Taco Joes

Sloppy Joes started life as Ropa Vieja served on a bun, in a bar in Havana called - surprise - Sloppy Joe's.  It seems more like Picadillo to me, but whatever.  For some reason it got picked up by mainstream American cooking in the 1950s, where it was stripped down to be pretty plain (and let's face it, pretty dull). It's an awfully quick and convenient dish to make though, and this spin off towards Mexican flavours makes it interesting again.

If you expect this to really have Mexican flavours, you will need to use Mexican peppers and chile powder. Anchos would be my first choice for the fresh peppers, and chipotle powder (or add some tinned chipotle to the meat later instead) would work well for the chile powder. But if you cannot find those, any other will be nice, just not necessarily very Mexican. 

I've listed quite a few toppings for this; you don't have to use all of them, just a good selection. I realized afterwards that I had intended to put cheese on them, but it somehow didn't happen when the time came. I can't say we missed it terribly, but I do think if you don't have the cheese you want the sour cream, and vice versa. You could also omit the meat and double the beans for a vegetarian version.

4 servings
40 minutes prep time

Make the Spice Mixture:
2 teaspoons cumin seed
3 teaspoons rubbed oregano
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons sweet Hungarian paprika
1/8 to 1 teaspoon hot chile powder

Grind the cumin seed and mix the remaining ingredients. Yes, that last measurement means "however much you like and also it depends". As always when dealing with hot chiles.

Make the Taco Joe Filling:
1 large onion
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
1 or 2 peppers, preferably Anchos or similar
1 tablespoon mild vegetable oil
500 grams (1 pound) ground beef
2 cups cooked pinto or kidney beans
2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup water

Peel and chop the onion. Peel and mince the garlic. Wash, de-stem and de-seed the peppers. Chop them in pieces about the same size as the onion.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and peppers, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and slightly browned. Add the ground beef, breaking it up into small bits, and cook, stirring, until no pink is left. Add the garlic and spice mixture, and cook for a minute or two more. Mix in the beans.

Add the tomato sauce and water, and simmer until everything is nicely amalgamated and the sauce is "sloppy"; neither too wet nor too dry. You can add a little more water (or tomato sauce) if you need to.

Assemble the Taco Joes:
1 cup grated old Cheddar or other cheese
1 large tomato, peeled and chopped
1 large avocado, peeled and chopped
6 medium radishes
1 cup of washed and chopped lettuce
1/2 cup of washed and chopped cilantro
1/2 cup sour cream
4 hamburger buns

Grate the cheese. Blanch for 1 minute and peel (if you are so inclined) the tomato. Cut the avocado in half and remove the pit; peel and dice the flesh. Wash, trim and chop the radishes. Wash, dry, and chop the lettuce and cilantro. Put all these in separate little bowl (you can mix the lettuce and cilantro if you like) as well as the sour cream.

Toast the buns and top each of them with 1/4 of the Taco Joe filling. Let each diner add the toppings according to their wishes.




Last year at this time I made Dirty Kasha.

Posted in: Ontario Food