Well kids, as promised, here's my recipe. Most of your are going to say that it's way too complicated. But there was a lady who used to be a member of the DC family, who bought my beef cookbook, and made this recipe (which is straight out of my book) for her husband. He loved it. Previous to this recipe, she hated sloppy joes. She loved it as well. Her husband took some to work. She reported back to me that his co-workers kept trying to get him to have his wife make more.
Of course my head swelled. And that Mac Davis song started ringing through my head. You know the one. It goes something like this - "Oh Lord it's hard to be humble, when you're perfect in every way..."
(that's me laughing at my own absurdity).
In any case, if you feel like trying them, I won't even make you buy my book. I'll just post the recipe right here, right now.
Exerpt from my cookbook "You Can Be a Great Cook With Beef":
"
[FONT="]Sloppy Joe[/FONT][FONT="]’[/FONT][FONT="]s[/FONT]
[FONT="]Before I met my wife, I was going out with another young lady who lived at home with her parents. One day I was at her place and she said [/FONT][FONT="]"[/FONT][FONT="]Ya want some lunch?[/FONT][FONT="]"[/FONT][FONT="] Of course, being an exceptionally slender twenty-year-old, with an ultra-high metabolism (whatever happened to that metabolism anyway), I said [/FONT][FONT="]“[/FONT][FONT="]Sure.”[/FONT]
[FONT="]She went into the kitchen to find a can of store-bought Sloppy Joe sauce and some ground beef. To make a long story short, she had no sauce and was at a loss for something to make. I replied that peanut butter and jelly would be fine. She complained that her heart was set on Sloppy Joe[/FONT][FONT="]'[/FONT][FONT="]s.[/FONT]
[FONT="]I said [/FONT][FONT="]“[/FONT][FONT="]Well let me see whatcha got.[/FONT][FONT="]”[/FONT][FONT="] She had ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire Sauce, tomato paste, etc. I quickly threw together a sauce with fresh chopped onions and green peppers added for texture and flavor. She was amazed. I was amazed that she was amazed. But I was the culinary hero (a dangerous thing for a twenty year old whose head swelled easily). I wasn[/FONT][FONT="]’[/FONT][FONT="]t yet a very good cook. But this seemed pretty elementary to me.[/FONT]
[FONT="]
The point of this is that with a little imagination, you can create almost any recipe you desire. And remember, if you make your own, you can tailor it to your tastes. [/FONT]
[FONT="]This is the original [/FONT][FONT="]'[/FONT][FONT="]meal in a pan'[/FONT][FONT="]. As an example of the [/FONT][FONT="]'[/FONT][FONT="]tailor it to your taste'[/FONT][FONT="] principle, my wife'[/FONT][FONT="]s idea of Sloppy Joe Sauce is completely different from mine. But her'[/FONT][FONT="]s is really good, and exceptionally easy to make. However, this is my book so your going to get my sauce. After you get the idea, you can make your own, modified to fit your family'[/FONT][FONT="]s tastes. You can even use the store-bought stuff if you like it. I won'[/FONT][FONT="]t tell.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Ingredients:[/FONT]
[FONT="]1-4 oz. can tomato paste[/FONT]
[FONT="]1-6 oz can Tomato Sauce[/FONT]
[FONT="]1-12 oz. can dark red kidney beans[/FONT]
[FONT="]2[/FONT][FONT="] clove minced garlic[/FONT]
[FONT="]2[/FONT][FONT="] medium yellow onion, diced[/FONT]
[FONT="]3 heaping tbs. chopped green pepper[/FONT]
[FONT="]1/4 cup dark brown sugar (for Diabetics, substitute an equal amount of your favorite sweetener and a tsp. of molasses)[/FONT]
[FONT="]1 tsp. Chili Powder[/FONT]
[FONT="]2[/FONT][FONT="] tsp. Salt[/FONT]
[FONT="]1 tbs. Worcestershire Sauce[/FONT]
[FONT="]1 bay leaf, crumbled[/FONT]
[FONT="]2 tbs. olive oil[/FONT]
[FONT="]1 lb. ground beef[/FONT]
[FONT="]Place ground beef into a 12 inch covered frying pan and place over medium heat. While the pan is warming, add the olive oil to a 1 quart sauce pan and apply medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, and bay leaf to the oil and saute until the onion turns translucent. Add the remaining ingredients, stir until well blended, cover and turn down heat to simmer.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Lift the lid from the ground beef and break up the meat into bite sized chunks. Lightly salt the meat, stir, and cover. Check the meat and stir the sauce every five minutes until the meat is cooked through. Drain the meat into a suitable bowl and place the juice in the refrigerator for later use. Combine the meat and sauce and serve over hamburger buns.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Wife[/FONT][FONT="]=[/FONT][FONT="]s Sloppy Joe Filling[/FONT]
[FONT="]Now you get my wife[/FONT][FONT="]=[/FONT][FONT="]s recipe. When you see it, you might just say [/FONT][FONT="]'[/FONT][FONT="]why bother'[/FONT][FONT="]. But let me assure you that on a cold day, when time is at a premium, this tasty and quick meal is sure to please. I would not have ever thought to make this on my own. [/FONT]
[FONT="]It just goes to show that there are some pretty basic recipes around that taste great.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Ingredients:[/FONT]
[FONT="]2 cans Tomato Soup[/FONT]
[FONT="]2 lbs. Ground Beef[/FONT]
[FONT="]2[/FONT][FONT="] tsp. Salt[/FONT]
[FONT="]1 twelve oz. Can Dark Red Kidney Beans[/FONT]
[FONT="]2 Hamburger buns per person.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Drain the Kidney Beans. Brown the ground beef in a covered skillet. Drain and rinse, reserving the liquid for another meal. Add the remaining ingredients and heat until bubbling. Serve on hamburger buns."[/FONT]
[FONT="]Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
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