From Yet Another Office Meal!

We had a "clean out the 'fridge" office party today (do you get the feeling that wuff's co-workers will take ANY reason at all to have a party? You're RIGHT!!). In the freezer was a block of leftover ground beef and bacon mixture that Vrghr made for his "Toad in the hole" hamburgers, here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21193686/

So wuffy used that as the foundation for Sloppy Joes. But Vrghr wasn't going to settle with dumping a can of "Joe Sauce" in a skillet and frying it up, nor with mixing in some tomato ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and mustard, and feeding that to his co-workers. You know wuffy better than that!

Nope! Even though "Sloppy Joes" have a reputation of being cheap, fast, and "okay, if that's all you have to eat", that doesn't mean that they can't become "good eats" with a bit of care and attention. And Vrghr is the wuff to give them exactly that!

Let's start with a classic mix of aromatic veggies; Green Pepper, Onion, and Carrots in this case. Throw in some garlic to bolster those. Bring some Molasses for sweet complexity that steps up over sugar. Add ketchup and tomato for that mandatory tomato-y goodness. Bring a combination of sweet and savory spices to play off both the tomato/garlic and the molasses. Don't forget Cider vinegar for brightness, hot sauce for kick, and liquid smoke and Worcestershire sauce, just "because". Let it swim in beef stock and water to gradually cook down, melding all the flavors into a thick, gooey, rich aromatic mass. Then infuse a bit of cheese and top it with more cheese, and some crisp bacon. GOT TO ADD THE BACON!! (And it complements the bacon that is ground up inside the beef.)

Serve it all on a toasted bun.

Oh gosh! Now THIS is a SLOPPY JOE! Thick enough to cling to the bun. Aromatic enough to smell it in the elevator on the first floor of the building! (we're on the 3rd floor!) Rich and complex and beefy, spicy, sweet.

Crispy bacon on top! That may be a bit of "gilding the lilly", but... BACON!!!

Want a special treat? Wedge some Potato Chips under that top bun for a really crunchy, salty counterpoint!

Put one of these on top of your head, and your tongue will beat your brain unconscious trying to reach it!

This is a sloppy joe you'll be proud to serve to your best friends and family for special occasions! Or freeze up the extra in some zip-top bags, and microwave them for a private movie-night treat.

Give this a try, and see what you think!

Ingredients:
8 Hamburger Buns
2-3 lbs Lean Ground Beef (Vrghr used home-ground bacon/beef combination, found here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/21193686 )
1 C Shredded Cheddar Cheese (or a mixture of cheeses)
3 Carrots, finely minced
1 large Onion, finely chopped
1 Green Bell Pepper, finely chopped
3-4 Tbs Butter
6 oz Tomato Paste
2 TBs Minced Garlic
1/3 C Dried Minced Onion
2 C Beef Broth/Stock
~2 C Water
1 C Tomato Ketchup
3 TBs Full-Flavor Molasses
2 TBs Cider Vinegar
2 TBs Worcestershire Sauce
2 TBs Dijon Mustard
2 tsp Hot Sauce
2 tsp Garlic Garni (Low salt)
2 tsp Sweet Paprika
2 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Liquid Smoke (Mesquite or Hickory)
1 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Omnivore Salt
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper

(Optional) Potato Chips, Sliced Cheese, Fried Bacon strips for Topping

Directions:
In a dutch oven or large electric skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the minced carrots and allow to cook a couple minutes to start softening. Then add the chopped onion, bell pepper, and minced garlic. Stir and cook until the veggies are tender, onions are translucent, and garlic is fragrant.

Add the tomato paste and stir together. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 3-4 minutes to caramelize the tomatoes a bit and incorporate flavors.

Add all the remaining ingredients except the cheese, beef stock, and water. Let the beef fry a bit, stirring vigorously at the start to break it up as much as you can, then let it sit and fry on one side for 3-4 minutes to get some browning going on.

Now, add the beef stock and water. Don't worry that the beef is still raw in places! We're going to 'boil' it in the liquid to help break up the meat into smaller bits, so we don't have large hunks that fall out of the buns later.

The mixture will become very loose. That's good! Stir it all up, vigorously breaking up the beef as much as possible.

Allow to boil for about 5-8 minutes. The mixture will begin to thicken a bit.

Reduce the heat to medium low. Allow the mixture to continue to cook and thicken, stirring occasionally, until a lot of the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is quite thick. It should hold up in a mound on a spoon and not run off the edges. This will take about 15-20 minutes.

Add the shredded cheese and stir it in. It will melt almost immediately.

Reduce heat to low, to hold the mixture. It is ready to serve!

Plating
Toast the buns on the inside (not required, but definitely improves the results!). Mound a scoop of meat mixture on the toasted bun. Add a slice of cheese on top (Havarti, Cheddar, or American is good). Stick it under a toaster oven or broiler for 30-60 seconds to get the cheese melting. Add some fried bacon strips and some crunchy potato chips (optional) and top with the other bun.

!!DEVOUR!!