Nouveau Joe or A Very Grown Up Sloppy Joe
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb ground beef
6 oz tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup bourbon
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 carrot, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chile powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
black pepper

Directions:
In a large saucepan, saute the garlic, onion and carrot in olive oil until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef and saute until brown, stirring to break up the meat. Add water, bourbon, tomato paste, chile powder, cumin, red pepper flakes, cinnamon and allspice. Simmer, stirring occasionally 20-30 minutes until thickened. Serve on buns.

My thoughts:
I was in the mood for something sloppy joe-like but couldn’t stomach the Manwich so I came up with this homemade, more grown up version. It was spicy and not too messy. My husband did a good job of making sure the meat didn’t clump together (for some reason, I can’t seem to do that) which made for the perfect loose texture I was looking for. All in all, it was a big success. We had it with baked potatoes and steamed cabbage. Very wholesome, very 1950s.