I really wasn’t sure what to name this deliciously multi faceted concotion of mine. Originally I wanted to follow in my ma’s footsteps and make traditional sloppy joes for Halloween (she used to make little pepper faces on the buns for us-so cute). The dilemma was that I didn’t want the whole bun deal. So of course the yams come in, caramelized yam slices soak up sloppy sweet spicy beef pretty well. But it was still incomplete, the messy appeal of a sloppy joe was lacking, so I created these crispy thin flatbreads that work wonders as makeshift utensils. Top that with fresh roasted salsa verde, avocado and colourful rainbow chard and you’ve got yourself a pretty classy dish, a sloppy jane indeed with a south of the border flare.
Happy Halloween! I dressed up as the cat in the hat, J wore a creepy mask and baby Mav was a little skeleton, we had our own dance party to Whitney Houston, the monster mash and Fresh Prince of Bel Air. J threatened to tape my singing ‘I will always love you’ so that our future kin can laugh at my desperate quaking voice. I so wish I could sing like Whitney. I wrapped a bunch of mini homemade oh henry bars for the trick or treaters but alas, no little princesses and vampires came a knockin’. I guess our place is a little out of the way, but it’s our first Halloween here so I wanted to have treats just in case. Oh well, they certainly won’t go to waste.
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp fat of your choice
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 chile pepper, finely chopped
- 1 chipotle pepper, finely chopped
- 2 Tbs blackstrap molasses
- 1 tsp worcester sauce or fish sauce
- 1 tsp oregano
- ½ tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 yams, cut into ½ inch slices
- 1 tsp cane sugar
- ½ lb tomatillos, dehusked
- bunch cilantro
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 tsp lime juice
- ½ C tapioca flour
- ½ Tbs coconut flour
- 1 C water
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp salt
- Preheat oven to 400F, Line a baking tray and place the sweet potatoes and tomatiollos on the tray. Bake for 40 minutes.
- In a large skillet melt fat or oil and add onion and garlic, cook until the onion starts to turn golden.
- Add chile, chipotle and beef. As the beef starts to cook, raise the heat and add the molasses, stir on high for 2 minutes and turn heat to low.
- Add in worcester sauce,oregano,cumin,chili powder and salt. Cover and let simmer on low.
- To make the salsa verde, take the roasted tomatillos and add them to a blender or food processor, in addition to one clove garlic, lime, and cilantro. Blend on high and set aside.
- Combine Tapioca flour, coconut flour, water, cumin and salt until smooth, it should be quite thin.
- Heat a frying pan with a bit of your favourite cooking fat or oil, dropping about ⅛th C mixture into the pan and swirling the batter around the pan each time for small little flatbreads. They take about 2 min. per side to get nice and crispy. Repeat until finished.
- Remove yams from the oven and sprinkle with a tsp cane sugar, turn oven to broil and brown the tops for a few minutes.
- To assemble, arrange yams around the edge, sloppy in the middle, and all the fix ins around the edges of your bowl.
