Just as I was prepping to make these yummy savory pastries, we heard a little ‘thud’ outside. S and I went out to the deck to see what was going on. It was a little red bird lying motionless and belly up on the deck. Little red feathers were floating down. We quickly realized what had happened. The poor bird had crashed into our living room window mid-flight. Apparently 100 million birds die each year, crashing into transparent windows.
S was going to sweep up the bird after dinner. And I returned to making the Jamaican patties, which incidentally were so incredibly super fabulously good that I can’t stop thinking about them. Next time I will have to make a few million of these and freeze them. Anyways, I digress. So when I opened the oven door to take out the freshly baked, heavenly smelling patties, I head another sound outside. I peeped out the window.
The dead bird was waking up and about to fly away!
The dead bird smelled my wonderful Jamaican patties and came back alive!!
Or that’s what I’d like to believe.
I later read online that many birds that hit windows are just passed out, not dead. Good we didn’t bury the poor fella when we found him. But I still think the bird woke up because it smelled the Jamaican patties.
Jamaican Style Curried Kale and White Bean ‘Patties’
makes 8 muffin sized ‘patties’
This is my interpretation of a Jamaican patty, so its not exactly authentic, but very tasty nevertheless. A traditional Jamaican patty or pattie is half moon shaped and generally filled with meat. The flaky outer crust is made with flour and butter or shortening, and the crust is yellow from the addition of turmeric. As a short cut, I used store bought puff pastry with turmeric sprinkled on top. I baked these in a muffin pan. You don’t have to use a muffin pan, you could bake them like you would a turnover.
1 sheet puff pastry
1 can Cannellini Beans
1 bunch Kale
¼ tsp chopped green chili, or scotch bonnet (this is a very hot pepper), or a few pinches of crushed red pepper
1 tsp minced or grated garlic
1 tsp minced or grated ginger
1 tbsp curry powder (my curry powder is very mild so I used 1 tbsp. start with half, taste, and then add more if needed)
¼ tsp + 1/8 tsp turmeric
1 tsp vinegar
Salt
½ tbsp milk for brushing
½ tbsp vegetable oil
Thaw the puff pastry for 45 minutes. While the puff pastry is thawing, work on the filling.
In a large pot, bring plenty of water to a boil. Add some salt and the vinegar to the water. The vinegar will help retain the color of the kale. Remove and discard the tough stems from the kale. Roughly chop the kale. When the water comes to a boil, drop the chopped kale in the water. Blanch for 1 minute. Then drain the kale. Wash it with cold water to stop the cooking process. Squeeze out all the water from the kale and set aside.
Drain and wash the cannellini beans. Heat oil in a skillet and add the garlic, ginger and chopped chilies, (or scotch bonnet peppers or crushed pepper). Cook, stirring on medium heat for about 30 seconds. Then add 1/8th tsp turmeric and the curry powder. Cook another 20-30 seconds. Make sure the curry powder doesn’t burn.
Now add the cannellini beans and blanched kale to the skillet. Turn off heat. Add salt and stir the mixture until everything is well combined.
Pre heat oven to 400F.
Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with non stick baking spray. You can skip this step if you are using a non stick pan.
Lay out the thawed puff pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry sheet a little. Then using your hands, lift and gently stretch the pastry sheet to make it thinner.
Sprinkle 1/4th tsp turmeric all over the pastry sheet. Spread the turmeric as evenly as you can using your fingers. Now take a fork and prick all over the pastry sheet. This will ensure it doesn’t puff up on the oven.
Cut one third of the pastry sheet and set side. Cut the remaining pastry sheet into 8 equal squares. Gently stretch each piece out so that it lines a muffin cup. Place each square of pastry sheet into each cup of the muffin pan. The side with turmeric should be touching the pan. The side without turmeric should be touching the filling. If the corners of the pastry sheet are sticking out, cut them and use them to patch up other parts of the lining.
Once you’ve lined all the muffin pan cups, fill them with the kale-white bean mixture. Take the reserved one third pastry sheet and cut it into 8 pieces. Gently stretch the pieces so they fit over the muffin pan cups. Place them over each cup, fold over the corners and lightly pinch the edges together.
Brush the tops with milk. Bake for 20 minutes or till the ‘patties’ are golden.
This goes to the monthly mingle event over at Meeta’s lovely What’s For Lunch Honey? blog.
they look just gorgeous!! and yeah, i believe that the bird woke up after smelling your wonderful pastries
:)
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yumm..!!..Seeing this,I guess I have to believe u..superb..!!!
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that looks so good! I havent seen Kale here but I am sure I can try it with other greens.
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Of course the bird woke up because of these patties! Who wouldn’t?
We have birds fly into our windows every summer, most don’t do it too hard though. eeek!
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this looks soo delicious… totally totally love the finished product
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The bird self-invited for the Jamaican party and tried to enter ur kitchen
They are really gorgeous Sala.
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Such delicious pastries – great recipe!
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Wowowow!! (Usually I leave coherent comments, but I am loving this recipe so much that I can’t bring myself to use proper syntax and grammar). My family LOVES those terrible-for-you Jamaican patties from Costco. I am surely going to make these when I get home! Thank you thank you!!
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oh my god. look at those beauties!! beautiful pics.. i can see your passion in the pics.
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Those look absolutely delicious! And so healthy, yum! So glad to hear the bird woke up. I think it is especially hard for vegetarians to think of an animal dying on their watch.
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oh i do like this one! it’s perfect for little nibbles and kale is the best! brilliant entry and thanks for joining us!
