Sloppy Joe

What do you cook when you’re feeling lazy but don’t fancy a takeaway?

Imagine the skies are overcast with dark grey clouds spitting down on you the entire day. You look outside from the comfort of your own home desperate to find a ray of sunshine but to no avail.

A good burger might cheer you up but you can’t even be bothered to shape it. A takeaway might be the easier option but you’re trying to eat more healthily. Yes, it’s the sort of night to make a Sloppy Joe.

Ingredients (Serves 4)

1 onion diced
1 garlic clove diced
1 green pepper diced
250g minced beef
Half tbsp mustard
Half tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp vinegar
Ketchup (be generous!)
Half tsp chilli spice (optional)
4 burger buns
Pre-washed salad (optional)


Method
  1. Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. Throw in the minced beef, onion, garlic and green pepper. Cook till the beef is browned.

2. Add the mustard, vinegar, ketchup, chilli spice and brown sugar. Use as much or as little ketchup as you want. I like my mince well coated in ketchup so I’m really generous with it.

3. Mix well and cook on medium heat for 15-20mins.

4. Prepare the burger buns and place the pre-washed salad on the bottom half of the buns.

5. Serve the mince on the buns!

We make Sloppy Joe when we want a quick fix. Not only is it filling, but also tasty. The recipe isn’t get in stone and that’s really why I like it. Instead of peppers, I could substitute with diced carrots and throw in additional mushrooms.

Sloppy Joe for a sloppy me on a rather uneventful day – perfect!

Prima Taste Beef Rendang

Rendang is a fragrant meat dish originally served in Indonesia. However its rich spicy flavour made it so popular that it is also commonly served in Singapore.

Beef rendang is one of Daniel’s favourite Singapore cuisine and a must-have when we visit. However he has high expectations of this dish. While he’s happy to eat rendang anywhere, my aunt’s homemade from scratch rendang is his favourite. No restaurant or hawker has come close to replacing Daniel’s favourite. How much of it is sucking up? To be honest I have no idea since a simple request of rendang often results in a wide spread of all his favourite dishes for dinner the next day – all cooked by my aunt.

Rendang is something I’ve never (and maybe never) cooked from scratch. The list of ingredients scares me to death and the actual cooking time required tests my patience. Most importantly, I have no confidence in recreating anything as close as my aunt’s rendang – not even 50% as close. Therefore, it is one of those dishes that I’m happy to use premix paste for.

I found Prima Taste’s Rendang at an Asian supermarket in town and decided to give it a try. I had my fears. It takes less effort than cooking from scratch but I hate ruining dinners. What if it tastes terrible?!

Thankfully, my two hours effort of cooking this dish didn’t go to waste. It was flavoursome, creamy enough (add just enough water to immerse the meat but not make the rendang watery) and the meat turned out tender.

I’ll admit that it is not like my aunt’s rendang but it’s excellent quality given that it’s from premix paste! I love rendang when it’s “dry” because it means that the meat has soaked up lots of the spices. The ones that have too much gravy left over tend to be diluted and less satisfying. I also love adding potatoes to my rendang and then serving the dish with a bowl of steaming hot white rice. As a kid I’ve always loved to mash my potatoes, mix them with rice and rendang (or any curry!). That to me is a good dinner.

Note: Recipe can be found here.