Church Sloppy Joes

Church Sloppy Joes

I grew up in a small farming town in rural Illinois. My family went to the Methodist Church every Sunday. All throughout the school year on Wednesday afternoons we had choir practice followed by Youth Club followed by dinner. It was a long afternoon. Really, though, I looked forward to it. So many friends went to our church. And the ladies of the church knew how to make the BEST sloppy joes. It was a good Wednesday night that included those sloppy joes. (Granted it was like every other Wednesday night, but when you're young that seems like a long time.) Those ladies went on to publish the "Treasured Recipes" of our church. Now, we already know that I despise random cookbooks, but I have owned this one even longer than the Williams-Sonoma Complete Pasta. Granted, I have never dared to try "Hobo's Delight" (which ironically sounds good with just potatoes, onions and eggs), the "Kraut Salad" (made with canned sauerkraut and mango??) or any of the various "Ham Loaf" recipes. No, I do believe the only recipe I have ever braved is the "Church Sloppy Joes." I could write it down of course, but the slim, spiral bound book conjures up such nostalgia. We always cherish the things that hearken back to our youth. Plus it contains such witty metaphorical favorites as "Elephant Stew" (supposedly made by spending three months cutting up a real elephant and was meant to feed our entire town) and the "Happy Home Recipe." I'm absolutely certain that making the recipe from something I scrawled in a notebook would not taste nearly as fine as the one on page 41 submitted by the Mrs. Susan Elkins. So, I save it, and it almost always falls open to the spatter-stained page containing "Church Sloppy Joes" (and of course "Crock Pot Pizza?"--Hmmm, keep an eye out for that one!). Hopefully my reminiscing will make it taste just as good for you. (And yes, you should make all 3 pounds worth. It freezes beautifully!)

Church Sloppy Joes by Susan Elkins
as found in "Treasured Recipes of the Casey United Methodist Church"
3 lb. Hamburger
3 onions
Pinch of garlic salt
Salt and pepper
1 (24 oz) bottle ketchup
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
1/4 c. Water
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp vinegar
3 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestshire
Dash of Tobasco
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp dry mustard

Brown meat, onions and garlic (salt). Drain. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer very slowly, 30 to 40 minutes. Note: scorches easily.

"This is an old recipe that my family originally got from the women of our church." -Susie Elkins

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Beef Stew with Root Vegetables and Collards

Two summers ago I was putting up massive amounts of tomato sauce made from the season's abundant harvest of Roma tomatoes, which would last us through the winter. I convinced myself that because of the borderline pH of tomatoes--and the fact that I didn't dare add lemon juice or citric acid to my sauce--I needed a pressure canner to do my job. You see, if opting for canning versus freezing one needs to be certain that there is no chance for Clostridium botulinum spores to develop which can cause deadly botulinum toxins (the cause of botulism). Most likely my jars would have been just fine in the traditional boiling water bath, and I now believe I simply had a deep-seated desire to own another piece of cool kitchen equipment. But drive directly to Southern States, I did. And own this enormous Presto 16-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner, I do. It takes up a LOT of cabinet space. I have rationalized, though, that I am also able to use it as an extra water bath canner as well. Not all has been lost. Because, really, would anyone actually use that ginormous thing to cook? Yes, in addition to pressure canning it does pressure cooking. (I tend to think of pressure cooking as a slow-cooker set to warp speed.) I love reading the accompanying cooking manual. The recipe for Swiss Steak calls for 12 pounds of round steak. When making Lemon Pork Chops the recipe claims there is enough room in the pot for 20. Literally. Sometimes I wish I had a family large enough to cook for in these massive quantities (though usually I don't). Okay, but if I did--Swiss Steak and Lemon Pork Chops? Instead of warp speed it feels more like time warp with these old-school recipes. Did I mention the Chinese Pineapple Lamb?

So, fast forward two years. It's almost 5pm. My family is hungry. I haven't cooked anything, prepped anything, thawed anything. I'm in big trouble. I have collard greens, sweet potatoes and beets I need to use. We ate soup for lunch, darn. Oh, and dinner needs to be on the table by 6:30. Nothing like a dinner challenge. My husband says that beef stew sounds good. What?? Does he really have no idea that a meal like that takes all-day planning? Going into overdrive I search FoodNetwork in hopes of finding an answer: Time for Super-Emeril! (I was actually searching on beef and collard greens, wondering what sort of braised wonder I might whip up that evening.)

There it was. I felt like that humble parent in the 'Twas the Night Before Christmas poem. "When what to my wondering eyes should appear but a recipe from Emeril; dinner shall be near" The title: Emeril's Best Beef Stew. Cook time: 50 minutes. It can't be true: BEST beef stew in 50 minutes? This recipe combined with the numerous packages in my freezer of "Beef Stew Meat" that can be thawed quite quickly in a sink full of water just might save me this year. Bonus, it actually contained collard greens too. So, I read on. Well, I'll be darned: USE A

PRESSURE COOKER. Yes! Of course! Why do I always need someone to spell it out for me? Needless to say, at this time of year my pressure canner/cooker is used simply as a storage receptacle for all my canning supplies. Also needless to say is that I had yet to actually COOK any meat in it. Another first.

