Creole Crunch Sloppy Joes

Sloppy Goodness!

Growing up Sloppy Joes was something I was not going to eat! First off, I refused to eat anything that was coming out of a can, especially a sauce. Yep, even as a kid I was a picky eater. The funny part is Baby Girl was the same way. When she was little, I tried to feed her some canned ravioli because I was in a rush, she spit the stuff all in my face. Red sauce went everywhere. Let's just say I never tried that again.

Back to Sloppy Joes, in school they served this yucky, overly sweet sauce with mystery meat in it, and that forever turned me off to eating anything with the word sloppy in it. Until, I learned the truth.

Sloppy Joes are supposed to be savory with a HINT of sweetness. Sloppy Joes should not taste like a sugar factory.  And that leads me to my creation of Creole Crunch Sloppy Joes.

These are da bomb! Yep, I said it, da bomb! First off I made some quick simple barbeque sauce, why? Because Big Goo refused to give me his barbeque sauce recipe, which left me to create my own based on what I saw him do in the past.

Then I took some fresh andouille sausage, removed them from the casing and browned them up with some onions, roasted garlic and poblanos and ground turkey.

Flavor all that up, and let it simmer for a while and get ready! Oh, don't forget the crunch of the fried sweet potato chips on top!

Doesn't this just look great! It's thick, chunky, flavored, savory, it's all of that...

Just thought you needed to see it from another angle, lol...

Yep, it's Sloppy Goodness!

Creole Crunch Sloppy Joes

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1hr 15 minutes
Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground turkey or beef
1 lb. fresh andouille sausage
4-6 toasted hamburger buns
1 onion, chopped
2 poblanos, roasted, peeled, seeded, chopped
3 cloves garlic, roasted
1 bell pepper, roasted, seeded, chopped
1 tbsp. creole seasoning
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tbsp. dried crushed oregano
2 tsp. black pepper
2 tsp. smoked paprika
1 small can tomato paste
1 small can tomato sauce
1 1/2 c. barbeque sauce (recipe below)
sweet potato chips (recipe below)
extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Turn oven to broil, rinse peppers and add to a small pan, add garlic, toss in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper and roast until skin is blistered. Allow to rest five minutes, peel skin on poblanos, and see. Add all roasted vegetables a blending and chop until slightly chunky.

In a large pot add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, add onion and saute for about  5 minutes over medium heat, add andouille and ground turkey, season with 1/2 the seasoning blend, brown meat cooking for about 10 minutes, add tomato paste and cook 5 minutes more, add tomato sauce and barbeque sauce, chopped peppers and garlic and mix well. Season with remaining seasoning, allow mixture to cook about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Toast buns, add Sloppy Joes and top with sweet potato chips, ENJOY!
Bar-b-Que Sauce

Ingredients:

1c. ketchup
3/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. molasses
1 tbsp. creole seasoning
1 tbsp. mustard powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper

Directions:

Place everything in a sauce pot, mix well, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally. 

Sweet Potato Chips

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced into thin slices about 1/4"
cooking oil
salt

Directions:

Peel sweet potatoes, heat cooking oil to 350 degrees, fry sweet potatoes until brown and crisp, drain and lightly salt.