Tomato Free Sloppy Joes and Homemade Potato Salad

The following is a post I copied and pasted back in January from a friends Facebook feed. I have no idea who the originator of the recipe was - that is the thing about Facebook - things get forwarded and copied so much ... (This is as it was posted, I have not corrected any errors)

Philly Cheese steak Sloppy Joes 1 lb ground beef 1 small sweet onion chopped 1 green bell pepper seeded and chopped 1/4 cup steak sauce (like A1) 1 cup beef broth provolone cheese buns Crumble the ground beef into a skillet and add the chopped onion and pepper. Begin to cook, when the beef is about half cooked, add the broth and steak sauce. Cook until all items are done and allow to simmer and cook down/thicken. I used hoggie buns from the bakery. Slice them open and filled 6 with the meat mixture. Then each was topped with a slice of provolone cheese. This was placed under the broiler for 3 minutes.

I  kept going back and looking at the recipe, wondering how it would taste. I save a great many recipes on the computer, and actually prepare very few of them. I make sloppy joes from scratch often, I call it Betty's Barbecue ( That is a tale for another day!) but there are times I do not want a real strong tomato/vinegar presence in my food. I work with a woman named Melissa who recently told me that Lee & Perrins Steak Sauce was her favorite, and that our regional grocery store chain, Food City, had begun to sell it again. I am fond of A-1, but Roger is not enthusiastic, so I thought, why not try the Lee & Perrins, using this recipe?

The beef broth I bought contained 2 cups, so I used two pounds of ground chuck. I like mushrooms, and Food City had sliced baby bellas on special for 99 cents, so I bought a carton. I used a very small amount of green pepper, because I find that too much green pepper in cooked dishes can be overpowering. The steak sauce I bought was labeled "bold", and when I tasted a drop, I found it had a very pleasant hot punch, but not too hot. I did purchase some hoagie rolls and provolone cheese, but tested the final result on toast with a slice of American cheese. It is my understanding that Philly Cheesesteaks traditionally use Cheez Whiz, so the American probably gives a more authentic taste. This is a very loose meat filling, so I would recommend eating it with a fork and knife regardless of your bread or cheese choice. Our accompaniments tonight will be mild banana pepper rings and homemade potato salad. I am also sharing my basic, bare-bones homemade potato salad method - which is short on exact measurements, because that is the way I cook most of the time

So here is my final ingredient list and instructions. 

• 2 pounds ground chuck
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1/2 cup Lee & Perrins Bold Steak Sauce
• 8 ounces sliced baby bella mushrooms
• 1/2 Vidalia onion, large dice
• 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced into strips

Heat skillet over medium heat and crumble beef into pan, breaking up with a fork (Oh, I use one of those hard plastic pasta servers to do this step. They work great.) Once the meat has begun to cook, add mushrooms, onion, and pepper. Stir frequently to make sure the meat is in small uniform pieces. Once the meat has released all of the fat and the vegetables have softened, drain the juices and return to the stove. Add the beef broth and steak sauce. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for at least 15 minutes, this will reduce the broth and thicken the mixture. 

Tomato Free Sloppy Joes

• 8 to 10 medium redskin potatoes
• 2 eggs
• sweet pickle relish
• 1/2 Vidalia onion, diced
• about 2 cups mayonnaise
• one healthy squirt French's yellow mustard
• about 1 tablespoon sugar
• salt to taste
• fresh ground black pepper to taste
• sweet paprika for garnish

Place whole, unpeeled potatoes and eggs in a saucepan. Cover with water and add about one tablespoon of salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. After about five minutes remove the eggs and set aside to cool. After ten minutes, test the potatoes to see if tender using a paring knife. If the knife easily slides through the potatoes, they are done. Drain the water and set aside to cool. I usually let the potatoes cool for about 20 minutes. While they are cooling, I peel and chop the eggs and dice the onion. Put the mayonnaise, mustard, and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Stir to combine. Add the eggs, onion, and pickle relish. Peel the cooled potatoes and cut into whatever size is your preference. I prefer chunks (or a dice) that are less than 1 inch in size. Add the potatoes to the mixing bowl and stir. At this point, taste test for salt, pepper, and mayonnaise. Adjust to suit your preference. Transfer to a storage/serving bowl and sprinkle with paprika. Chill in refrigerator, or if you are like me, have a bite or two first! You can tell where I sampled by the smear on the left side of the bowl.

Homemade Potato Salad