I was stumped about dinner.
We’d had corned beef and all the (warm weather) trimmings on Saturday, then noshed our way such a fine brunch on Sunday that we just had a taste to nibble for the rest of the day. Now, here it was Monday morning, and I had not a clue about what to do – tho’ I had taken a package of ground chuck out of the freezer; I find that defrosting meat kind of forces one to focus on the task at hand. Then, inspiration struck.
‘Za! But not just ‘Za! – Sloppy Joes ‘Za! Ermmm, truth be known, I was really in the mood for a Big Cheeseburger ‘Za!, but Rich’s attitude is that if he wants a B*g M*c, he’ll just go and buy one. *sigh*
Oh well, decision made, it was time to make some dough and slop some Joe. I am still working on my dough – more about that tomorrow – but believe I have found a truly fine formula for chopped meat in sauce.
INGREDIENTS
•2 onions, diced
•4 garlic cloves, minced
•1 tbsp canola oil
•1-3/4 lb ground chuck
•1/4 cup spicy garlic pepper sauce
•1 cup barbecue sauce
•8 oz can tomato sauce
•1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
•1 tsp Earl’s (or other hot sauce)
•1/2 tsp seasoned salt
•Black pepper
If you don’t have (or feel like making) any spicy garlic pepper sauce – you can use ketchup, or mebbe tomato paste, but will need to adjust your seasonings. Better to make the sauce, I think.
Heat the oil in a Dutch oven or other large, high-sided pan (remember – flaming hot balls o’ tomato goo is not a good thing).
Add the onion and garlic, and sauté for 3 minutes, until the onion are lightly softened.
Season with the salt and pepper, then add the beef and cook, stirring to break up, for another 10 minutes, until the meat is fully cooked and there is no hint of pink. The Neely recipe I was using as a general guide did not call for draining the beef, which I thought an interesting twist, so I followed their lead – but I continued to cook and stir the beef mixture until there were no pan juices left to speak of – another 10 minutes or so.
Combine the tomato sauce, spicy garlic-pepper, barbecue sauce, Worcestershire, and Earl’s together, then stir into the meat mixture and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens.
Nice Sloppy Joe.
Perfect, no doubt, on a lightly toasted roll – but just imagine how tasty topped with cheese on a disk of home made dough!
Mmmm, ‘Za!