Recipe: Jamaican patty filling

To continue with the Jamaican patties, Dan and I wanted to keep one of the three varieties we made as close to "traditional" as possible.  That said, my favorite comment I had come across in doing some research was that as long as the filling was tasty, how you got there didn't matter.  Amen.  

Now I can't exactly say this recipe is 100% mine, but I can't say it's 100% anybody else's either.  It is 100% what we made however, and definitely stands as the way I'll do it in the future.  When I research a recipe, I generally scan a wide variety of recipes I have on hand or I come across on line and keep my eye out for the ones that seem most in line with what I'm making.  I then take what I like best about what I came across and put them all into one "super recipe".  In this case I wanted to achieve as complex a flavour profile as possible while staying in the parameters of the "traditional" Jamaican patty.  I have to give a shout out to Emeril, his recipe was one of the only ones that used rum in the mix - an obvious appeal there - and his spice mix went beyond "add X amount of curry blend".  Of course, once armed with our super-recipe and in the heat of the moment, there were adjustments, but the result was stellar.  Here's what we ended up with.  

With reference to size, I've doubled the recipe in order to fit the recipe for the pastry I gave you.  What Dan and I made would only have filled 3 of our extra large patties, so this one will give you six.  Within reason, the size of the patties won't really matter since roughly half the pastry goes on top and the other goes under the meat.

You will need:

907g / 2lbs                       lean ground beef

2                                       large onions - small dice

907g / 2lbs                       tomatoes - small dice

12 cloves                          garlic - minced

2 knuckles                        fresh grated ginger (2 generous tablespoons microplaned)

10 - 12 slices                    pickled banana peppers - minced

6                                       scallions - sliced

60ml / 1/4C                      parsley - chopped

4 sprigs                             thyme - chopped

5ml / 1tsp                         ground anatto (achiote)

20ml / 4tsp                       cumin

5ml / 1tsp                         allspice

5ml / 1tsp                         cardamom

15ml / 1Tbs                      black pepper (feel free to use more if you like it like me)

to taste                              kosher salt

60ml / 1/4C                      dark rum

500ml / 2C                       beef stock

Method:

 - in a large fry pan, brown the ground beef and season lightly

 - remove the beef, saving the fat in the pan

 - fry the onion in the fat until lightly golden, then add the garlic and ginger and cook a few minutes

 - add in the anatto, cumin, allspice, cardamom and black pepper and cook some more

 - add the tomatoes and banana peppers

 - add the beef back in along with the beef stock and thyme

 - let the mixture cook and the liquid come down

 - when the liquid is almost reduced out, add the rum and season with salt

 - when the liquid is basically gone, turn off the heat

 - mix in the scallions and parsley and set aside to cool

 - use as needed in the patties