I'll jump to the end of the story and let you know it was fantastic. The stew was tasty; the meat was tender. In fact, the meat was so tender that my husband claimed he couldn't tell the difference between the meat and the potatoes. Verdict: I highly recommend trying your pressure cooker for a beef stew. The prep for cooking in the pressure cooker is just the same as the slow cooker.

Meat just after browning

Brown meat over relatively high heat first, searing in the juices. Then saute the flavor chiefs: onion, celery, garlic, etc. Then add the liquid and you're basically done. It is that fast. I found that I saved loads of time by prepping the vegetables while the meat was on it's first round. Also, definitely get creative with what happens to be in your icebox. The recipe called for parsnips and turnips. Those would be yummy, but I just didn't have them on hand, and the roots I used as alternatives were delicious and colorful.

As a reminder, my pressure cooker is really of a monstrous size, but it didn't seem to have any negative effects. Several friends of mine own the much more manageable Presto 6-Quart Pressure Cooker. It's plenty of room to feed a typical family, so I would opt for this one if you don't need the canning feature.

Here is my adaptation of Emeril's Best...

Pressure Cooker Beef Stew

Adapted from “Emeril’s Best Beef Stew”, New New Orleans Cooking, by Emeril Lagasse and Jessie Tirsch, published by William Morrow, 1993.

Ingredients

· 2 ½ teapspoons paprika

· 2 teaspoons kosher salt

· 1 teaspoon garlic powder

· ½ teaspoon black pepper

· ½ teaspoon onion powder

· ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

· 1 teaspoon dried oregano

· 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

• 1 ½ pounds beef stew meat, cut into 1-inch cubes

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium yellow onion, cut into medium dice

• 2 stalks celery, cut into medium dice

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic

• 1 bay leaf

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves

• 1 cup dry red wine

• 2 1/2 cups beef broth

• 3 beets, peeled and cubed

• 2 large purple sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

• 2 cups chopped collard greens

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

• Crusty French bread, for serving

Directions

Combine the spices (first 8 ingredients), flour, and beef cubes in a bowl. Toss to coat well. Add the oil to a pressure cooker and heat over medium-high heat until hot. Add the meat in two batches and cook, turning occasionally, until evenly brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate and set aside. Add the onion, celery, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are wilted, about 3 minutes. Add the browned meat, garlic, bay leaf, thyme, rosemary, red wine, and broth. Cover the pressure cooker and cook for 20 minutes at 15lbs of pressure, turning down heat once the pressure point is reached. Turn off the heat and allow pressure regulator to fall. Once safe to open, add the beets, sweet potatoes, and collard greens, stir well, and replace lid. Bring back up to 15lbs. pressure and cook an additional 20 minutes. Garnish with chopped parsley and serve with bread.

Flank Steak Fajitas

Among other things, this year we are focused on reducing our food waste. It has taken a long time, but I have finally learned that our family simply does not eat "leftovers." Not even Thanksgiving turkey. We have the best intentions of doing so, but time and again, I empty out the food storage containers into the trash. Why is this? For starters, who really wants to eat the same meal back to back? Plus, many foods--especially meat--can be ruined by reheating. I can think of a couple recipes I make using ground beef in which the flavors are enhanced by time. But on the whole, reheating meat is just not something I recommend. As a result, I am taking charge of our waste reduction by carefully planning ahead. If it's a meal that can freeze and reheat, such as soup or lasagna, I will make enough to feed us twice. Immediately after dinner the remainder goes straight into the freezer. If the meal isn't freezer-worthy, then we are trying to prepare only what we will eat that evening. This sounds simple, but it can be quite challenging based on the varying appetites of five.

That prelude was to announce that although I thawed one pound of flank steak for my country fried steak, I had the sense to only use half of it. Pounding the meat out thin made it go farther, and country fried steak was not something we needed for leftovers.

So, there I was the next afternoon perusing my refrigerator to figure out what to pair with the remaining flank steak. Voila. I had bothered to save the remaining "chimichurri with roasted tomatoes" sauce a la the Giada de Laurentiis Pot Roast recipe. How good would that taste as a marinade for the flank steak? I was thinking yummy. So, the flank steak went into the spicy parsley sauce for an hour. It could have marinated longer, but as usual I was pressed for time. In the meantime we preheated the grill and sliced up whatever peppers and onions we had available. We settled on 1 onion, 1 green pepper & 1 jalapeno. As I always do, I consulted recipes online as I was cooking up our dinner. I found inspiration in Sunny Anderson's Flank Steak Fajitas. She uses a traditional chimichurri sauce with the addition of cilantro. What particularly moved me was her "drunken peppers" accompaniment. I willingly sauteed my few onions and peppers in olive oil, seasoned them with salt and pepper, and then poured about 1/3 cup of lager beer on top. The cooked peppers steeped in the beer (covered) while my husband grilled the steak. Our steak needed just 3-4 minutes per side over medium-high heat (400F internal grill temp). Remember to let the meat rest! After 10 minutes we sliced it thinly across the grain and served it in hot flour tortillas with a little pepper-jack cheese and, of course, the drunken peppers. Delish. And the best part: no leftovers.