Sloppy Joes with a Candied Kumquat, Blood Orange, and Almond Salad

I don't know how many times I've brought up making sloppy joes in the last few months but the thought of this childhood dish crossed my mind enough times to push me to finally take the plunge and make it for dinner. My craving was not for a gourmet-fied sloppy joe - in fact, that seems to be a complete contradiction. The essence of a sloppy joe is the simplicity in down-home flavors and messy executive - this would be lost if someone tried to add posh ingredients - no, that just doesn't work. I wanted the simple meat and sloppiness (those are the two ingredients in a sloppy joe, right?)

Though I never even thought to buy the sloppy joe mix from the store, I realized that this was the flavor that I was craving and I hoped that my homemade version would be reminiscent of that simple McCormick's mix of spices and whatever else is in it. In fact, the McCormick's site lists the ingredients as:

SUGAR, ONION, SALT, CORN STARCH, PAPRIKA, SPICES (INCLUDING CHILI PEPPER), RED AND GREEN BELL PEPPERS, GARLIC, MALTODEXTRIN, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, CITRIC ACID, VINEGAR SOLIDS, CIDER VINEGAR, AND NATURAL FLAVORS.

Okay, so sugar is the first ingredient, probably not ideal but otherwise, OK.

What we ended up making certainly had some different ingredients but I guess it's time to refine my sloppy joe tastebuds a little bit - not to the point of "gourmet" but just enough to branch beyond the meal in a bag approach.

Slightly-More-Refined Sloppy Joes

INGREDIENTS

1 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled diced
1/2 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt
2/3 lb ground bison
1/4 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup ketchup
2 cups tomato sauce
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
Pinch ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Pinch (or two) cayenne pepper
freshly ground black pepper
fresh bakery hamburger buns (we used ACME)

METHOD

1. Coat saute pan with a little olive oil and add the ground bison and turkey, crumbling the meat while adding it to the pan. Season with some salt and pepper and cook until meat is just browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set ground meat aside.

2. Using the same saute pan (without the meat) heat olive oil n on medium high heat. Add the carrots, onion and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally until onions are translucent and carrots have started to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 30 more seconds.

3 Return the cooked ground beef and vegetables to the pan. Add the ketchup, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and brown sugar to the pan. Stir to mix well. Add ground cloves, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Lower the heat to medium low and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Serve on sliced bun - with napkins!

We served this with a fantastic salad of mixed spring lettuce, candied kumquats that Derek made forever ago (they keep just fine!), minced up, blood orange segments, and blanched almond slices. The dressing was some blood orange juice, a little bit of the kumquat syrup, white wine vinegar, EVOO.


Okay so the fact that we used bison and turkey may elevate this recipe slightly - but it wasn't on purpose. We had some mystery ground meat in our freezer that we thawed out (yes, we actually had and USED something from our freezer) and it turned out to be bison! And it wasn't quite enough so we used a little turkey we had just bought (just in case the mystery meat was freezer-burned). So using the two meats wasn't intentional, but I found it to be a nice combination. Any ground meat will work.

It was certainly different to have little chunks of vegetables in the mix - not something I remember in a sloppy joe - but I liked the slight variation in texture and didn't feel like the dish was AS meaty as it would be if it were solid meat (genius comment, I know - even worse now that I had to use auto-correct to spell genius correctly....it's Friday)

The flavors were a bit more sophisticated and bold than the traditional mix and I loved the addition of the clove - a little goes a long way. I only added a small pinch and could still pick it out.

It is also key to use good bread. I'm not sure I would have enjoyed this as much if the filling had been slopped between a standard smushy hamburger bun from a grocery store - but luckily, I went to ACME bread and picked up two fantastic rolls that were simply divine.

Even though this version is not a direct representation of my childhood memory, that's probably a good thin and now my sloppy joe craving has been thoroughly satisfied.