Is it a Chili?! No, it’s my first ever Sloppy Joe (plus homemade buns recipe)

Failures in the kitchen – as much as I hate them they happen. They happen less often than they used to but still… From time to time there is a day when nothing good want to come out from my pots and pans. Of course there is more failures when I cook “American” food and almost no failures when I cook something Polish but that doesn’t count since my husband is not very fond of Polish cuisine.

Chili is one of those dishes that I had to learn to cook for my husband. He always talks (or used to) about his mom’s chili that it was really good from what he remembers. Once she gave him the recipe and I made it. We both liked it but the next time I made it I changed a few things and it was even better.

I just can take a recipe from mother-in-law and call it good. You know how that works. It got to be mine and it has to be better. That’s how it works in here. My kitchen my recipes 😉

Anyway, last time we went grocery shopping I bought all the stuff for chili and grabbed additional 6 oz can of diced tomatoes with chilies. I have to idea why I did it, but I did. I though it might be good to add some new flavor to it.

Whenever I make chili I make a huge pot of it. I freeze it or we eat it for a week 🙂 That’s why I like chili. Everybody likes it, especially my daughter, and I don’t have to cook for a few days after that. Win win.

So the next day I cooked all the tomatoes, cooked the meat and after all I remembered that there is that can of tomatoes with chilies. I think I didn’t even add that whole can, just a half of it. I stirred it, cooked a little bit longer and tasted…  my mouth got on fire!!! I mean, real fire, and when it happens to me I know that my husband will be burning twice as much as me. When he saw my angry and disappointed (and red) face he said: “Oh wait, it can’t be that bad let me try, maybe I can eat it”…, and he tried, and he said “NO. I’m sorry I’m not gonna”.

So, here I am sending that entire pot of chili down to the drain. The only thing it was left was the meat. I SAVED THE MEAT!!! Ground turkey mixed with Italian sausage.

The same night we ate pasta for dinner.

I don’t know why but when I looked at that saved (thank gods) meat I thought about sloppy joe. The weird thing is that I have never made it before and I can’t even recall if I ate it in the past (probably no). Anyway, that idea stuck to my head and it stayed there until the next day. I knew I don’t have buns to make it with and I don’t know how to make the meat sauce. I asked my bloggy friend Polish Mama on The Prairie and she gave me a few ideas which I’m gonna use the next time. This time I didn’t have half of the ingredients and lately my whale-like lovely lazy self is much too lazy to go to the store just to pick one or two things. As a pregnant woman I’m not only a brain damaged but motivation damaged as well. I could go hungry for days just give me water, milk and buttermilk these days and I’m happy as a clam.

Anyway, following my husband recommendations, because it’s him who would mostly be picky about it, I made the sauce from ketchup, brown sugar and soy sauce and I baked the buns, and this is one more reason why I love my bread maker.

Want the recipe!? 🙂

Here it is:

2 cups milk (any kind)

1/4 cup olive oil or butter (melted)

2 Tbsp. honey

2 eggs

2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup bread flour

5 cups whole wheat flour (plus more if needed)

2 Tbsp. active dry yeast

egg wash

sesame seeds

If made by hand or in a Kitchen Aid:

Heat up milk until very warm. Take of the heat. Mix in sugar and dissolve, add yeast, cover and wait about 10 minutes until the mixture rises and is bubbly.

In a separate bowl mix the bread flour and about 4 cups of bread flour, olive oil (or butter), honey, salt. When the yeast mixture is ready pour it over the flour mixture and knead. Add eggs. If the dough is very sticky add more flour. At the end the dough should be a little tacky to the touch at the end, so don’t add too much flour or overknead it. 

Cover and let the dough rest for up to 1 hour.

After that knead it a few times, shape into a balls and flattened them a little on the top. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Let the buns rest for about 20 minutes.

Bake in 350 F for 18-20 minutes.

If made in bread maker:

Put the ingredients to the maker in this order:

Room temperature milk, olive oil (or melted butter), sugar, salt, honey, eggs, bread flour and whole wheat flour, yeast. close the lid and set on the “dough” setting. During the second “kneading” open the lid to check if the dough needs more flour. If it does add 1/2 cup. After a few minutes check again. Keep adding flour until the dough is smooth and stop sticking to the sides of the container. When it’s done take it out and shape into balls just like above. let the buns rest for 20 minutes. brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds. bake in 350 F for 18-20 minutes. 

