Turkey Sloppy Joes Are the Perfect Sunday Night Comfort Food

Turkey Sloppy Joes are the perfect comfort food and healthy too.

These Turkey Sloppy Joes are one of my favorite Sunday afternoon dishes. They're a crowd pleaser, thanks to the fun cheddar buttermilk biscuits I serve them with. Everyone has a different technique in assembling their Sloppy Joes - some like to dip, others like to bite into a messy sandwich. And if my dream of a little quiet time on the couch doesn't materialize, I can still make dinner happen in less than an hour.

Before kids took over my schedule and my life, I used to try to squeeze every minute of fun out of Sunday to postpone the Monday blues as long as possible. I would run around in the Manhattan sunshine shopping, doing errands, and finish off the day with dinner and a movie, walking home hand in hand with my husband and tumbling into bed. But now my Sunday fantasies are much more mellow; an ideal Sunday afternoon has me sitting on the couch with a great book in hand while dinner cooks slowly in the kitchen.

Kicking off the week with a low fat but high flavor turkey dish that is studded with vegetables doesn't hurt either. Makes me feel like we're kicking off the week on a good note, and leftovers tide me over for lunch for a few days as well.

Turkey Sloppy Joes (adapted from Gourmet 2004)
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 32 oz can whole tomatoes in juice
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons molasses
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 1/4 teaspoons Tabasco

1) Heat oil in a wide and deep saucepan over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then saute onion, celery, and garlic until golden about 10 minutes. Add turkey and saute, stirring occasionally and breaking up large clumps with a wooden spoon, until meat is no longer pink. Stir in salt and pepper.
2) Puree tomatoes with juice, ketchup, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and Tabasco in a blender until smooth. Add to turkey and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce is thickened, 25 to 30 minutes.
3) Serve turkey sloppy joes on split biscuits. They're even tastier the second day.


Cheddar Buttermilk Biscuits (directly from Gourmet without changes)
Ingredients
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cups cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
6 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated
3 tablespoons finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
3 scallions, finely chopped
1 1/3 cups well-shaken buttermilk

1) Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter one large baking sheet.
2) Whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then blend in butter wtih your fingertips or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in cheese and scallions with a wooden spoon, then add buttermilk and stir until just combined.
3) Drop dough in 8 equal mounds about 2 inches apart on baking sheet. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool to warm, about ten minutes, then cut in half horizontally.

Fill your Kitchen with Warmth with this Exotic Pot Roast

Yesterday we woke up to winter. When we lifted the blinds, the world had turned to gray. Snowflakes were everywhere, twinkling softly in the muted morning light. Our breath fogged up the cold windowpanes and this new world made us all react differently. The kids sprang into action, tearing apart closets for snow boots and snow pants. I dove back into my warm bed and threw the covers over my head.

A few minutes later, when Jack's increasingly panicked search threatened to fill the house with mismatched gloves and boots, I started thinking about what to make for dinner. Filling the house with comforting smells seemed like the only way to deal with the beginning of a brutal Chicago winter.

I put my slow cooker to work, slowly braising an exotic pot roast. I filled the pot with exotic ingredients, warm, exciting flavors to help us remember summer: olives, cinnamon, cumin... All day long, as the snowflakes kissed the ground, freezing our landscape into a harsher reality, our kitchen smelled like Morocco.

And later that night, when huddled around the table with our cheeks still red and chafed from the cold, the steaming bowls of this exotic pot roast made us smile and relax, truly warm for the first time that day. I love that this dish introduces kids to new spices without it being spicy.

I served it with couscous tossed with roasted butternut squash.

The Exotic Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Ingredients:
1 (2 lb.) chuck roast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cumin
Vegetable Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into small, coarse chunks (like little jewels says my 4 year old)
1 cup tomato juice
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup canned Kalamata olives, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup dark raisins

1. Heat oil in skillet. Sprinkle both sides of the chuck roast with the salt and cumin. Brown the meat on both sides on very high heat. Remove from pan and put in a crock pot.
2. Add onion, carrots, tomato juice, vinegar, olives and raisins to the crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for about 6 until meat is tender.
3. Serve on a bed of couscous with the sauce and chunks of olives, carrots, and raisins poured on top. Alternatively, you can take a couple of cups of the juice and "chunkies" and puree in a blender for a smoother sauce.

I Have a Lover and She Made Me an Exotic Pot Roast

I have a lover. She (yes, she!) is attentive, reliable, dependable. We've been meeting a few times a week for the last couple of months and quickly moved from a casual dalliance to a passionate, committed affair. When I touch her, she lights up, flashing her eagerness to be of use. My husband is fully aware of this passionate love affair, and he's thrilled about it. My lover makes us both very, very happy.

I'm having a love affair with my shiny, nickel-red slow cooker.

My lover is an inanimate object, but that doesn't make our relationship any less fulfilling. I could sing her praises all day long.
My lover is a hard worker: she suffuses the house with succulent aromas that bring smiles to our faces when we come in from the cold.
My lover is a magician: she transforms a quickly assembled mishmash of ingredients into a deeply flavored stew that melts in our mouths.
My lover is budget conscious: one of her creations can be repurposed for multiple lunches and dinners in a week.
My lover is low maintenance:  just one touch of a button and she's off and running, slow cooking away.
And most importantly, my lover is cheap: I picked her up on a whim for $30.

I'm not alone in my passion. Others have succumbed before me, and others will fall after me. Some, like the lovely Stephanie, have dedicated an entire year of their life to just crock pot cooking. I'm a shallow fickle lover. I know that I will desert my lover with the first hint of spring, but she can rest easy, she will have earned it. And next fall, when we wake for the first time to witness our lawn having been kissed by frost, I'll fall head over heels in love with my slow cooker all over again.

I scored this recipe from Amy, one of the moms in my local MOMS club group. It has an exotic sweet twist that will snap you out of the boredom of these winter months and will make you dream of faraway lands. it's delicious, and virtually effortless, like most slow cooker dishes.


Exotic Slow Cooker Pot Roast
Ingredients:
1 (2 lb.) chuck roast
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cumin
Vegetable Oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 cup tomato juice
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup canned Kalamata olives, drained and roughly chopped
1/2 cup dark raisins

1. Heat oil in skillet. Sprinkle both sides of the chuck roast with the salt and cumin. Brown the meat on both sides on very high heat. Remove from pan and put in a crock pot. 
2. Add onion, garlic, tomato juice, vinegar, olives and raisins to the crockpot and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for about 6 until meat is tender. 
3. Serve on a bed of couscous with the sauce and chunks of olives and raisins poured on top. Alternatively, you can take a couple of cups of the juice and "chunkies" and puree in a blender for a smoother sauce.