Sloppy Joes a la Rachael - sorta

Those of you who have been following this blog

know that I have great difficulties in following a recipe -

any recipe.

I don't care if it is a recipe from Le Cordon Bleu,

I will have the need to change it.

That is just the way things work here.

Deal with it.

Now, back to the matter at hand.

I had heard many disparaging things about this particular recipe -

mostly by people who would never even attempt to actually make it.

The claims ran from unhealthy to ick!

I really am not sure where the unhealthy aspect comes in,

as all the ingredients are minimally processed and fairly health conscious.

I proudly present to you my variation on

Rachael Ray's

"Sloppy Joe Dimaggios - Serves a whole team of 9 little leaguers!"

Okay,

points off immediately for such a long and obnoxious recipe name.

Additional points off for lost opportunities to add flavor.

Not to worry,

that is why you have me.

My mise en place:

1 tablespoon chile powder

1 tablespoon Durkee™ Kansas Style grill seasoning

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 (14.5 oz. can) tomato sauce

1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste

1/4 large onion, chopped

1/4 cup brown sugar, tightly packed

1 large garlic clove, grated

First I browned the ground beef.

Then I added the onion.



An homage to Rosie Hawthorne:
Action shot!





The onions cooked for another 4 to 5 minutes.






The remaining ingredients were added.







Then, since my husband is one of those individuals

who can never seem to figure out that the bank actually

closed one or two hours earlier,

I needed to find a way to maintain the food for his eventual arrival.





Thus, the slow cooker came into play.





After the food was cooked,

I simply transferred the food to the slow cooker

and let it have its way.

So no matter what time everyone eventually

found their way home,

the food would be ready for them.







Am I awsome or what?*







*Would someone kindly tell my family?





Very recently,

my local grocery store has had

"THE BEST HOT DOGS ON EARTH"**

for sale.







Naturally, I had to get some. Or more. Just saying.





The Foodie Boyfriend was skeptical - very skeptical -

until he tried these.







**Kahn's hot dogs from Cincinnati, Ohio

are the best hot dogs on Earth.***







***According to one blogger and her daughter.



And this meal?

Exceptional.





It just goes to show that good doesn't always equal fancy.

A Super Spread

Even though I rarely watch the Big Game, I like to prepare several finger foods for my family. This year there will be four of us as my daughter's friend is coming over to watch the big game on the big screen.

I started working on the food on Friday: chopping vegetables for the veggie pizza.

Then, last evening after we got back home, I got the beef roast into the slow cooker so it could cook slowly all night long.

The beef roast is ready to be seared and then slow cooked.

The beef roast and a cup of beef consomme in the slow cooker.

Now it's time to shred the meat. I ended up picking it apart by hand.

The shredded beef in the homemade barbecue sauce.

Some of the potential players for the sauce. I opted to not use the balsamic vinegar. But I did add some pre-made barbecue sauce to the mix.

Really, you can add anything to your barbecue sauce. And before you ask, Rosie, yes. Even those smelly old gym socks. For the rest of you, that's a joke. Smelly gym socks do not make for a good sauce.

I reduced the beef consomme from the roast and used some of it in the barbecue sauce.

The finished sauce.

Now, this is looking good. And it tastes even better. I'm good. Oh yeah.

Today I baked the crust for the veggie pizza. I bet you can't tell what whack-a-dough product I used for this.

I spread a light ranch veggie dip on the reduced-fat crust. Healthy, isn't it?

And here we have the special teams members. Pre-shredded cheddar cheese, broccoli florets, cauliflower, sliced carrots, chopped sugar snap peas, diced red onion, and celery. I sometimes also add bacon, but as my husband points out, then it is no longer a veggie pizza.

Looks like we have a touchdown, folks!

And now for the adult libations. Cocktail time is the best time of the day!

One cup water and one cup granulated sugar. Bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, about 2 minutes. This should give you about 1 1/3 cups of simple syrup.

Meanwhile, measure out 2 cups of whisky and juice about 8 lemons.

Strain the lemon juice and add 2 cups of the juice to the mix. Add about 3 cups of ice and stir.

And we have whisky sours. Please notice the lack of choking hazards (besides the ice).

Cheeseball and crackers, cheese cubes and cut fruit with dip round out our dinner. Play ball! (Oops, wrong sport.)