Sloppy Joes

When I hear someone talk about sloppy joes, this is what comes to mind.

This recipe is what actually called for the chili sauce so if you have made that recently, then here's a great lead-in to something you can use it for: sloppy joes.

The Sloppy Joe - a very American dish known by many names across the country: Loosemeat, wimpies, sloppy janes are just a few. While there are some variations, one concept is the same, sloppy. These things do not stay together but that is just part of the charm. Just think the Carl's Jr. phrase.

Process

This recipe was inspired by the Sloppy Joe recipe from the 1997 edition of The Joy of Cooking.

Begin by heating some oil in a large skillet. While the oil is heating up, take the time to prep the rest of your ingredients, as it will speed up everything. Toss in the onion, along with the bell pepper, celery, thyme, salt and pepper. Let the onion cook until softened, but make sure it doesn't caramelize, about eight to ten minutes.


Transfer the onion-celery mixture to a bowl and set aside for now.

In the now empty skillet, increase the burner heat and add in the meat. Cook until the meat is nice and brown. This will take about 4 minutes.



At this point, take the onion-celery mixture and toss back into the skillet, along with the chili sauce, beer, Worcestershire, and Tabasco.

Once the ingredients are well-blended, cover the skillet and lower the heat to a simmer. At this point your own personal preference comes in. If you let the meat simmer for a short period of time (~10 minutes), you will have runny Joes, if you let the meat simmer for a longer time (20 minutes), the result will be more viscous Joes.  

After the meat has simmered to your desired consistency, toast some hamburger buns and slop on the Sloppy Joes.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients

1 1/4 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup Chili Sauce
1/2 cup beer (I used Blue Moon)
3 T Worcestershire sauce
1 T vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 celery stalk, finely diced 1/2 celery stalk, finely diced
1 tsp thyme
ground pepper
Kosher salt
hamburger buns
Tabasco

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add in the onion, bell pepper, garlic, celery, thyme, and some pepper and salt. Cook until the onion has softened (do not caramelize), 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a bowl and set aside for now.
2. In the same skillet, increase the heat and cook the ground beef until it browns, about 4 minutes. Toss in the onion mixture along with the Chili Sauce, beer, Worcestershire, and Tabasco.
3. Cover the mixture, lower the heat slightly and let simmer for 10-20 minutes. The time is really up to you, depending on how thick you want it.
4. Toast the hamburger buns and spoon on the Sloppy Joe mixture.