Jamaican Me Hungry

I’ve had Bryant Terry’s Vegan Soul Kitchen for quite some time, holding out for a day just like today. Today, in Brooklyn, it rained the entire day. With a premature autumn breeze jet-streaming down the railroad on Olive street and backed by my iTunes on roommate’s-not-home volume, I ventured to dog-eared page 111… Jamaican veggie patties.

I can say now, after eating three of these patties in a row, that they are one of the tastiest eats I’ve ever made. The crust and the filling are so flavorful. It is hard to belief such a delicious island-inspired patty came from my lil’ ol’ kitchen.

Diced onion, garlic, carrots, potatoes, sweet corn and shredded cabbage all await their turn to simmer with the sizzling coconut oil and spices.

If there was a perfume that captured the scent of grilled onion, or better yet, grilled onion in a medley of Caribbean spices, I’d wear it. This wonderful aroma filled my whole apartment.

The patty innards are all done but like Bryant says, we need to allow the flavors to marry. What if two of the same flavors wanted to marry, should it be outlawed?

Time to make the dough. Raw coconut butter (the same I used in my cannoli) + mix of turmeric and flours + my warm palms = a delicious yellow-hued dough I couldn’t stop stealing scraps of. Look at my rat-a-tat nail polish. Gosh, I’m girl-lazy.

Ok, so there is the dough after it took a nap in the fridge for an hour and I cleaned up the kitchen. Notice that rolling pin in the far right? It was handed down to me from my mother who received it at her bridal shower about 40 years ago. Next Saturday is actually my parents’ anniversary! Go Joan and Rudy!

Ready to be dressed, finally. I couldn’t fill them as much as I wanted because I kept snacking on the filling.

Time to bake. Aren’t they beautiful? I can follow a recipe with accuracy and great patience… yet in most other situations, I’m hasty and impatient. Wow, I’m an island of such great complexity.

I rarely say “bad” words on my blog but holy shit these are so damn good. Come help me eat them before they’re all in my belly.