Tuesday 10 February 2015

Coconut fish patty in a saffron crust


Juici...and if you don't know, now you know!


So this week I’m venturing into the seafood patty scene.  This is a coconut fish patty in a flaky saffron crust. The crust this week is much easier to prepare. I made my crust the day before kept everything as cold as possible.  The crust came out so flaky and delicious and the filling basically tasted like Jamaica.

I forgot I had bought (and hid) a little jar of saffron in the back of the pantry. So here I am searching on the back of the shelf for some chocolate only to pull out a jar of saffron. I was extremely happy about this find and immediately knew I would experiment with it to use as a color and flavor element for the crust, plus seafood and saffron go hand in hand. I didn't even strain the saffron threads I left them right in the dough. I figured the saffron is not cheap so I was not wasting any of it :)

You may be wondering about the crackers on the ingredients list. Patties generally have a very creamy texture, not crumbly so it needs a binder to aid in the texture. While most patty recipes, call for bread or breadcrumbs, I prefer crackers. Last year when I was experimenting with patty fillings I tried bread and I also tried crackers on an occasion where I didn’t have bread and I found the crackers to give a much smoother, creamier and silky texture as opposed to the bread that kind of just sucks up all the moisture. 

So here it is a very delicious lunch..hope you try it. 



Ingredients (printable recipe)

Crust Only (Printable recipe)

The filling:
3 fish filets
½ teaspoon salt (to season fish)
¼ teaspoon  black pepper (to season fish)
2 tablespoon oil
1 small tomato
1 small onion
¼ cup scallion
1 tablespoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon hot pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
¾ cup coconut milk
¼ cup crackers (crumbs)
½ teaspoon Sugar
¼ teaspoon Black pepper
½ teaspoon Salt (or more to taste)

The crust Dry:
2 cup flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening
½ cup cold butter

Wet:
1 large pinch of saffron
1/3 cup water
½ teaspoon vinegar
1 egg
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar

Instructions

For the crust:

  • Place the saffron in the 1/3 cup of hot/warm water
  • Allow the saffon to bloom in the warm water set aside to get to room temp
  • Once its at room temp you can also place it in the freezer or refrigerator to get cold
  • Once the saffon liquid is cold combine it with the other wet ingredients
  • Combine the dry ingredients, cut the fat into the flour mixture with a fork or dough cutter until the butter and flour form little balls coated with flour (almost resembling medium sized breadcrumbs)
  • Pour the wet onto the dry and stir with a spoon until the dough has come together (do not use hands)
  • Cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
  • Roll out the dough on a floured work surface, fold in thirds and roll again place in the freezer for 5 minutes
  • Repeat the process two more times until the dough is smooth and cold, (may have butter streaks in it)
  • Store in the refrigerator wrapped in plastic while you make the filling. 

For the filling:

  • Slice the fish filet into cubes and season with black pepper and salt
  • Crush the crackers into crumbs
  • Chop the onions, tomatoes, scallions, thyme, and hot pepper
  • Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the veggies add the fish, sauté and cover to allow the fish to cook
  • Once the fish begins to fall apart add the coconut milk, salt, sugar, black pepper and crackers
  • Cover and allow to simmer
  • Set aside to completely cool before adding to the patty crust.

To assemble:

  • The dough makes eight patties
  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
  • Cut the dough in half and roll into a rectangular shape (about 10” by 22”) (for 4 patties)
  • Spoon two to three tablespoons of filling equidistant from each other on one half of the dough
  • Fold over the other half of the dough and gently press down removing any trapped air
  • Seal the edges and cut into four
  • Cut away any excess dough of each to form a patty shape and crimp the edges with a fork
  • Poke a hole on top with a fork for steam to escape while cooking
  • Place on a lined baking sheet and bake for 20 to 30 minutes











Greedy Tips:


  • I think Ive been stuffing my patties too much, even though I love a meaty patty. Next week I'm going to go a little less heavy on the filling. But you are free to go as heavy or as light as you want.
  • I made the crust from the night before and made the patties the next day. The dough was super cold and it yielded a very flaky crust because the butter did not melt.
  • Make sure to remove all the excess liquid from the fish before cooking it. 
  • As far as the saffron, it gives the crust a very earthy flavor, however I mainly used it as a natural coloring. Its quite expensive, so if you cant find saffron, just use a few drops of yellow food coloring in the 1/3 cup of cold water. 


 Xoxo Greedygirl

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