Squirrel Chasing Food: Joe's Special

Gee, what a fun day I had. Not. I spent quite a bit of it trying to coax Taboo, the squirrel, back into her cage, after she escaped two times.  It was a real battle of wits, with me trying to act like The Horse Whisperer, thinking that a quiet, resolute manner would "speak" to her. Well, it didn't. Instead, it all degenerated into me chasing her, to no avail.  You can't catch a squirrel that doesn't want to be caught.  Finally, after almost two hours of chaos, she went into her cage for the second time.  By that time, she hated me.  I was the bad guy. But, after a couple of hours she must have realized that she needed to be on good terms with the food provider, so we're friends again.

All this activity caused me to crave protein. And I had a big bag of spinach that I needed to use before it became a big bag of slime.  I also had ground chicken and decided that a skillet full of Joe's Special would be just the thing. True, real Joe's Special requires ground beef, but I didn't care.  When you're the cook, you can make these critical decisions. I chased a squirrel. I needed a Joe's Special.  You purists can deal with it.

Years ago, when I was a newbie to San Francisco, I ordered a Joe's Special.  I don't know the origins of this famous dish of ground beef, spinach, onions, and eggs cooked in a skillet, but it's almost legendary, I was told.  I loved it, and have made it many times since then.  This is the first time I've ever used ground chicken and it was quite good.

By the way, if you want to see a very nice picture of an authentic Joe's Special go to CookieCrumb's site.   

Joe's Special

Epicurious

6 large eggs
Splash or two of Tabasco or other hot pepper sauce
1 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper or more to taste
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, diced
About 1/2 pound lean freshly ground beef or ground dark chicken
3/4 to 1 pound fresh spinach or one 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
preparation

Crack the eggs into a small bowl and add the Tabasco, salt, herbs, and pepper. Whisk just enough to combine; you should still see large bubbles. Set aside.

Warm the oil and butter in a large skillet over medium heat until the butter melts. Add the onion and sauté until soft but not beginning to brown, about 4 minutes. Add the ground beef or chicken and continue cooking until uniformly brown, breaking the meat into small pieces as it cooks. Cover with the spinach, place a lid over the mixture, and cook for about 3 minutes, just until the spinach wilts. (If using frozen spinach, cook, covered, for 1 minute, just to take off its raw edge.)

Stir the spinach into the meat, cooking briefly to eliminate excess liquid if the mixture seems watery. Pour the egg mixture over all, stirring with a spatula from the bottom until the eggs begin to set. Remove from the heat and stir a few more times, as the eggs cook through from the residual heat. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings.

Comments

[mosaic cats]

HEY!
I can MAKE this while low carbing!
YUM. I like ground turkey a lot, too.
Can I persuade you to make a low carb blog, Sher? Just adapt wonderfully creative and simple recipes and then post them for me so I don't have to think. Once a week? Pleeeeaaaassssssseeeeeee........

[Anh]

Oh Sher, this post is so interesting to read! And the recipe for Joe's Special is new to me, too!

[Lydia]

With the turkey, this sounds delicious -- something that's easy to make, satisfying, low carb....

[Elena]

wow, this does sound good--and I have one of those large of spinach in my fridge, too! Hmmm, maybe dinner tonight!

[kristi]

Bad, bad Taboo. Doesn't he realize how good he has it?

[aria]

i've never herd of or had a joes special but it looks perfectly comforting and delicious. little taboo sounds like quite the spitfire over there!!

[Deborah]

This sounds so good! I've never had a Joe's Special before, but I want one now!

[peabody]

LOL...I am just picturing you squirrel chasing.

[Butta Buns]

I can imagine that squirell chasing burns an immense amount of calories. This dish looks fantastic and I'm so happy to find another dish that doesn't require cholesterol inducing red meat!

[Callipygia]

I like Joe's Special too, a diner must and a squirrel corraler absolute.

[Kevin]

I had never heard of Joe's Special before. It sounds good.

[whaleshaman]

hmmm, i once knew a taboo -- cute sweet kitty -- but a little devil always trying to escape out an open door to the unsafe, outside world around our house.

we actually couldn't enter the house without noisily shaking our house keys furiously, which occasionally caused her to retreat just enough for us to slip quickly inside and slam the door, before an otherwise inevitable romp around the yard, open can of tuna in hand and faking sweetly calling her name!

it makes me wonder if your little taboo inherited that same spirit of adventure. that ability to escape should serve her well in the big wide world she'll one day soon inhabit.

So, sorry, dear sher - i know it'll make your job harder, but i say to l'il taboo: you go, guirrel! [groan, nutty squirrel pun.]

;-)

ps: i, too, love the lo-carb recipe.

[anne]

Wah - I wanted to see photographic evidence of The Big Chase! Can't you just let her escape again so my need to see some chaotic hilarity can be met? Surely you would do that for me.

:)

Having spent half an hour recently in the basement of the vet clinic where I've been working trying to catch a feral kitten, I completely empathize. It's amazing how hard it can be to catch such an itty bitty thing.

[MyKitchenInHalfCups]

Having had experience chasing a squirrel I'd say you did well to crave Joe's Special and not Peabody's Peanut Butter Cake!

[Lisa]

I'm trying to remember where I saw a recipe for Joe's Special. I clipped one, or saw it in one of my books and have intended to make it for a long time now. It looks comforting and yummy; glad you reminded me!

[Glenna]

Mmmmm....looks wonderful!

[sandeepa]

Hey this is a very nice recipe, never had spinach with chicken, would make my life easy

[Julie]

That sounds like a very satisfying meal and squirrel chasing sounds like a very tiring way to spend your time. Those squirrels certainly keep you on the go. And I still wonder how you're getting any sleep what with the all night feedings and all!