Buffalo Sloppy Joes — The Comfort That Travels With You

The PCS countdown is real now. Three months until San Diego. The apartment is half-packed in my mind (not in reality — the physical packing starts in June, but the mental packing has been happening since the orders arrived). Said goodbye to the Pendleton potluck group for the second time. Twelve women (some new since my return from the desert, some the same ones from before). I brought cookies and pulled pork and a speech that I didn't plan but that came out anyway: 'This group changed my writing. This group changed my cooking. This group changed my life. You showed me that food is the thing that connects us across every difference — culture, rank, background, politics. We agree on nothing except that food matters and that showing up with a dish is the most powerful thing a woman can do.' They clapped. They cried. Lucia (still here, amazingly — her husband's career at Pendleton has been long) hugged me and said, 'Your tamales are almost as good as my grandmother's now.' Almost. From Lucia, that's a James Beard award. The second book is at 65,000 words. Sarah is pleased with the pace. The publisher is pleased with the direction. Everyone is pleased. I'm anxious, which is my version of pleased. Caleb finishes preschool next month. In September, he starts kindergarten — at a new school, at a new base, in San Diego. Another first day. Another new room to walk into. He'll do it the way Abernathy kids do it: without flinching. Hazel is sixteen months old and has become Caleb's shadow. Where he goes, she goes. What he eats, she eats. What he says, she tries to say (with varying results — 'dinosaur' in Hazel-speak is 'DI-DI,' which is close enough). The sibling bond is cemented. They're a team. Made Mom's chicken and dumplings tonight. The transition food. The 'something is ending and something is beginning' food. Three months. The dumplings are perfect. The goodbyes have begun. The kitchen travels. It always travels. San Diego, here we come. For real this time. For maybe-forever this time.

I know — the story ends with chicken and dumplings, and I meant every word of it. But the truth of military kitchens is that you cook what you have, and by the time Caleb and Hazel were both pulling at my legs and the boxes were mentally stacked in every corner, what I had was ground beef, a bottle of hot sauce, and about twenty-five minutes. These Buffalo Sloppy Joes are what came out of that chaos — messy, loud, a little spicy, and exactly right for a family that is three months from everything changing again. Mom’s chicken and dumplings will be the first thing I make in the San Diego kitchen. But these? These are what got us through the week we said goodbye.

Buffalo Sloppy Joes

Prep Time: 10 min | Cook Time: 20 min | Total Time: 30 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef (85/15)
• 1/2 cup diced yellow onion
• 1/2 cup diced celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup buffalo-style hot sauce (such as Frank’s RedHot)
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 4 brioche or potato hamburger buns, toasted
• 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese or ranch dressing, for serving
• Sliced green onions, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

1. Brown the beef. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon, until no pink remains, about 6—8 minutes. Drain excess fat, leaving about 1 teaspoon in the pan.
2. Soften the vegetables. Reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion and celery to the skillet with the beef. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more until fragrant.
3. Build the sauce. Stir in the buffalo hot sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, smoked paprika, and black pepper. Mix well to combine everything evenly.
4. Simmer and thicken. Reduce heat to low and let the mixture simmer uncovered for 6—8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and clings to the meat. Taste and adjust salt and heat level as needed.
5. Toast the buns. While the filling simmers, toast the buns cut-side down in a dry skillet or under the broiler for 1—2 minutes until lightly golden.
6. Assemble and serve. Spoon generous portions of the buffalo beef mixture onto the bottom buns. Top with crumbled blue cheese or a drizzle of ranch dressing, garnish with sliced green onions if desired, and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 480 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 22g | Carbs: 38g | Fiber: 2g | Sodium: 920mg