Unsloppy Joes

Hamburger Special
Home For The Holidays Volume 7- Holiday Recipes Copyright 2002

1 (14-ounce) bottle ketchup
1 ½ cups water
½ cup sweet pickle juice or ¼ cup cider vinegar I used the vinegar and a sprinkling of brown sugar
1 ½ cups finely chopped onions
¼ cup prepared mustard
¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
3 pounds ground beef
2 tablespoons salt Yikes! I used one teaspoon and that was plenty
1 teaspoon pepper

Combine ketchup, water, pickle juice or vinegar, onions, mustard and Worcestershire sauce in large saucepan. Place over low heat and cook slowly while preparing hamburgers. Mix ground beef, salt, and pepper and shape into 12 hamburgers. Place hamburgers in hot sauce and cook gently for 2 hours or more. Serve with buns, coleslaw or salad, potato chips and pickles.
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My husband's family has mentioned a recipe his late paternal grandmother used to make, 'hamburgers in sauce'. When I saw this recipe in one of the cookbooks I purchased at a yard sale last week, I thought this might be what they were talking about and I decided to try it. It's basically a version of beef barbecue or sloppy joes made with hamburger patties instead of ground beef. I've blogged about ground beef versions here, here and here.

Beef barbecue is a popular casual dish in this area. You'll often find it served at family parties and outdoor festivals. The problem is that you're often required to eat with you plate on your lap or while standing up at these events so it can be difficult to eat one of those sandwiches without making a mess. This recipes takes the sloppy out of sloppy joes. You still get great flavor from the burgers basically stewing in the sauce but you won't have any errant pieces of ground beef landing on your pants. I didn't find that these needed any condiments besides a little extra sauce soaked into the bun.

My son scarfed these down (bun-less). He's become quite the carnivore lately. Normally I love to see him eat heartily since he's on the small side but this time I was selfishly wishing he would lose interest in these so I could finish his burger too. No such luck.

This little book was the same on that had the artichoke salsa recipe. I think I got my money's worth (25 cents).

Question of the Day: Beef barbecue, sloppy joes, wimpies, Manwiches? What name do you know these sandwiches by?