Sloppy Joe

I came across this recipe on the Food Wishes website today while looking for something to make with the beef mince I had in the freezer. A sloppy joe is basically a burger but minus the whole binding, shaping and chilling the patties part. As such, it was super easy to make and tasted good! I did make some alterations to the recipe due to necessity though and I've posted the slightly modified recipe here. For the original (which serves 4-6) and the video on how to make it, go here.

Serves 2

Ingredients:
250g lean beef mince
1/4 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red pepper, diced
5 tbsp ketchup
A dash of worchestershire sauce
Just under 1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 cup water
About 1 tsp (or to taste) salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
cayenne pepper, to taste

2 sesame seeded burger buns
a knob of butter

Method:
1) Start with a cold pan. Put the mince (helps later if you break it into small pieces first) and onion in the pan.
2) Turn on the heat to med-high. Stir the beef and onion while breaking the mince up into crumbly pieces.
3) Once all crumbly, add the garlic and stir.
4) Add the red pepper and saute for 2 mins.
5) Add 1/2 cup water and stir. (this de-glazes the beef juices that have dried up at the bottom of the pan)
6) Add ketchup, brown sugar, dijon mustard, worchestershire sauce, pepper and salt. Stir them all in.
7) Add 1/2 cup water and bring to simmer. Turn the heat on low and leave to simmer for about 30mins or until most of the water has evaporated.
8) Taste and adjust seasoning. Add cayenne pepper in and stir.
9) For the burger buns, butter the side that will come in contact with the mixture later. Place the butter side down on a hot frying pan. Remove from heat once it turns golden brown.
10) The mixture is ready to be served in the burger buns once the water has evaporated and you can pile the mixture on top of a spatula (and tilt it side to side) without it tumbling down.

See, no getting your hands all icky with burger patties! It also has a nice, sweet-salty taste and if you add cayenne pepper, it becomes slightly hot :)

Sorry, by the time I thought of posting this recipe up, I had already wolfed down the whole burger :S It's that good!
So, the pic up there was taken from the Food Wishes website and photo credits go to them.

Beef Shepherd's Pie

I got this recipe off Sophie Dahl's cooking programme on BBC iplayer and made a few changes to it (due to necessity more than anything!). Nevertheless, it tasted amazing! So good that I made it a week later (I usually don't repeat recipes til at least 3 weeks or so)!

Anyway, here's the video of the whole episode if you wanna watch her make it (and a few other things) step-by-step. She only makes the shepherd's pie towards the end though. She also does a vege option for the recipe by replacing the beef with puy lentils. However, since most of us are avid meat eaters, I'll only be posting the beef one.

Serves 2-3

Prep time : 30 mins

Cooking time: less than 1 hour

Ingredients:
For the champ topping:
3 potatoes (her recipe calls for floury potatoes, such as King Edward or Maris Piper but you can use any type tbh), peeled, chopped
small handful frozen peas
knob of butter
2 spring onions, roughly chopped
25ml/1fl oz milk
75g/3oz cheddar, broken into chunks
pinch smoked paprika

For the beef mixture
1 tbsp olive oil
1 red/white onion, peeled, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled, crushed
2 small carrots, peeled, chopped into small pieces
1 celery stalk, trimmed, chopped into small pieces
400g/14oz canned plum tomatoes
1½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp Tabasco
pinch smoked paprika
1 fresh bay leaf (I used those freeze dried ones instead)
85-90ml/3-3½fl oz red wine
100ml/3½fl oz chicken/vegetable stock
1 sprig fresh rosemary (Again, I sprinkled freezed dried ones from a bottle)
splash balsamic vinegar (Left this out since I didn't have it)
small handful fresh (or dried but use less) flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
250g/9oz lean beef mince
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6. For the champ topping, heat a pan of salted water, add the potatoes and bring gently to the boil, then simmer until the potatoes are nearly cooked through, about 15-20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, for the beef mixture, heat half the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and gently fry the chopped onion, garlic, carrots and celery for 5-10 minutes, or until softened.
3. Add the remaining beef mixture ingredients except for the mince and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat slightly and simmer for 4-5 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Keep warm.
4. Heat the remaining olive oil in a separate frying pan over a medium heat, add the mince in batches, if necessary, and fry until golden-brown. Stir the tomato sauce into the beef.
5. When the potatoes for the champ topping are almost done, add the frozen peas and cook for a few more minutes until the peas are tender.
6. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over a low heat, then gently fry the spring onions until softened. Add the milk and heat through.
7. Drain the potatoes and peas and mash roughly. Add the warm milk mixture to the potatoes and continue to mash until combined but still chunky.
8. Spoon the beef mixture into a medium pie dish and top with the champ. Scatter over the cheese and smoked paprika.
9. Place the dish onto a baking sheet and bake the pie for 25-30 minutes, or until the potato is golden-brown.

Like most stews, it still tastes amazing, if not better, if eaten the next day :)
Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of it after I made it (twice!) :( Sorry, will make sure I do the next time! Watch video if you need enticing!