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Sunday, May 22, 2011

East Meets West....Sloppily!


Sloppy Joes are somewhat of a throwback to the 70's. Well it's time they made a comeback; especially in these economic tough times. It's a great way to make a little meat go a long way. The first recipe was served at a Ward Budget Dinner (a now obsolete tradition) and was published in a ward cookbook that I've had since I was a young bride. Thank you, Joyce Ashton, a most gentle and kind lady.



Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground beef
1 1/2 onions, chopped
1 pint catsup
1 pint water
2 bay leaves
1 T. worshestershire sauce
1/2 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3/4 tsp. sugar (See cook's note)
Hamburger buns

Directions:

Brown hamburger with onions. Drain. Combine meat with remaining ingredients and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Serve over hamburger buns. Serves 8 to 10.

Cook's note: I don't use the sugar because we don't like that sweet touch, but a lot of people like it to balance out the acidity of the catsup.

For convenience, this may be made in the morning and left to cook on low in the crockpot all day. Good option for busy mom's or active women.

Source: Ward Cookbook.

This next one was a recipe I stumbled over a few years ago. It's a nice variation and really fun to say...Sloppy Giuseppe's, Sloppy Giuseppe's, Sloppy Giuseppe's. This recipe was from Campbell's Kitchen.


Sloppy Giuseppe's

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil
1 medium onion, diced (about 1/2 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 lb. ground beef, pork, or veal mix (I use beef and pork)
3 cups Prego Flavored with Meat Italian Sauce
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper
2 pkg. (10 oz. each) Pepperidge Farm Garlic Bread (see notes)
1 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese (we use Mozarella)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. for the bread.

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion is tender. Remove from skillet.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet over medium-high heat. Add the meat and cook until it's well-browned, stirring often to break up meat. Pour off any fat.

Return the onion and garlic to the skillet. Stir in the sauce and red pepper. Reduce the heat to low. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the meat mixture is cooked through.

Meanwhile, bake the bread according to the package directions.

Cut each bread loaf into thirds. Divide the meat mixture among the 6 bottom bread pieces.

Top each with 1/4 cup cheese and the remaining bread pieces.

Source: Campbell's Kitchen. You can find it here.

Notes: We thought that the Pepperidge Farm bread made the sandwiches a little too bready and difficult to eat. We made it again and used Texas Toast frozen garlic bread slices for the sandwiches and it worked perfectly. You can also buy regular Texas Toast and toast it with homemade garlic butter, if you prefer.


1 comment:

  1. I can attest to the fact that these are both super yummy sandwiches. Comfort food, definitely.

    The bread that the recipe suggests for the Sloppy Giuseppe's was too crunchy and you ended up squishing out all of the beef filling every time you tried to take a bite. The Texas Toast gives you the same garlic bread flavor, but it is a lot softer and easier to handle as sandwich bread.

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