Barbecue beef sandwich of Smitty's Hot-Dog Stand fame is a spin on the classic sloppy joe
Friday, March 18, is National Sloppy Joe Day, so I thought I would share an old family recipe for a simple barbecue beef sandwich that used to be served at my family's hot-dog stand back in the 1960s — my family's version of a sloppy joe.
I come from a family that is passionate about food. For as long as I can remember, family gatherings always included time around a table eating and talking.
My grandparents moved to Chicago from Ottumwa, Iowa, in the 1940s when my father was a child. They settled in the Wicker Park neighborhood, where they would eventually open a small corner store at the corner of Damen and Evergreen, a few blocks away from their apartment. My grandmother would run the store while my grandfather worked his “day” job.
My memories of my grandmother, Daisy, are almost all food-related; her homemade potato bread and mustard greens and green beans, both cooked with bacon, all remind me of her. She had a large vegetable garden and canned everything she grew and more. She was a great cook and shared her skills with her children and their families, teaching my mom many of her tips during my parents' early days of marriage. My aunts and mom were all great cooks, too.
My father would tell stories of how friends were always welcome in his home for meals. He would ask if someone could join them, and my grandmother would respond, “Sure, I'll just throw another potato in the pot.” This welcoming spirit is something she impressed upon all of her seven children and was appreciated by her more than 20 grandchildren.
They would eventually close the grocery store and attempt to retire. Still, that passion for food, along with a dash of entrepreneurial spirit, led my grandparents, uncle and father to open a small restaurant on the 4300 block of West Fullerton in Chicago. As my maiden name was Smith, they named it Smitty's and served Chicago-style hot dogs, burgers, tamales, fries and barbecue beef sandwiches.
My aunt Barbara would be the one who would run the hot-dog stand during the day. She would pack up her 3-year-old son and take the bus to work, where she would fire up the equipment and be ready for the lunch rush.
She and I have had fun while I was researching this column as she shared stories of how my grandmother would work too and how she chopped onions with a homemade chopper made from a metal can that had been trimmed to a sharp edge. She said my grandmother was a farm girl and was one of the most resourceful people she had ever met.
Those onions would prove to be a key ingredient in their recipe for the barbecue beef. My aunt refers to the original recipe as the Brown's Lake Special, a recipe given to them by her sister's mother-in-law.
Ground beef generously seasoned with salt and pepper is browned with lots of onions and then mixed with bottled chili sauce, which you'll find near the ketchup and mustard in the condiment aisle. That's it! However, in a recipe I found in my mom's recipe collection, she also included a little bit of barbecue sauce for some extra zip.
I make sure to serve this sandwich on a soft hamburger bun. Sometimes, I even steam the buns for a minute or two and top the meat with a few bread and butter or dill pickle slices.
This dish is not the heavy tomato-based sloppy joe you get with a packaged mix, but a combination that accentuates the flavor of the meat. I can't help but wonder if it was nostalgic for my grandmother having lived in Ottumwa, where the historic Canteen Lunch in the Alley restaurant (canteenottumwa.com/) serves their “loose beef” sandwiches; basically, this recipe without the chili sauce.
So, after you have eaten corned beef and cabbage on St. Patrick's Day, join my family as we will be eating our favorite barbecue beef version of the sloppy joe on March 18.
Drop me an email if you remember my grandparent's grocery store or Smitty's hot-dog stand. I would love to hear from you.
• Penny Kazmier, a wife and mother of four from South Barrington, won the 2011 Daily Herald Cook of the Week Challenge. Contact Penny at DhCulinaryAdventures@gmail.com.