Smoky Tex Mex Sloppy Joses

Something happened last night.  For the first time in MY ENTIRE LIFE, I liked sloppy joes.  It's true.  I can't believe it either.  Not only did I like it, but the kids like it too.  Now, 'somebody' (okay, it was Thom)(smile) had a few critiques, but no meal is perfect.  Especially a meal I make.  I got it out of April's Rachael Ray magazine.  I also don't think it's a coincidence that this recipe includes bacon in it, because it's a well known fact that bacon makes EVERYTHING better.

Smoky Tex Mex Sloppy Joses
Rachael Ray

Ingredients:

Extra Virgin Olive Oil or vegetable oil, for drizzling

4 slices bacon, chopped

1 lb. ground sirloin

Salt and black pepper
1 onion, chopped (duh, I omitted this)
2 serrano or jalapeño chile peppers, finely chopped
3 to 4 cloves, garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. chili powder 
1 1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1 cup lager beer, at room temperature (I used a cup of beef broth)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 tbsp. light brown sugar
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
1 tbsp. hot sauce, such as Franks® RedHot®
4 burger rolls, toasted

Toppings: crushed Fritos corn chips, pickled jalapeño rings and sweet red pepper relish

Directions:

In a large skillet, heat a drizzle of oil over medium heat. Add the bacon and cook until crisp, about 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a paper towel to drain. Add the ground beef to the pan and cook until browned, stirring with a spoon to crumble it; season with a little salt and black pepper. Return the cooked bacon to the pan and add the onion, chiles, garlic, chili powder, cumin and coriander. Cook, stirring, until the onion is softened, about 5 minutes.

In a medium bowl, stir together the beer, tomato sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire, vinegar and hot sauce. Pour the mixture over the meat, lower the heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until ready to serve.

Using a large ice cream scoop, spoon the Sloppy José mixture onto the roll bottoms. Layer with the crushed corn chips, pickled jalapeños, red pepper relish and roll tops.



Thom's critiques were that he wished it had onion in it(oops, did I forget to add that?  My bad....) and chopped red bell pepper.  I GUESS I can do that next time, and there WILL be a next time.  I really liked this.  I'm still in shock because of my lifelong aversion to sloppy joes, but leave it to Rach to make sloppy joes YUMMO.