Well, being a wife certainly is an exploration of Terra Incognita when it comes to cooking. Don’t get me wrong, I love to cook, but I never thought I’d see myself trying to make sloppy joe sandwiches (from scratch to boot). The only thing I have to say is I came, I conquered, and I kicked some old school cafeteria butt with this recipe and I didn’t need manwich or any other sloppy joe seasoning mix.

Here’s what I did:

CHICKEN SLOPPY JOES (a la wifey)
Ingredients
2 fresh chicken breasts uncooked (no more than 8-10 ounces each)
1 quart cartoon chicken stock
red wine vinegar
Olive oil
1 red onion
2 stalks of celery
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 Jalepeno pepper
Worcestershire Sauce
1 6 ounce can of tomato paste
1  8 ounce V8 juice can
2 cloves fresh garlic
black pepper, celery seed, red pepper flakes, and rosemary (fresh if you can get it)

Take a 2 quart pot and fill with the entire cartoon of chicken stock, 4 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, and 1/3 cup olive oil.  Bring to a boil. Slice the unseasoned chicken breasts into thick strips and put it in. You must  add a lot of olive oil to keep the chicken moist so it can pulled apart later and remain tender, like pulled pork. Boil for 45 minutes or until the stock is reduced by 50% and the chicken easily pulls apart when you mash it.  If the stock reduces too much before the chicken has reached tenderness, add a little water.

Take the chicken out of the broth and set aside to cool. When cooled down slightly, begin to “pull” the chicken apart, turning it into shredded chicken (pull it apart with your fingers, or mash it with a fork- I prefer the latter)  Notice: I never mentioned salt in this recipe because you won’t need it with the broth. You can add it later on if you like.

When the chicken is shredded, set aside. Keep the broth too (which we’ll use in this recipe and you’ll even have some left over for another day as soup or GRAVY!! my fave)

Now chop all the veggies into semi-small pieces and saute them in a cast iron skillet with olive oil (put the garlic in last to keep from burning). Cook until tender.

Add the shredded chicken, a mug full of chicken stock, the entire can of tomato paste, half of the V8 juice, Worcestershire sauce to taste, as well as the spices to taste (I like a lot of black pepper for this recipe). Cook on low for 20 minutes. Stir, stir, stir, and add more stock or V8 juice bit by bit to create the famous sloppy joe consistency.

Spoon a loving heapful onto a bun and add coleslaw.  Love on a bun. 

[Valerie]