My son, Noel, recently returned from a semester’s study in Europe. A food lover, he enjoyed wurst in Berlin, canard au printemps in Paris, blini and caviar in St. Petersburg, bouillabaisse in Marseille and pasta—what else?—in Rome.
So for his first dinner at home I wanted to cook an all-American meal.
How do you define “American cuisine?”
What is “all-American” food?
Ask Sheryl Cababa, an American food blogger living in the Netherlands, and you’ll get one answer. Ask Jeff Young, a Lebanese-American food blogger living in Louisiana, you’ll get another.
American home-cooking is more diverse, delicious and international than ever.
In the end I chose Sloppy Joes, one of our family favorites.
Sloppy Joes for food snobs
These Joes are decidedly not the packaged monosodium glutamate-heavy version my mother dished up in the 1970s. They’re 100% scratch-cooked—but only take a few minutes longer to whip up than packaged Sloppy Joes.
The following recipe includes a variety of fresh sweet, sour, salty, spicy and savory ingredients. I challenge any foodie to turn up his or her nose at these juicy Joes.
I strongly suggest you double or triple the recipe. Everyone will want seconds. And in the unlikely case that you have leftovers, From-Scratch Sloppy Joes freeze beautifully.
And a question for Sheryl, Jeff and other visitors: What’s your quintessential all-American recipe?
From-Scratch Sloppy Joes
1 pound lean grass-fed ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
3/4 cup catsup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Juice of 1/2 lemon—about 2 tablespoons
1 tablespoon grainy mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1/8 teaspoon—about six drops—liquid smoke
3/4 cup water
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
- In a Dutch oven or heavy pot, brown the ground meat.
- In the meantime, chop onions. I am very lazy, so I use the mini chopper method, see photo below.
- Dice bell pepper and celery.
- When meat is browned add onion, bell pepper and celery. Cook mixture, stirring occasionally, until vegetables soften, see photo below.
- In a measuring cup or small bowl, combine catsup and remaining ingredients, see photo below.
- Add catsup sauce to browned meat, stirring to incorporate. The mixture will be soupy. You need to cook it down until it’s thick and a little sticky, see before and after photos below.
- Bring mixture to low simmer and let it cook down for 15-20 minutes. Watch carefully and stir frequently until mixture thickens.
- Serve on toasted hamburger buns—I like Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns.
Serves 4-6.
I’ve had cooking fatigue for months now — this inspires me pull out the pans again to welcome home my own far-flung brood. Thanks. And welcome home Noel!
Oh my goodness… Where do I start?
As a foodie from Louisiana, I guess I would be expected to offer dishes like gumbo, jambalaya, or boiled crawfish as the quintessential all-American recipe. But those things aren’t calling my name right now… Not to mention the fact that they are regional. 🙂
If pressed for the all-American recipe, I’d have to go with hamburgers.
Of course, there are a myriad of ways to prepare hamburgers. Grilled, barbecued, or in a skillet on the stove… just a few ways that immediately come to mind. Baked, maybe?
But, for me, the real question is, “How do you prepare the meat?” The patty is what produces so much flavor. Well, the patty and the cheese. And, yes, the condiments are nice too. (I’ll have to save my comments on cheese for another time.)
Here’s how I typically prepare my patties (though I do vary it up a bit from time to time):
– ground round. You could use ground chuck if you want a juicier [read: “greasier”] burger.
– Soy sauce
– Crystal hot sauce
– Tony Chachere’s Cajun seasoning
– Fresh ground black pepper
Sometimes I’ll throw in crushed garlic or caramelized onions. That’s right. I’ll mix it right in with the patties. It’s good!
Measurements?
I have no idea! I play it by ear. And, personally, I prefer to grill the burgers. There’s just something about the smell of meat on a grill.
Thanks for a great post, Lorraine!
@Cindy Your brood will surely appreciate Mom’s Own Cooking.
@Jeff Burgers we’re definitely on my list for “traditional all-American” cuisine. Your burgers sound yum–not sure I could find Crystal hot sauce, but could probably substitute Sriracha. Or is Crystal totally unique? BTW, I definitely go for chuck–we like that full-fat flavor here at Copywriters Kitchen!
Love Sriracha! It’s great on just about anything. But it is a bit hotter than Crystal. Crystal is made in New Orleans, and it is very similar to Tabasco… just not as hot. And it is much more tangy than Tabasco. I have used Tabasco in the burgers before. As a matter of fact, there are some dishes in which we use only Tabasco. In others, we use only Crystal. And still, in others, Sriracha. Funny, huh?
We use lots of hot sauce. My kids are 7, 8, and 9, and they love it. When I was a kid, I couldn’t stand it. Go figure.
Oh, and I’m with you. I prefer the chuck. But Char doesn’t like all the fat, so we go the way of ground round.
Have a great weekend! We are off to the annual Greek Fest in New Orleans this morning. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it next week! 🙂
Awesome recipe! My son was asking for sloppy joes so I’ll definitely give this recipe a whirl ove the weekend. Thanks for posting a classic!
Hi Janee:
If your son likes Sloppy Joes you should definitely double this recipe–it goes very fast!
Hope you and the kids enjoy the snow day.
This is on the agenda even before the soup. You had me at sloppy joe and your recipe looks very doable from Madrid where American ingredients are hard to find!
@Seth: Re: sourcing ingredients in Madrid–the only thing I wonder about is the catsup. You might be able to substitute tomato sauce plus an extra tablespoon of brown sugar. Let me know how it turns out!
Loved it. I did this tonight for supper, but I substituted half ground turkey (cause I knew I would eat most of it nad wanted to be healthy) and threw in a diced tomato. Love this base and I am going to play with it depending on what I have access to at the grocery store wherever I am.
Ketchup here is really sweet so I skipped the brown sugar. Also the celery looked terrible and was expensive, so I skipped that too. no liquid smoke here either and I used red wine vinegar. so I guess I didnt really do the recipe. It was still delicious!
@Seth: One of the most satisfying things about cooking–aside from eating the results!– is making the dish your own. My recipes are made to be messed with–so of course you can leave out, add in or substitute ingredients. Your variation sounds yum. Shall we call them Sloppy Josés?!
I love these things. My mother used to use the mixes in the Seventies! I put molasses in mine, plus mustard. Also cumin.
@Cathy: Your additions sound delightful.
I sometimes substitute honey for the brown sugar and you can also add a couple of tablespoons of sweet or dill relish too!
@Juliet: Thanks for the suggestions–will give relish a try.