Turkey Patty

I don't know if I invented this recipe or not. The only thing I know is that I was hungry one day I felt for a Jamaican meat patty and the only thing I had in the fridge was some ground turkey. So I thought why not just subsititue the meat. I did, and this was the result. Mine was not that spicy.

Dough:

• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 large egg
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter - at room temperature
• 2/3 cup water

Filling:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 medium white onions (about 2 cups)
• 1 tablespoons garlic - minced
• 1/2 medium Scotch bonnet pepper
• 1 lb ground turkey
  
• 1 tablespoon curry powder preferably Madras (hot) style
• 1 tablespoons fresh thyme - chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper - fresh ground
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2/3 cup beef broth homemade or store bought ( I used the turkey drippings)
  
• 1/2 cup dried bread crumbs

Instructions

Dough:

Make the dough by hand or in a food processor. If using a food processor, place the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, and turmeric in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Pulse to blend the ingredients. In a mixing cup, whisk together the egg and 2/3 cup water. With the motor on, gradually add the mixture through the feed tube. Process until the dough forms a soft ball, about 10 seconds. Scatter the softened butter over the dough. Process until the dough is very soft and moist but not sticky, about 5 seconds. If the dough feels sticky, add about 1 tbls flour and pulse until it is no longer sticky. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, knead briefly, and shape it into a ball. Refrigerate for at least one hour before use.

Filling:

Chop onions fine. Wearing gloves, seed the Scotch bonnet pepper and chop fine. Mince the garlic. Heat the butter in a large skillet over moderate heat. Add onions, garlic, and Scotch bonnet and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the onions are soft and translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the meat, curry, thyme, salt, pepper, and sugar, and cook, breaking up the meat lumps with the back of the spoon, until the meat is browned, about 5 minutes. Add the broth and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the beef is tender, about 8 minutes. Add the bread crumbs, stir well to combined, and continue to simmer until all the liquid is absorbed, about 2 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the heat. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper if necessary. Let cool thoroughly.

Assemble:

Divide the dough into 12 pieces. Work with one piece of dough at a time, keeping the remainder covered in the refrigerator. On a lightly floured work surface, roll the dough piece out into a circle about 6 inches in diameter. Put about cup of the filling on the bottom half of the dough, leaving about a inch margin of dough exposed around the filling. Moisten the exposed edge with water. Fold the top half of the dough over the filling, forming a turnover. Join the edges by turning the bottom edge up and over and press the edge together. Press around turnover with the tines of a fork to seal.

Heat oven to 400 F. Place the patty on a lightly buttered cookie sheet. Cover sheet with a clean towel until all the patties are formed to protect them from drying out. Brush patties generously with melted butter and bake in preheated oven for twenty minutes, until light golden.

Serve patties hot with red pepper sauce or West Indian hot sauce such as jerk sauce.