Date I made this recipe: April 2, 2016
White Trash Cooking
by Ernest Matthew Mickler
Published by: The
Jargon Society/10 Ten Speed Press
ISBN: 0-89815-189-9;
© 1986
Purchased at Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks- NYC
Recipe: Sloppy Joe's on Cornbread – p. 35
There's nothing more fun than enjoying 60 degrees one day
and then 30's (with wind gusts) the next, right? Spring weather can be so fickle.
And so when the temperatures dipped, I trotted out my usual
cookbook suspects – soups, stews, and casseroles - hoping to make something
warm to get me through this cold snap.
But then I realized I was playing it too safe and that I had
so many more interesting cookbooks in my vast collection to use that I needed
to break out of the mold.
So I looked through a couple of shelves and pulled White Trash Cooking just because I
could.
Typically, when folks learn about my cookbook collection,
they usually ask if I have certain cookbooks in my collection. Like there's some sort of rule for collecting
but alas, there is not. Although several people – book publishers,
chefs and those involved in culinary arts or writing, will suggest things that
you must have, each collector's collection tends to run to their taste. Mine tends to run toward interesting covers,
interesting (sometimes hilarious) titles and out of print books. Still, I have been somewhat predictable when
it comes to expectations: "Do you
have Irma Rombauer's The Joy of Cooking?" "Yes." "Julia Child?" Of course.
"Betty Crocker?" People
please—is the Pope named Francis?
Some though, get creative:
"Do you have Peg Braken's I
Hate to Cook? (Always asked by
someone who hates to cook, co figure.) "Yes."
And then several years ago, when this book was popular, I
got asked – all the time – "Do you have White Trash Cooking?" and believe it or not, the answer was
"No."
"No?"
"That's right. No."
It's not that I didn't want the book, it was just that at
the time, I was on the hunt for more elusive books than that.
Finally, in July 2011, I was in NYC at my favorite cookbook
book store – Bonnie Slotnick Cookbooks
– when I saw it and bought it. When in Rome ... Still, note that I
bought the book in 2011 but just now got around to using it. Timing is sometimes everything.
Now you may be asking yourself how the heck a Sloppy Joe
recipe got itself included in a "white trash cookbook" and trust me,
I asked myself the same thing. I mean,
it wasn't like I was lacking in opportunity to cook something white trashy like
"Mock Cooter (turtle) Soup" (I don't do turtles, mock or otherwise) or
"Mary Linder's Washday Soup" or even "Big Mamma's Cracklin Corn
Pone," but none of these spoke to me (some for good reason!). Instead, I went for a favorite of mine and
many – Sloppy Joes. I'm not sure why, I
just know that I wanted it. (By the way, you know this book is southern by the
recipe names: most of them have two,
such as "Edna Rae's Smothered Potatoes," or "Netty Irene's
Macaroni & Cheese." Bless.)
This recipe differs from other S.J. recipes though, because
it is served over cornbread. Perhaps this is what pushes it into the
"white trash" category? For
your convenience, there are a couple of cornbread recipes in this book. But I wasn't exactly in the mood to make
S.J.'s and cornbread too, and so I opted to buy already-prepared cornbread from
Kowalski's Market.
Bad decision and here's why:
there are two kinds of cornbread in this world – sweet (sugar added) and
not sweet (no sugar added). I misread
the label and thought I was buying "not sweet" (I really should have
known better but was in a hurry) and let me tell you, sweet cornbread does not
go with Sloppy Joe mix. Does not. So if you make this dish, take the time to bake
non-sweetened cornbread; you'll thank me later. Although now that I think about
it, it would have been nice had the cookbook author mentioned the cornbread
issue for all of us who live north of the Mason-Dixon line and are not always familiar
with such things.
It would been nice to also mention or at least elaborate on
the can size of two ingredients listed:
1 "can" tomato puree or ketchup and 1 "No. 2" can
Libby's tomatoes. Thank goodness for
smart phones because I Googled "No. 2 can" while at Target and found that it's 1 pound, 4
ounces or 2 ½ cups. And then I guessed
on the size of the "tomato" puree, deciding on a small can – 8 ounces
or 1 cup – for this recipe. It all
turned out okay but dang, I hate guessing!
This cookbook serves
up a lot of southern favorites for every type of cooking category: meats, vegetables, sandwiches, salads, desserts
and the like. There are four recipes
alone for sweet pones (a type of cornbread), more than a few mentions of sweet
potatoes, and of course, a recipe for Ice Tea South." As I mentioned above
though, I think the jury is still out as to whether or not "Sloppy
Joes" is a "white trash" recipe.
I mean, half the planet ate them growing and it remains one of my
favorite "comfort food" meals.
In fact, I've told this story before, but years ago when I
was working on a project in downtown Minneapolis ,
I had a hankering for Sloppy Joes. And
unbelievable hankering as in "I need to have some right now!"
Now some of you may know, but others may not, that the vast
majority of buildings in downtown Minneapolis
(and also downtown Saint Paul )
are connected by indoor walkways we call skyways. Many small businesses, including restaurants,
mostly quick serve, line these skyways that stretch for miles.
So when I got this hankering for Sloppy Joes, I asked around
the office to see if anybody could think of a place that served them (they couldn't)
and even called a few places, but alas nothing.
But then a miracle happened: one
day, weeks later, I was walking through one of the skyways and noticed a daily special
signboard outside of The Brothers Deli
(6th Street
skyway) advertising Sloppy Joes. I
inquired whether or not this was a one time deal and was told they usually
offer them every Wednesday. I love
Wednesdays! I especially loved Sloppy
Joes Wednesdays. I was not necessarily
in love though, with the weight I put on but that's another story for another
day.
And now back to the cookbook...for those of you who love White Trash Cooking, please know that
there is a White Trash Cooking II
Recipes for Gatherin' and a 25th anniversary edition as
well. I have got to put White Trash Cooking II Recipes for
Gatherin' on my acquisition list pronto because I'd sure hate to miss out
on a great dish for all that gatherin' I do.
If you have a hankerin' for Sloppy Joe's on Corn Bread, here's a recipe for you (serves 6):
1 pound ground beef
½ cup chopped bell pepper
1 grated carrot
1 can tomato puree or ketchup (Ann's Note: use a small, 8
ounce can)
1 teaspoon black pepper
¾ cup chopped onions
½ cup chopped celery
1 No. 2 can Libby's tomatoes (Ann's Note: 1 pound, 4 ounces or 2 ½ cups. And by the way, I have no idea what type of
tomatoes were called for so I used diced.
The result was a rather chucky mix so you might want to pulse them for a
bit in a Cuisinart.)
¾ teaspoon salt
Cornbread (Ann's Note:) Do NOT use cornbread containing sugar (for
the record, damn that label print was tiny on the store-bought cornbread I
used!). You're looking for a sugar-free
cornbread, such as you'd use for cornbread stuffing. Google "Cornbread recipes without
sugar." If you own this cookbook,
there are several recipes which should suffice.
Brown ground beef in big iron skillet. Stir in onion, bell pepper, celery, and fry
until brown. Add carrot, tomatoes and
puree. Stir mixture well, season with
salt and pepper. Simmer for one hour and
serve hot over hot-buttered cornbread.
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