Sloppy Joes

This week's chef for the FNCCC was Guy Fieri. I had a really hard time finding a recipe from him that I found appealing. I'm not sure if I was just in a rush and didn't have an open mind/eye to his food or if he's just not my style. Anyway, I decided to go for sloppy joes because I know the FD loves them. I wasn't overly impressed - simply because sloppy joes are not my choice meal - but the hubby thought they were great. This was a great meal to make on a Monday night as it gave us enough for dinner and leftovers for FD's lunch for most/all of the week. Although the maui onion straws he included in the recipe looked intriguing, I stuck just with the sloppy joes.

Sloppy Joes - adapted from Guy Fieri
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 yellow peppers, seeded and diced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined and diced
1 red onion, diced
2 lbs lean ground meat (beef, pork, turkey, venison, whatever!)
2 T minced garlic
1/4 cup cooking wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon paprika
3/4 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 6-ounce can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups tomato sauce
12 ounces water
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
Salt and Pepper

In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, combine the canola oil, bell peppers, jalapeno and onion; cook for 5 minutes.

Add the meat; cook thoroughly, breaking up the meat as it browns.

Add the garlic. Depending on the amount of residual grease, you may need to drain some of the fat from the pan. Deglaze with the red wine, then stir in the remaining sloppy joe ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

If the sauce gets too thick as it simmers, add up to 1 cup water to adjust the consistency. As you see in my ingredients list, I included adding some water because it was definitely too thick.

Serve on whole wheat hamburger buns with fresh veggies (carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc) on the side.

Makes 8-10 servings.