sloppy joes from scratch |
 | It was time to ditch the pre-made seasoning packet, and so I turned to my favorite research tool, Google—182,000 hits. I went through the ‘biggies’: Food Network, AllRecipes, Epicurious, plus a bunch of church cookbooks. I tried ketchup, shoyu, chili powder, honey and mustard until I honed in on the perfectly balanced sweet/sour/salt trinity of Bulldog sauce, Worcestershire sauce and red wine vinegar. The experimentation process was very un-tasty a few times, but I haven't used a seasoning packet since then.
My preferred version (shown at left) is open-faced with a slice of extremely sharp cheddar cheese, a drizzle of brown mustard and a bit of relish. However, my kids think this is just gross, and eat traditional sandwich style with only a smattering of grated cheddar. |
A little bit of olive oil
1 package of ground beef, turkey or chicken ¼ cup brown sugar 2 good squeezes of Bulldog Tonkatsu Sauce 1 onion, chopped 1 small red bell pepper, cored and chopped 2T red wine vinegar 2T Worcestershire sauce 1 large can (14.5oz) tomato sauce | Green onion slab bread, herb slab bread, ciabbatta,
or King’s Sweet Bread sandwich rolls Condiments (all optional) Sliced tomato Grated sharp cheddar cheese Mustard Relish |
Add just enough oil to coat the bottom of a pan very lightly. Add meat and break it up as much as possible. Add the onions and cook until soft. Add red peppers, spices and tomato sauce. Bring to a low boil and then simmer for at least 10 minutes, ideally 20. Toast bread and build your own sloppy joes.
