Venison Sophisto Joes

A sophisticated sloppy joe! Sort of.... Seasoned with red wine, mirepoix, Worcestershire and tomatoes instead of ketchup and green peppers. Try this instead of your regular Manwich and you won't be disappointed. And yes you can use lean ground beef instead of course.

What you need:

1 14 oz can of tomatoes in juice, drained
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp of butter
1 med carrot, finely chopped
1 celery rib, finely chopped
1 1/2 lbs of ground venison or lean ground beef
1 Tbsp of chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 Tbsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 Tbsp of packed brown sugar
4 kaiser rolls, split and toasted if you like

PURÉE tomatoes in a blender.
COOK onion and garlic in butter on medium heat, stirring occasionally until onion begins to brown, 4-5 min. Add carrots, celery and 1/2 tsp of salt and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are softened, 4-5 min.
ADD venison or beef and brown, stirring to break up lumps, 5-6 min. Add chilli powder, cumin, 1/2 tsp of salt and 3/4 tsp of pepper and cook, stirring for 2 min. Add puréed tomatoes, wine, Worcestershire, and brown sugar and boil, stirring occasionally until sauce has thickened, about 6 min.
SANDWICH inside rolls and eat! Preferably with beer.....

Mushroom Bruschetta with Brie

This one is soooo easy and super delicious for an appy or just a snack for yourself! The mushrooms are super versatile too. You can put them on a steak or stir them into pasta or risotto.

What you need:

Olive oil
2 cups of roughly chopped mushrooms, different mixed ones or just button ones
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp of dried thyme
1 pinch of dried chilli flakes
1/2 tbsp or so of fresh lemon juice
About a tbsp of butter
A few sprigs of parsley, leaves picked
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small wheel of Brie, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, sliced in half crosswise.
1/2 a baguette or sourdough loaf, sliced

SLICE your bread and place on a baking sheet. Put your oven on low broil. Put them in when mushrooms are looking about half cooked. Watch them so they don't get burnt!

HEAT a large frying pan on medium and add a couple glugs of olive oil. When hot add your mushrooms, minced garlic, thyme and chilli flakes. Sauté for about five minutes or so or until the mushrooms are tender and brown. Add the lemon juice and butter and stir to coat everything. Add about 2 tbsp of water and stir to make a saucy type coating on the mushrooms. Add the parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

When the bread is toasted rub the cut side of the garlic over each slice and top with a slice of Brie. Put them back in the oven to melt the Brie a bit. Then top them with the mushrooms.

Whole braised cauliflower with tomato and olive sauce

Wow this was amazing. So much better then I was expecting it to be. It always makes me happy when that happens. Now I know some (most) of you will scoff at the anchovies just because they're anchovies. Well I think it's unfair that people don't give them a try. Once they are used in a dish like this they act more like a spice. They give the sauce a salty and nutty type flavour that resembles nothing like fish in a can TRUST ME. So get over it and just try it!! You need it! Same goes for olives. They are made for this!
This is easily vegetarian if you take out the anchovies too. I broke up my cauliflower after I cooked it to make it easier to eat but you could just leave it whole to serve it and let people slice big chunks out for themselves!

What you need:
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
5 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 large head of cauliflower, leaves removed and stem chopped.
Olive oil
A handful of black olives (not canned) pitted and chopped roughly or left whole
4 good quality salted anchovy fillets in oil, drained and sliced.
A handful of fresh, flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1 28 oz can of plum tomatoes, broken up with your hands
Red wine vinegar

FIRST find a pan that a whole head of cauliflower will fit into, leaving an inch around the outside of it. This is important or it won't cook the way it should. Add a glug of olive oil to the pan with the onion, garlic and the chopped cauliflower stalk and slowly fry for about 10 minutes until softened with a little colour. Add the olives and anchovies and fry for a couple more minutes. Add your tomatoes then fill the can 1/4 way with water and add that to the pan with a good swig of red wine vinegar. Stir everything together and bring to a boil.

TAKE your cauliflower and gently push it down into the sauce. If you have the right size pan, half of it will be in the sauce and half will be above it. (Mine was a bit higher but it still turned out fine) Drizzle with olive oil and put a lid on it. Let it simmer on low or med low for about 50 minutes until tender. Serve sprinkled with parsley leaves.