It seems only appropriate that I start with sloppy joe's as my first post (and a nod to Adam Sandler). Sloppy joe's is one of the first "meals" I remember cooking for myself. And it was my favorite meal. I would go to my grandmother's on Saturday night and she'd let me cook. After dinner I'd stay up much too late to watch Carol Burnett. It was wonderful.
The meal would start by my grabbing a potato and cubing it. I'd then fry it up. In another pan, I'd brown the ground beef and add bbq sauce straight from the jar. It was pure heaven. For 30+ years, this is how I have made sloppy joe's. Of course, Hunt's Manwhich came out and I tried that for awhile, but I like my sloppy joe's to be a true BBQ beef.
When I met my husband, I found he also loved sloppy joes as just ground beef and bbq sauce. If I added onions or peppers, he would tolerate it, but he truly preferred the purity. I've used from the jar as well as homemade BBQ sauce, but always stayed simple. And since Lucy adores BBQsauce on pretty much everything, she was actually tricked into eat beef on occassion.
When I saw this recipe for sloppy joes on Pioneer Woman, I knew I had to try it. It had a number of interesting flavors that called out to me. Last night, I pulled it out and gave it a shot. She did something I've never done before, cooked the ground beef in butter. I think it actually made the beef "less dry" but that could be my imagination.
