 1 teaspoon of Xanthum gum, 2 teaspoons of tumeric, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 cup of ice cold shortening and cubed in a food processor. I recommend having all of the ingredients very cold then adding them all to the food processor and pulsing them together until they form a coarse crumble. Once you have coarse pieces of dough, turn the food processor on to run on its own (ie no more pulsing) and pour in 2 Tablespoons of ice cold water. The dough should begin to hold together, but you may need to add 2-3 more Tablespoons of cold water. I recommend starting with 1 Tablespoon and working from there. Judge based on the consistency of your dough.

Separate the dough into 10 equal parts. Roll each of the 10 sections into a ball and roll each the balls out into a flat circle between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Roll the circles out to be about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Lay each of the rolled out circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Fill half of each circle with the cooled meat filling. Fold the bare half of the circle over the filled portion and use a fork to seal around the edges. It was big time messy and crumbly for me, I had to call for reinforcements (thank you, mom!) but we managed to get the 10 Jamaican patties pieced together and looking somewhat okay.

When all of the Jamaican patties are sealed, distribute them evenly across the baking sheet. Brush the top of each Jamaican patties with milk or a milk replacement (I used cashew milk). Then, bake the Jamaican patties for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once the Jamaican patties have completed their bake time, remove them from the oven and give them a minute to set before you serve them. These Jamaican patties were just okay the night of. I have to be honest, I was a little underwhelmed by the result. The were edible just no major wow factor. But wait! After dinner, I packed them up and they sat in the fridge over night. Then, I pulled one out for lunch the next day. I warmed it up in the microwave and I was shocked to discover that it was so good! Something changed over night because the next day, they tasted like real Jamaican patties! And they were so darn good! If you are going to make this recipe, make them the day before!!! Make them, bake them, store them in the fridge over night, then heat them up the next day.

Now to answer a question which I'm sure is brewing in your mind - why did I make the pastry vegan but pack the interior with meat? I'm not vegan, so the changes I make to recipes are merely to take intolerances into consideration. If that happens to make a recipe vegan, I love it! However, one of the things I am not intolerant to is meat. So, now I eat a heck of a lot of meat! I used to really try to reduce my meat intake, but now we buy organic and I eat all the meat. So I replaced the egg and the milk in the recipe because I'm intolerant to egg whites and dairy. If you are vegan, the pastry on this works great and I saw some great filling substitutes that use lentils instead of ground beef!

JAMAICAN PATTIES (GF)
yield 10 Jamaican Patties

ingriedients
the meat filling...
3 Tablespoons butter (or butter replacement - I used vegan butter)
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 1/2 teaspoons Jamaican jerk seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 cup gluten free bread crumbs.
1/2 cup beef stock

for the pastry...
2 1/2 cups gluten free flour, chilled
1 teaspoon Xanthum gum
2 teaspoons tumeric
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening, ice cold & cubed
2-5 Tablespoons water ice cold
milk (or milk replacement)

directions
1. Start with the meat filling by melting the butter in a medium sized saucepan. Chop up one small onion and sauté the onion until it is translucent.
2. Add the ground beef to the saucepan. Use a wooden spoon to the break up the meat as it cooks over medium heat. Stir the meat often and continue to break it up to get the desired texture.
3. Once the meat is browned, add in the Jamaican jerk seasoning, the curry powder, the allspice, the dried thyme and the gluten free bread crumbs. Stir until all of the meat is coated with the bread crumbs. The change in the meat will be very evident here - you will notice the texture change. It's hard to miss.
4. Once all of the bread crumbs are mixed in, stir in the beef stock and continue to stir until all of the liquid is absorbed. It should be about 3 minutes. Once the meat is done, set it aside and allow it to cool completely before filling the Jamaican patties.
5. While the meat filling is cooling, start on the pastry - combine the gluten free flour, the Xanthum gum, the tumeric, the salt, the shortening and cubed in a food processor. All of the ingredients should be cold before adding them all to the food processor and pulsing them together until they form a coarse crumble.
6. Once you have coarse pieces of dough, turn the food processor on to run on its own (ie no more pulsing) and pour in 2 Tablespoons of ice cold water. The dough should begin to hold together, but you may need to add 2-3 more Tablespoons of cold water. I recommend starting with 1 Tablespoon and working from there. Judge based on the consistency of your dough.
7. Separate the dough into 10 equal parts. Roll each of the 10 sections into a ball and roll each the balls out into a flat circle between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Roll the circles out to be about 1/8 of an inch thick.
8. Lay each of the rolled out circles on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Fill half of each circle with the cooled meat filling. Fold the bare half of the circle over the filled portion and use a fork to seal around the edges.
9. When all of the Jamaican patties are sealed, distribute them evenly across the baking sheet. Brush the top of each Jamaican patties with milk or a milk replacement (I used cashew milk). Then, bake the Jamaican patties for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
10. When the Jamaican patties are baked, let them sit on the baking sheet for a couple of minutes before serving them. I even recommend making them the day before and letting them sit in the fridge overnight - they were even better that way!

See you tomorrow!