Monday, August 3, 2009

Sloppy Joes

I realize I haven't posted anything here for a while and I apologize for that. I'm actually rather surprised that I haven't posted this recipe yet either, though it's not much to talk about. I remember sloppy joes used to be one of my favorites growing up in school, and I figure, it's pretty easy to make, and you can make it even better by adding a few quick things of your own as well. The base is simple and you can kind of amend as needed or desired. I apologize in advance for those looking for pictures because quite honestly, I don't have any, not of sloppy joes at least. Anyways, here goes:

Ingredients:
Ground beef
Vinegar
Ketchup
Sugar

That's pretty much all you need for a base for sloppy joes. I like mince in some onions and maybe throw in some chili powder or something for some flavoring.

Cooking instructions:

1.) Brown the ground beef, season to taste.

2.) Mix in ketchup, vinegar, and sugar until it reaches desired flavor

3.) Mix until desired consistency

That's it. Seriously, there's nothing more too it. This is where I would suggest you try to get creative, maybe try BBQ sauce instead of ground beef and you get a pulled-pork type flavor without the hassel of having to braise and pull the pork. Sure it's beef, it's different, but hey, it's faster and convenient, using ground pork doesn't work quite as well as ground pork has a tendency to be less cohesive after it's been broken up and so it doesn't really sandwich well onto a roll. Feel free to try various iterations, including perhaps an Italian sloppy joe utilizing tomato sauce or something, let me know what you come up with, the possibilities are limitless. I've also heard root beer and BBQ sauce make a mean pulled pork, okay, amend that, I know that root beer and BBQ sauce make a mean pulled pork, I just don't exact proportions, but hey, give it a go, it's fast and easy.

FYI: Ketcup, vinegar, and sugar are basically the components for sweet and sour sauce.