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Looks so fab…wonderful pics….and so the patties..can’t stop drooling over them
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YUMMO!! I would like to exchange my chip bowl for your Patties, please!:D
Looks so delicious and healthy too with Spinach and beans, I will try these. Enjoy them!
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Oh that poor bird. But I am so glad that it was ok.. yeah probably ur patties! speaking about it, u are really a genius. This is something which is I HAVE to make sometimes.
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whoa – this is awesome. i’m totally on a kale kick right now, and i’d love to have this!
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they look phenomenal! great clicks too:)
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These patties look so delicious – and I think all food in small forms and shapes appeals to little children, so I am definitely going to try these out on my family at the weekend!
Did you know that where I live pregnant women are advised not to eat turmeric? Is there similar advice in the US?
Thanks again for coming up with such lovely recipes!
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I’m not a veggie or a vegan but I ad adore vegetable patties. Glad I found you. Must try these. And (smile) gladlittle red bird flew the coop!
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Yes, a couple of millions of these sounds like a good starting point Sala
Puff pastry is so much fun to expt with. Lovely recipe and thank God for the bird you were making these! The poor thing must have got a real bump from the crash.
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they looks very delicious.. they must be tasted good. lovely photos
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Yum! That looks so good. And the possibilities of different fillings!!!
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Wow they look so delicious and look beautiful.
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These look super delicious. I love all your photos. They are so BEAUTIFUL!!
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I’m so relieved to hear that the bird was actually fine and flew away.. and yes, i believe that we have these delicious pastries to thank
When I read patties i didn’t quite expect to see a fluffy pastry creation – awesome.
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Oh my goodness! It used to freak me out so much when birds would hit the window at my parents house, and then they were gone later. Of course it had to be the smell of these lovely patties that woke that little bird right up! They sound so tasty.
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i bet the bird was looking for your yummy patties…lovely pics
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What an amazing dish! I made some Jamaican patties as well, with soy mince
Have a good day,
Margot
p.s. I will be back to you with your question about drying apples for granola.
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Patties to bring a dead bird back to life? Yeah, I could believe that
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OMG, when I saw those pics, I didn’t want to go down!
Beautiful, beautiful!
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What a cute story. Birds are perpetually flying into windows, poor things, but I’m glad to hear yours merely passed out rather than passed on!
Gorgeous patties—for their good looks alone I’m going to try these (well, that and I love white beans)! Love the styling in your photos as well, your blog is beautiful!
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I’m glad I found you- your pictures are amazing! Poor bird- must have been your cooking that woke her
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The patties look really delicious, and I’m sure they saved the little bird!
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i haven’t seen puff pastry (perhaps the best product ever) used in this way before! excellent creation.
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Hi! Thanks for writing to answer about the turmeric question – it’s funny how different countries all have different recommendations.
Planning to try these patties tomorrow. Wish me luck!
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Looks yummy!
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Looks so gorgeous and beautiful. Loved the combination and the way it is made into “patties”
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These white bean patties sound really good!
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not only are these patties yummy they SAVE bird lives!! I am excited to make them, I am curious too to see how they freeze
cindy
http://vegetarianmamma.blogspot.com
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Mmm. Looks wonderful. And not hard to make, either. Must try!!!!
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Puff pastry, kale..oww whats not to luv! Will surely be trying these!!
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How cute! These little patties looks really yummy!
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Delectable savory pastries,you made it appear so simple to make,thanks!
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I just love your photos,everything is balanced off so well.the colors to textures to lights and everything.
Looks delicious,its a new combo to me.you know I have to go back to look at those photos again.
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This is insane, look so delicious …. so tempting … so beautiful and professional looking!
Cheers,
elra
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This looks lovely ! Would love to give this a try
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Goodness, the more I explore your blog, the hungrier I get… You have great recipes… I love this!
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These are marvelous! I love kale and cannellinis – what a fantastic way of serving them. I completely understand why the bird was revived – I perked up just looking at the photos!
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I just made these and they were SO good. I added more garlic and ginger than the recipe called for.
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Once in a while i used to check your veggie belly site, But off late i have not been doing that and today i checked to see what new you have been upto and i found this Jamaican Style kale and white bean patties or Pastry. Immediately i popped out and bought the ingredients and tried my hands on and it came out so well and it was delicious and made a good snack or starter for our dinner. I have taken pictures too. Thanks for the recipe. Did you make your own version from the original recipe ?
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Sala! I love love love your blog. I started working at an organic CSA in San Diego and was wondering what I wanted to do with all the kale I have. Now I know exactly what to do…..hope you’re having a great trip.
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I just made these and they are AMAZING!! I really don’t want to share them with my husband or kids ;o) Thank you!!
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In an internet search for vegan recipes, I stumbled upon your website. The recipes (vegan and non-vegan) sound delicious! And the photos are just amazing; I love all the beautiful colors. Thank you for the time and effort you must have put into developing such a great website. I will definitely make many of your recipes, starting this weekend with the walnut-edamame stuffed raviolo. But certainly not ending with it,
).
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After years of experimentation, I have finally found a way to stop birds flying into my windows. And it is not too visible – looks a bit ‘design’. You fix a string across the window at the top, outside, with knotted strings that hang to the bottom, with just less than 10cm between them. It’s still easy to clean the windows and they don’t take any light from the room, and people don’t seem to even notice them. During storms, they don’t make a noise (unlike the cd’s that I used for a while, which threatened to break the windows sometimes). I use coloured cord and it looks quite interesting.
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