Tag: beef
Jamaican Meat Pies
Jamaican Meat Pies
I first tried a Jamaican meat pie at the West Indies Soul Food booth at the MN State Fair about 15 years ago. Instead of an empanada shape, they sold them in the shape of a patty; hence why they called them Jamaican beef patties. They were unbelievably good and spicy as hell. The baked dough was very similar to a pot pie crust. Every year I make sure to go back and eat one with a large Jamaican Arnie Palmer.Past forward to present day. My high ass had a craving for these since I didn’t go to the Fair this year. So I had to learn how to make them. They take time to prep, but are overall fairly easy. This is something that you just can’t make one of, so be aware that this recipe yields 10/12 meat pies. The nice thing is that you can freeze these down on a baking sheet and store in a freezer bag. The meat pies take 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
Servings: 10 Meat Pies
Equipment
- Mixer with dough hook
Ingredients
Dough
- 4 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 5 oz lard room temp
- 4 oz butter room temp
- 1 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 cup ice water
Meat Filling
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1/2 medium white onion diced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp Jamaican curry powder
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
- 3 green onions finely chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
Making the dough
- Mix together the dry ingredients.
- Turn the mixer to medium speed. Add in the butter and lard, mixing until it is incorporated with the flour. Add in the cider vinegar and the ice water. It should form into a ball.
- On a well floured surface, separate the dough into 2 balls.
- With a rolling pin, roll out the dough to 1/4” thick. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Take the dough out of the refrigerator. Cut out discs with a 6” bowl.
- Do this until all of the dough is used up. You should yield 10-12 dough frisbees. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Meat Pie Filling
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Sauté the onions, garlic, and all of the spices for 2 minutes.
- Add in the ground beef and breadcrumbs. Cook for 8 minutes, until the ground beef is cooked all the way through.
- Turn off the heat. Stir in the green onions and parsley. Let cool.
Meat Pie Assembly
- In a large empanada press, add one of the dough discs.
- Add 2 heaping tbsps of the meat filling.
- Fold it over, crimping tightly.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake for 30 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Seco de Carne
Seco de Carne
Seco de Carne is another one of my favorite dishes from Los Cabos in downtown Denver. It consists of chunks of stewing beef seared then braised in beer and a cilantro pepper sauce. The sugars in the beer help break down the connective tissues in the meat. The meat is then served over rice, usually with a side of beans or boiled yellow potato. This is a great one pot meal that takes minimal effort to make.There are a couple of cuts beef that will work well with this dish. Chuck, bottom round, shank meat, and arm roast are all acceptable choices. Avoid using top round, eye of round, and sirloin tip. They are too lean for this dish.
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 2-3 lbs chuck roast cubed
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 onion diced
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 cups chicken or beef stock
- 1 cup beer lager
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 3 serrano peppers seeded
- 1/4 cup chicken or beef stock
Instructions
- Cut up chuck into 1 1/2” cubes. Season with salt.
- Heat up 2 tbsp ofcooking oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat. Sear the beef on all sides for 4 minutes in total.
- Cook the beef in 2 batches, making sure that the pot isn’t overcrowded. Put in a bowl and set aside.
- Add the other 2 tbsp of cooking oil to th Dutch oven. Turn the heat down to medium high. Add in the onions. Cook for 5 minutes until translucent.
- Add in the garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add in the cumin, paprika, and salt. Cook for a minute.
- Deglaze with the beer and stock. Scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the pot. Add in the beef.
- While the beef in simmering, add cilantro, serrano peppers, and 1/4 cup of stock to a blender or food processor.
- Purée.
- Add the cilantro purée to the beef. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Cover the beef and cook for 2 hours.
- Uncover and let cook for another 30 minutes.
African Style Meatballs in Sauce
African Style Meatballs in Sauce
This is an African/Caribbean fusion take on Italian style meatballs in tomato sauce. You can do a 50/50 mix of ground beef and pork, or use only beef or pork. That is up to you. Both turn out delicious. Although I made my meatballs larger and sautéed them, I’d recommend baking larger meatballs in the oven and sautéing smaller ones on the stove top. Sautéing larger ones are a little more difficult in handling and can potentially fall apart.The sauce uses more traditional African and Caribbean ingredients such as thyme, white pepper, Maggi, smoked paprika, and curry powder. It is also not garlic heavy unlike the Italian counterpart.Typically in Italy, meatballs are just served in sauce and not over pasta. But I still think it’s great over pasta. Eat them how you want. I plan on turning the leftovers into meatball sandwiches on a baguette with sautéed peppers and onions.
Ingredients
Meatballs
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 4 slices of bread
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 tbsp chopped parsley
- 1/2 cup grated onion
- 1 tsbp minced garlic
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 large egg
Sauce
- 3 roma tomatoes diced
- 2 small cans of tomato paste
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp thyme
- 2 tsp white pepper
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- 4 tbsp parsley chopped
- 2 tsp maggi
- 1/2 tsp curry powder
- salt to taste
Instructions
Meatballs
- Soak the bread in the milk.
- Combine all of the meatballs ingredients together.
- Form into balls. The ones I made are fairly large. I yielded 18. You can make these half the size and get 40 out of the meatball mix.
- Heat up cooking oil in a large sauce pan or Dutch oven over medium high heat. Cook the meatballs in batches, browning on all sides for 8-10 minutes
- Set the meatballs aside. These don’t have to be completely cooked through since they will finish in the sauce. They should be browned well though.
- In the same pan or Dutch oven, sauté the onion, garlic, thyme, and chopped tomatoes for 3 minutes. Add the tomato paste, followed by the beef stock, parsley, curry powder, white pepper, smoked paprika, Maggie, and salt. Cover and simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes.
- Stir in the meatballs to the sauce. Cover and let simmer for another 15 minutes.
- These balls are saucy.
- Serve with your favorite pasta.
