Saturday, October 17, 2015

Messy Jo's!!




Homegaters!

One of the biggest rules in cooking is that you never test out a recipe on guests. But to that I say, if you don't serve it to them, who are you going to serve it to?? During my recent freezer expedition, I came up with a package each of ground beef and ground pork and decided to wing a recipe for the Gameday Gang. I made my version of a classic and named them, "Messy Jo's."

The Messy Jo is somewhat similar to the Sloppy Joe. I switched up a few ingredients and added some high test (aka: beer). How can you go wrong?

I was in the culinary red zone with only an hour to go before the gang would start showing up. If this didn't turn out right, my reputation would have been deflated - without any help from The Patriots (pa-dum-pah!). I had a package of sandwich-sized English muffins in the freezer as well, so they made a nice vehicle for the meat. The whole thing took me approximately 45 minutes to whip up and it wound up being a hit with the crew. Some folks went back for seconds, so that was a sure sign that I did good. I usually don't fly by the seat of my pants when it comes to serving my guests, but this one turned out to work in my favor.

Messy Jo's
(serves 6-8)

1 lb ground beef                                        
1 lb ground pork
1/2 med onion, minced
1/2 med green bell pepper, minced
1/2 small carrot, grated
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tbs chili powder
2 tsp sweet paprika
1 tbs Worchestershire sauce
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1/2 can (or more) lager
salt & pepper to taste
Package of English muffins or
hamburger buns

Method:

1.  Sautee the onion, bell pepper and carrot until the onion is translucent and the vegetables have softened.

2.  Add the ground pork and ground beef and saute until the meat is browned.

3.  Add the garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, paprika and heat through. Salt and pepper to taste.

4.  Add the 1/2 can of beer and cook until the beer almost evaporates (almost!).

5.  Add the Worchestershire sauce and tomato paste and heat until bubbly. If the sauce is too thick, add more beer until the mixture is slightly thin. Continue to cook for 10 more minutes.

6.  Toast the English muffins (if using) or hamburger buns and place  a nice dollop of the mixture on the muffin/bun.

7.  Place on a platter, stand back and watch them disappear.

So there it is. It's fast, it's fun, it's messy, but it's tasty. Hope you try it on Gameday.

Until next week, enjoy the games! Keep on Homegating!!
















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