Something good for your soul and belly...Haitian Pâté

 Let me just start by saying I hate we didn't video the cooking lesson, our chef was a natural! He was so energetic and made each step look easy as pie.  Also please know I'm not a big gadgets girl when it comes to the kitchen but even a cutting board can be taken for granted.

 Okay so we started a large pot with water to hard boil several eggs. You want one egg per person. We were making enough for 18 people so I won't post measurements in here I'll leave a smaller recipe at the very bottom.  I really encourage you to try it.

 Then in a large mixing bowl we added flour setting some flour aside to work in later. In a second bowl you want to dissolve some salt into water.  This water will be mixed in the flour to make the dough.  Not all the water needs to be poured in at once but instead slowly add as needed.

If you have multiple hands helping in the kitchen you can have them chopping up onions, bell peppers and cabbage. They need to be thinly sliced for easier layering.  

Lettuce and tomatoes are also needing to be cut but not added to the mixture. Here is a photo from the market where we went before starting meal prep.

Back to the dough! You will probably be super tired by now. Kneading the dough well this much dough definitely takes some strength.  We had an opportunity to show off our muscles.  We also added butter to the dough during the kneading process.  If you need a break now would be a good time to heat the oil in a frying pan and tend to the eggs.  You want to peel and slice them in quarters long ways. Once the oil is heated we fried several hotdogs and then diced them. We also had to grind some smoked "brown fish". It had a very salty taste almost like a jerky. 

Again back to the dough! You want roll it flat. Since we were working with so much of it we took handfuls at a time to roll out in a flat circle about the size of a small tortilla. 

Now that you have your dough made and all your ingredients ready you just have to fill it to your liking.  In mine I added everything; hard boiled egg, brown fish, fried hotdog, lettuce, tomato, onions and bell peppers. You fold the dough over to make like a little pie and pinch the sides. Place it in the heated oil and fry it lightly on each side until golden brown. 

One of the hardest parts was waiting until it was cooled before I took a bite.  It was such a fun experience and I'm so thankful for such a good teacher. It shows you just how good they were we didn't even get a photo of the finished product they didn't last long enough to beat the flash!

Thank you all so much for your interest. Hopefully you can follow the recipe below and be filled too! So much laughter, love and possibly blood, sweat and tears went into these it couldn't have been any better.

Ingredients

4 cups Flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup vegetable shortening

2 eggs, beaten

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:

1. In a large mixing bowl or on a board, mix flour and baking powder. Add 1 cup of shortening and slowly incorporate it with the flour mixture by using your hands or a pastry blender, until you do not feel or see the eggs. The flour should have a flaky consistency.
2. Mix 1 cup of water and the salt in a cup. Create a hole in the center of the dough and add ¼ cup of the salt water to the center of the flour mix at a time, while kneading the dough, with your hands, by flattening the dough with the palm of your hands, then bringing it all together into a ball. Repeat this process over and over again for 10 minutes. Create a ball with the dough, place in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth for 15 minutes.
3. Flour your board, rolling pun, and dough. Take dough and roll from the center outward in every direction until you create a 1 inch thin rectangle that measures 12 x 15 inches. Spread 1 cup of vegetable shortening over the top of the entire dough. Fold in thirds (envelope style) and then fold in thirds again. Place the dough in the bowl and cover with a damp cloth for 15 minutes. Once again flour your board, rolling pin and dough dough. Repeat the rolling, shortening, folding, and resting.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut dough in 3 inches squares or cut in rectangles or the shape you want. Place 1 - 2 tablespoon of the filling of your choice in the center each of the square or rectangle shape dough and slightly spread. Pat the edges with water and fold dough into the desired shape. Squeeze the edges closed. Repeat process of each square of rectangle cuts of dough.
5. Place on baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush top of each patty with the remaining beaten egg. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Codfish filling:

1 pound boneless salted codfish, desalted and shredded

1 teaspoon unsalted butter or 1 tsp olive oil
1 tablespoon of Pikliz
1 shallot, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup water
Take desalted codfish, shred into very small pieces, making sure that there aren't any bones. Add butter or oil into pan, followed by codfish, cook for 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and let cook on low heat for about 10 - 15 minutes or until water evaporates completely. Let cool before using as filling for patties.

Beef Filling/Chicken Filling:
1 pound ground beef/ground chicken
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
? teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons Pikliz with vinegar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced parsley

1 shallot, minced
½ onion, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
¼ cup water
In a pan, add oil, beef or chicken. Stir fry meat until it starts to cook. Add all remaining ingredients with water last, while stirring. Let cook on low heat for about 10 - 15 minutes or until water evaporates.
Let beef or chicken cool then add to food processor to shred very thin. Add beef/chicken to pan again and let cook 5 minutes while stirring. Let cool before adding to cut dough for patties

recipe for smaller servings was taken from https://www.caribbeangreenliving.com/making-haitian-patties-from-scratch-my-misadventure/