My Sloppy Joe

For the next two days we ate the rest of the buns for lunch with some veggies and homemade ricotta.

D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S.

So not being very happy about the disaster with chili I was happy with my first ever sloppy joe. Now I need to work more around the sauce but other than that I think I’ve found a new dish that will be served at our dinner table quite a bit.

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12 thoughts on “Is it a Chili?! No, it’s my first ever Sloppy Joe (plus homemade buns recipe)

  1. nadinesellers

    since i don’t like the canned sloppy joe or those things they serve at pot lucks, i did not want to read your recipe–but–your pics made me go back..yes, that is more appealing..glad you saved the meat..
    in case you wish for a trick to cool down spicey foods–add water and sliced potatoes, re-heat, stir and simmer until the starch has absorbed much of the “HOT” out of chili or stew…10-20 minutes..let stand awhile..remove slices, taste..it should be fine..unless you have used habaneros or hotter cuban or african peppers.

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      Oh no! I wouldn’t use canned meat or any other than tomato canned sauce. ugh…

      I didn’t know about the water and potatoes. That’s a great advice. Thank you so much. I bet it will come in handy in the future.
      My mom told me that I should’ve freezed some of the chili in ice cubes containers for further use as a spice for soups and sauces. Just one cube at a time. I think that is a good idea as well. Now I have two options so save too spicy food 🙂

      Reply
  2. Polish Mama on the Prairie

    I will have to make these buns now, you realize that. 😉 I love radishes sliced thin on my sandwiches and the only other blogger who I’ve seen do that is you so far. I’m glad the “sloppy joe” turned out for you. I don’t think it needs to be so complicated like most of the recipes out there, your version sounds delicious.

    I serve our chili with sour cream and cheese for the 6 year old since she doesn’t like spicy foods at all. I’ve served it over rice or mashed potatoes for her as well and that seems to work with the heat for her. Just a thought for next time. The freezing in cubes for sauces and soups idea sounds great as well.

    I think you look beautiful pregnant! Not a whale at all. 😛 Hugs for mentioning me! Sciskam!

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      I serve it with rice for our daughter, too. I actually like it that way myself. I think it’s much better with rice, as I am not very fond of that tomato-y (too rich) taste. With rice it’s delicious 🙂

      If you make those buns, I bet your family will love them. they are so good. my husband is not a big fan of mostly whole wheat baked goods but he loves those buns. he even asked me when I’m gonna baked them again 🙂 That’s a good sign if he said that…

      And thank you for saying that I am not looking like a whale…, you know how it is. I don’t maybe look like a whale but I definitely feel like one.lol

      Ściskam również!

      Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      Thanks for stopping. I do, too always like to add whole wheat to almost any recipe that call for flour at all. Those buns don’t even taste like they are from whole wheat. I think that’s why my husband loves it so much 😉

      Reply
  3. Lil' Suburban Homestead

    First of all I love Radish and Cream Cheese Sandwiches I have always wondered which ancestry that came from 😉 I am so inspired by your first every sloppy joe buns I actually made buns today too (not the same kind) and will be blogging on them tomorrow. Yours actually look fabulous and I will try them soon! Thanks for linking up to “The Ole’ Saturday Homesteading Trading Post” blog hop!

    Reply
  4. Lisa Lynn

    I hate when I make a big pot of something inedible! It usually goes to the chickens 🙂 They don’t seem to mind!

    The sloppy Joe recipe sounds yummy! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      too bad we do not have anybody to eat it for us. only our dog, but I wouldn’t want to give that chili to her. It would mean only one: TERRIBLE stomach problem and our sleepless nights taking her out every 30 minutes 🙂

      Reply
  5. Jennifer Ward-Pelar

    Oh, you could have fed it to my Matthew. He likes his food so hot, sweat pours down his face and he couldn’t be happier. What am I going to do with him? I’ve tried to eat my food a little hotter, they say it’s good for the blood. But I have to be in a generous mood. The sloppy joes looked great! Cooking like a real American now, huh? NO, I would never insult you like that, Polish mama! 🙂 haha! LOL!

    Reply
    1. Polish Mom Photographer Post author

      Normally I would eat that, too… it was hot but with a bowl of rice it would be just fine. Right now I would rather die that eat it knowing how HUGE heartburn I would get after all. That heartburn is one of the worst things ever so lately I eat less and less just to not get it.
      Anyway, I wish there was a easy way to mail a food packages. I would mail that chili to you. It was really a HUGE pot and I was really upset when I had to throw it out.

      Reply

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