Sloppy Taylors

My sweet friend, Melissa Taylor, has quite a brood!  She has an awesome family and I love them all dearly. Her husband makes me laugh (he ain’t right… and I mean that in the nicest way ) and her kids make me smile. It’s no wonder… Melissa is one of kindest, funniest, caring, and Godliest women I know. It makes sense that her family would be as wonderful. She is such a blessing in my life and in the lives of everyone who meets her. She is genuine… the real deal.

Melissa is one of those people who is always doing for everyone else. Her kids have sporting events and school activities pretty much daily, and she and her husband don’t miss any of them. Around their crazy schedules, Melissa is quick to be there if anyone else needs a ride or a hot meal or someone to pray with. What a blessing for me that I recently had the opportunity to do something for her! With the beginning of the school year and the first football game of the season, I was able to prepare a meal for her family so that she didn’t have to fit cooking into her already packed schedule. So… in honor of Melissa and in honor of families eating together at the same table… here are my “Sloppy Taylors.”

Sloppy Taylors

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs ground sirloin
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 green pepper, seeded and very finely chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 8 oz can tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons worchestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 3 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• few dashes cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
• sesame seed buns
• butter, room temperature
• cheddar cheese slices

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground sirloin to the hot skillet and brown, stirring frequently as you break up the clumps of meat. When meat is almost cooked, add the onion, green pepper and garlic. Continue cooking until meat is cooked through.

Stir in tomato sauce, tomato paste, worchestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Simmer for 20 minutes or until thickened.

Preheat broiler.

Place a slice of cheese on the bottom half of each bun. Very lightly butter the top half. Place under the broiler and broil until the cheese is melted and the top half is golden. (This will only take a few minutes so keep a close eye on them.

To serve, spoon meat mixture on the bottom (cheesy) half of the bun and top with the toasted half. I know it seems odd to put the cheese on the bottom but it helps to keep the meat mixture from dripping through the bun while it’s on your plate. (You will see in the photo that I tried it with the cheese on the top bun. The bottom bun got soggy quickly so I switched it the next time and it worked much better.)

My mom made Sloppy Joes fairly regularly when I was growing up. I have made lots of adjustments to her recipe over the years but, just like mom, you must serve them with Tater Tots. It just has to be that way… Mom is always right about these things

OK – get sloppy and giggle about it! That’s half the fun.

Sweetest Blessings,
LeAnn