Sloppy Joes

When Honey and I were dating, we volunteered at the high school concession stand while his youngest son played football. The Sloppy Joes-preparation consisted of a lot of browned ground beef in a roasting pan, a few jars of tomato sauce, and several packages of Sloppy Joe seasoning mixes. It was used for chili dogs; and over tortilla chips, with cheese. It reminded me of school lunches, so I never ate it.

 I have a lot of mixed feelings about things we used to get in school lunches, but in my adult life I’ve learned to like some things I thought I never would. One of them is Sloppy Joes. My husband loves them. I didn’t even know how to make them. When you love someone, you learn to make the things they love.

Of course, I got on the Internet for recipes. After I was sufficiently repulsed, I pulled one and proceeded to make it my own. Honey was overjoyed at the prospect and seemed to think they tasted like his mom’s. That is the highest praise, in my opinion. The original recipe called for 2/3 cup ketchup, and 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce. I left both out. It also called for chili powder, hot sauce, and red pepper flakes. I substitituted about 2 teaspoons of my homemade Taco Seasoning, and it was good. I also used a 24 ounce can of prepared sauce. We chose Hawaiian style hamburger buns over the regular kind. The recipe suggested toasting them first, but we didn’t.

If you’re rather particular about the flavors you will tolerate, I think you’ll like this modified method for making Sloppy Joes everyone will eat. Sure, folks can add hot sauce later, if that’s what they want—I’ll take mine plain.

Note: I like 80/20 ground beef. *Also, if you can’t get tomato paste in a tube, then freeze the leftover tomato paste from an opened can in an ice cube tray, 2-3 tomato paste ice cubes will be great.

Sloppy Joes                                      

Makes 6-8

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef                                 

1/3 cup minced bell pepper

1 small onion, diced                           

2-3 cloves garlic, diced, or 1 1/2 tsp dried minced garlic

2 tablespoons tomato paste*

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 tsp taco seasoning                          

1 24-oz can Hunt’s Pasta Sauce

Package of hamburger buns

Put the butter and oil in a large pot or Dutch Oven, add the garlic, green pepper, and onion, and then put in the ground beef. Stir it all together over medium high heat and when the meat is crumbly and brown, drain off the extra fat, if needed.  Add the tomato paste and stir well to incorporate.

Add the brown sugar and mustard, and salt and pepper to taste. I used about 2 teaspoons of my Taco Seasoning as additional flavoring. Stir in the can of sauce.

Let this simmer, uncovered, for at least 15 minutes, or until thickened to your taste. Remove from heat. Split hamburger buns, put the mixture inside and top them.