One of the most thoughtful bridal shower gifts I received was a hand-painted recipe box from my cousin Rita. Tucked inside was a collection of recipes she had gathered from women “in the valley” where I grew up. I was browsing through my recipe cards the other day and came across this one:
She attributed it to my Great-Aunt Helen (her mother-in-law), but the recipe is a common one. In Central PA, what we call a barbecue sandwich is what most of the rest of the world calls a sloppy joe. We don’t mean to offend those of you who believe that “barbecue” can only mean a smoked meat, such as pork or beef brisket or ribs. It’s just what we call it. We know it’s weird and we don’t care.We will agree to disagree.
All it is, is ground beef and some onion, in a sweet and sour(ish), ketchup-based sauce. It’s a staple at picnics and reunions and other events where a crowd needs to be fed, because it’s easy to make in quantity.
If you asked me to come up with a quintessential Pennsylvania picnic lunch, I’d picture a BBQ on a Holsum hamburger bun, a scoop ofpepper cabbage, and a big pile of Middleswarth Potato Chips– BBQ, or maybe plain. Or both. Oh, and a birch beer to drink.
(Aside: We PA people are passionate about our potato chips and our cult-like devotion to this one brand in particular. In searching for links to include above, I noticed that Amazon has a Middleswarth Weekender listed for $16 and two of the resealable 15 ounce bags for $26, and a 12-pack of Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer for $27. That’s WAY more than you’d pay for them in a PA grocery store, but they know we are serious about our regional snack foods, and those of us who live in areas where we can’t buy these items locally are willing to pay to have it shipped to our far-flung homes.)
When I was a kid, we had friends from Iowa who visited us several times. When presented with barbecue sandwiches, they said, oh- these are kind of likeMaid-Rites! Having never been to a Maid-Rite myself, I had to look it up – it’s a chain of restaurants with locations in the Midwest, many of them in Iowa. Their featured menu item is what they call a “loose meat” sandwich, which appears to be an accurate, if somewhat odd, description. This recipe is representative of others I saw – it’s similar to our barbecue, except there’s less sugar and nothing “red” (ketchup or BBQ sauce) in it.
(Maid-Rite devotees, feel free to weigh in on this!)
As far as the barbecue sandwich recipe goes – it’s another one that I don’t really measure, I just make it by taste. Generally following Aunt Helen’s recipe above, I’d brown a pound of ground beef with half a finely-chopped onion (which you can skip if you want), and drain off the fat / liquid. Then I would add, oh, maybe 1/4 cup (or more) of brown sugar, a little more than that of ketchup, a healthy squirt of classic yellow mustard, and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Hers calls for vinegar – I’ve never added that. I often will add some onion salt or powder. Mix it up, turn the heat down, and let it simmer till the sauce is nice and… saucy. You don’t want it to be too runny.
Serve it on a white hamburger bun. Or a potato roll. Pro tip: Flip the bun over so the thicker top is on the bottom; that will keep it from getting soggy before you can finish it.
I borrowed this photo from a similar recipe posted on AllRecipes.com (it uses vinegar but not Worcestershire):
