Joe's Special Recipe

According to most references, this one-dish meal made with ground beef, spinach, and mushrooms was created at "New Joe's" restaurant in San Francisco. One of the partners who created that restaurant started his own restaurant in 1937 called "Original Joe's", where Joe's Special was one of the most popular dishes on the menu. This version includes ground sirloin of beef, fresh spinach, mushrooms, beaten eggs and onions and it is flavored with sherry, nutmeg, oregano, and parmesan cheese.

Joe's Special Ingredients
- 1/4 cup of olive oil
- 1 pound of ground sirloin of beef
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- Half a pound of sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 cup of cooking sherry (optional)
- 2 cups of fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
- 4 to 6 beaten eggs
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper
- 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

Joe's Special Instructions
Heat the olive oil and add the crumbled ground sirloin, chopped onions, and minced garlic. Cook until the beef is almost browned and the onions and garlic are tender. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook until they are soft. Add sherry to the mixture, heat about a minute, and stir in spinach and seasonings (oregano, nutmeg, salt, pepper). Cook the mixture until just heated throughout. Add the beaten eggs and cook, stirring, until the eggs are firm but still tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmessan cheese.

Serving Suggestions: Joe's Special is traditionally served with sourdough French bread, a hearty Italian red wine, and sometimes a small green salad. It is also often served as a high-protein breakfast dish with a toasted sourdough English muffin, orange juice, and - for an especially filling meal - hash browned potatoes on the side.

Variations: COOKING METHODS: You can stir this dish constantly while cooking the eggs, which will result in the eggs being completely blended with the spinach. Stir it less often after the eggs are added, like you would if you were making scrambled eggs, if you would like to have discernable pieces of scrambled egg in the dish. GREENS: Swiss chard or one packages of frozen chopped spinach can be substituted for the fresh spinach. MUSHROOMS: Canned mushrooms can also be used but Joe's Special is much better made with fresh mushrooms. GROUND BEEF: If higher fat ground beef is substituted for the ground sirloin, you can use less olive oil. CHEESE: Romano cheese can be substituted for the Parmesan cheese.

Printer Friendly Joe's Special Recipe

See also
More Recipes from California
San Francisco for Visitors
California for Visitors