I am the queen of Sloppy Joes, and as queen, I get to make the rules: 1. Sloppy Joes must be served with potato chips and red Jell-O with bananas. Other fruits are acceptable in a pinch, but the Jell-O must be red. 2. Any meat that falls out of the bun must be scooped up and eaten on a potato chip. 3. Any leftover Sloppy Joe must be reheated and eaten directly out of the container with potato chips to scoop it up.

　　

Ingredients

serves 4 to 6

　　1 small onion

　　2 stalks celery

　　1 1/2 pounds ground beef

　　1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

　　1/2 cup ketchup

　　1 teaspoon ground mustard powder

　　3 tablespoons firmly packed brown sugar

　　Salt and pepper

　　4 to 6 hamburger buns

　　

Step 1

Peel the onion and dice it into 1/4-inch pieces. Cut the celery into 1/4-inch pieces. Place the onion, celery, and ground beef in a large sauté pan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until the ground beef is thoroughly cooked. Dump the meat into a colander and let the fat drain off, washing the grease down the sink with hot running water. Put the drained meat back in the sauté pan.

　　

Step 2

Add the tomato paste, ketchup, ground mustard, and brown sugar to the pan and stir well. Cook for 20 minutes and season to taste with salt and pepper.

　　

Step 3

Spoon the meat onto hamburger buns and serve immediately.

　　College Cooking