Sloppy Joes...slop, sloppy joes!

Way before the song made famous by Adam Sandler, my family was eating sloppy joes. If I think about it, my mom always used either a jarred sauce or a seasoning packet to flavor up what was surely not very lean ground beef. Now I prefer to season the meat my own way, and use lean ground turkey instead of beef. What my mom DID do that I liked was toast the buns, and melt cheese on top of the meat before eating. Yum!

Sloppy Joes
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 - 2 pounds lean ground meat
1 6 oz can tomato paste
1 14 oz can tomato sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon mustard
Salt and pepper
Hamburger buns
Butter
Shredded cheese

Heat the 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook, not browning, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add the cumin and chili powder and cook for a minute, allowing the spices to bloom. Add the ground meat, breaking into pieces, and cook until browned.

Reduce heat and move the ground meat to one side so you reveal a little spot on the pan to caramelize the tomato paste. Add the paste and cook for a minute or so. Cooking the paste in this way will add a nice complex flavor, and reduce any tinny taste. Add the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and mustard.

Turn your oven to broil and cover a cookie sheet with foil.

Turn the heat down to medium low and continue cooking the meat mixture until thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Line the hamburger bottoms and tops on the cookie sheet and brush lightly with butter. Broil until golden brown. Remove cookie sheet from oven and place hamburger tops on plate. Add meat mixture to hamburger bottoms. Sprinkle with cheese and return to broil just until cheese is melted. You can add raw onion, pickle relish, or any other toppings, add the hamburger top, and enjoy!

Diced green pepper can be added with the onion to cook for additional crunch. Veggie lovers may like added frozen (thawed) chopped spinach to the meat mixture as well.

Experiment with the seasonings - added chili powder or cayenne will make a nice spicy sauce. Added basil and oregano will make Sloppy "Giuseppes".