I interrupt our regularly scheduled programming to include a recipe that is strictly PM-only. Do what you will, but I wouldn’t eat a sloppy Joe for breakfast. And brunch is a non-starter because that’s not a meal I acknowledge anyway, despite having worked for 4 months and counting at a brunch restaurant. I love the people I work with, but I now understand the mentality behind “Fuck brunch,” a restaurant industry truism that entered my awareness through a Reddit post quoting FX’s The Bear, whose depiction of the grind validated my experience and acted as a salve to my work stress.
So in seeking commiseration on Reddit for restaurant industry struggles, I found artful salvation through an unmissable TV show, which, like these sumptuous sloppy Joes you’re about to read about, is also a strictly-PM activity; despite all my open-mindedness, watching a full-on television program or cinematic production–anything beyond a 15-minute Youtube video–seems appropriate only after the sun has set. Pro-tip, though: as long as you can laugh at yourself, there’s no shame in having arbitrary and rigid opinions such as this. No need to love everyone and everything. Take this from a self-proclaimed flower child.
Still, with the title Rise and Spice, this blog should think of y’all AMers first, so I appreciate your willingness to join this spontaneous detour from Breakfast Blvd. Because I wanted to share my solution for a very specific refrigerator scenario I found myself in the other day. Has this ever been you?: “Ugh, I have ground beef and pasta sauce but I also have 30 minutes and am not about to commit to a full-blown bolognese.”
If you haven’t been there yet, buckle up, because it’s comin’.
After watching the first episode of the Netflix documentary series Poisoned: the Dirty Truth About Your Food, I learned that ground meats are especially vulnerable to harboring e-coli due to the multiple animals used in the mix. A few weeks later, getting ready to mail packages during textbook buyback season, I went on a mission to “steal” an extra cardboard box from Natural Grocers. Striving to be an extra good customer, I thought I’d buy something while I was there. With the e-coli episode in mind, I thought I’d be clever and grab some frozen ground bison. Fewer sources of cuts, right?
After letting the package defrost for far longer than it needed, I was excited to cook some bison after an unforgettable first taste last year. I take out the defrosted package and, in disbelief, read “ground beef.” Reaching behind the first row of product comes with its own set of risks, I suppose. But I was fortunate it was still a Force of Nature product. The beef I ended up with is not just grass-fed, but taken from the livers and hearts of cows raised in the most sustainable–nay, regenerative–environments. So from the get-go, I was not working with your average ingredient. Hands down, the quality of this ground beef single-handedly made this recipe stand out. There are few cases, apart from burning, in which this meat wouldn’t rescue the most incompetent of cooks. It’s like good whiskey for the home bartender who’s made three drinks in his life; so long as you don’t add too many other ingredients, you cannot mess it up.
So with the disclaimer that the beef really stole the show, here’s what I threw together, using the original portions for the purposes of authentic documentation–all amounts estimated:
Sloppy Joes with ‘Regenerative’ Beef
- 1/4-1/3 lb grass-fed beef (I used this blend of liver and heart added to conventional ground beef)
For the sauce:
- 1 – 1 1/2 cups tomato or marinara sauce of choice (I used Victoria brand vodka marinara)
- 1/2 teaspoon gochujang
- 1/2 teaspoon ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon oyster sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon brown mustard (optional–I was trying to compensate for no mustard powder, per the traditional Sloppy Joe recipe)
- 1/4 teaspoon soy sauce (optional–I just had no Worcestershire)
For the rest:
- 1/3 cup diced yellow onion
- 2 sweet peppers, diced
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- Freshly ground pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Mustard seeds (use mustard powder if you have it)
- Red pepper flakes
- Hamburger bun (I used potato buns)
Steps:
If possible, season your beef with salt and pepper a few hours before cooking.
Mix sauce ingredients together to incorporate the sticky gochujang, adding a shake of mustard seeds if you don’t go the powder route.
Heat a skillet to medium-high heat. Melt butter/oil of choice. Add the onion and peppers; cook and sitr until softened. Add the garlic and reduce the heat to medium. Sprinkle in a generous portion of fresh black pepper, paprika, and mustard seeds. A pinch of red pepper flakes of any kind will do.
Add beef to the skillet, breaking it up with a spatula into small pieces. Cook until fats are rendered. Soak up fats, directly in the pan, with a paper towel, if you like.
Pour the sauce in with the beef mixture. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook until mixture is reduced to your liking.
Spoon on top of hamburger buns. For the most satisfying + frustration-free results, enjoy with a fork (knife optional)!
Crysteaux Sun 