One of my favorite childhood meals has to be sloppy joes. A flavorful rich meaty sauce over grilled bread topped with cheese. My families sloppy joes were made with a homemade meat sauce which is the key. You cannot get the flavor of a true rich meat sauce out of a can and as with most canned goods the sodium levels are through the roof.
A good meat sauce takes time but you can make it in a large batch and it freezes beautifully. For my sloppy joes I use a lean or extra lean ground beef. You can mix in ground pork, veal or chicken as well but for simplicity I stick with beef.
I use grass fed beef from a local supplier (Getaway Farms). You cannot get this kind of flavor in grain fed beef and nutritionally it is far superior. I also know if it is fresh or frozen and can handle it appropriately. It comes from one or at most two cows which makes it more controlled from a food safety standpoint. My butcher and farmer can tell me the exact cut or cuts that went into it so I know what I am eating. With this beef I never get that liver/organ meat taste that I experience from some factory food ground beef.
Unlike a burger which benefits from a higher fat content to add flavor and moisture in a meat sauce you would just strain off the fat so you might as well go lean. Also extra lean ground beef benefits from the long slow simmer we will do a the end of this process to meld flavors. We will also use celery, carrots and onions in this sauce and caramelization to build a deep rich flavor. This sauce is a favorite of mine and it makes the perfect sloppy joe.
To bring this dish up a notch I replace the burger bun with some panini pressed french bread and add in some of the garlic scape pesto from my last post. I also replace the traditional cheese slice with some fresh cheese curd. It is still sloppy and super flavourful.
Meat Sauce
Ingredients
1.5 tbsp grape seed oil
2 pounds of fresh or thawed extra lean ground beef (allow to sit at room temp for 1 hour before using)
1 large or 2 medium onions (small dice)
3 large or 6 small carrots (small dice)
3 stalks of celery (small dice)
3 cloves of garlic (chopped)
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/3 cup bourbon or rye
1.5 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
2 cups red wine tomato sauce (prior blog post)
salt and pepper
In a large pot or dutch oven heat up 1.5 tbsp of grape seed oil over medium high to high heat, I tend to do mine on MAX. I use grape seed oil here because of it’s high smoke point. My dad used to tease my grandmother about there being other settings on the stove then Max, now I understand why she cooked with high heat… flavor. We have warmed the beef a bit so we don’t cool the oil off, we want to caramelize the beef to build flavor adding cold beef to hot oil will give you boiled beef. Break the beef up and add it into the oil, sprinkle in a tsp of salt to help draw out moisture. Stir the beef with a wooden spoon often, don’t leave it sitting on high heat while you do something else, it will burn. Keep stirring and breaking up the beef until it is well browned. Brown is flavor. We will end up with brown bits on the bottom of the pot, we will get that later too.
When the beef is browned, remove the beef to a plate and set aside. If there is not enough oil to cook the veggies add a tsp more and reduce the heat to medium high. We have find diced the veggies because we want good caramelization and when we simmer it the veggies will almost dissolve into the sauce adding amazing flavor. Add the onion, carrots and celery into the hot oil, add in another 1/2 tsp of salt which will flavor and draw water out of the veggies allowing for better caramelization. Stir the veggies until they start to brown, then add in the garlic. Continue to cook until everything is browned. Be careful not to burn any components here.
When everything is well browned add the tomato paste, and paprika and cook until you see the oils separate, tomato paste is always better when you fry it off a bit. Now we go after the brown bits on the pan which are full of flavor. Deglaze the pan with the bourbon and worcestershire sauce. Then add in the beef, stir well to combine and add in the milk and nutmeg and finally the tomato sauce. Now reduce the heat to low and maintain a low simmer. Cover and let simmer for a good 2 to 3 hours. Stir every half hour or so adding in a little water if it starts to get too thick. This will make the meat super tender and the flavors will meld beautifully. When it has finished simmering add salt and pepper to taste.
This sauce is amazing in lasagna, on homemade pasta or in this case on a sloppy joe. Make lots and freeze it for a quick family meal during the week.
Now for the Sloppy Joe
Ingredients:
French Bread
Meat Sauce
Butter
Cheese Curds
Assembly
Slice the french bread horizontally across the middle and then cut into as many servings as you desire. Lightly butter the bread on both sides and put it into a hot panini press and cook until crispy, turning 90 degrees half way through to create cross hatching. Then spread on a layer of garlic scape pesto. The cross hatching we created will grab a little extra pesto which is a nice treat.
Heat up your broiler to 500 degrees, top the bread with the meat sauce and a generous amount of fresh cheese curds. Broil until the cheese is bubbly and starts to brown, top with a little more pesto and serve.
Thanks to my local producers for providing me with ingredients to make this pop:
Beef: Getaway Farms via Meat Mongers at the Halifax Market
Celery and Onion:Taproot Farm
Garlic and Carrots: Evans Farm Market
Milk and Cheese Curd: Fox Hill Cheese House
Tim's Kitchen Table 