I have to tell you that with the prices of ground beef being so high, I usually use ground pork instead. Per pound, it’s a great deal and for this dish, I used 2 pounds because Steve loves his this recipe and can eat more than one. Plus they are great the next day too. I normally saute the veggies first but for this recipe, I season and brown the meat first. Pork doesn’t have a lot of flavors so this is the time for seasoning. After I add the pork to a preheated heavy bottom pot, I add 1 1/2 tablespoons of kosher salt, 1 1/2 teaspoons of black pepper, 3 tablespoons of smokey paprika, 1/2 a teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of onion powder,1 teaspoon of garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of dried oregano, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. On med-high heat I stir the seasonings and tomato paste into the pork and cook it until the pork is nice and brown, around 15 minutes or so. I then add 1 onion chopped, 1/2 a yellow and red bell pepper,
1 Poblano pepper seeded and chopped, 3 cloves of minced garlic and 1 Fresno chili finely chopped. I stir all this together until the veggies are well combined. Now comes the liquids. Turn down the heat to around medium and add 1- 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, 1- 28 ounce can of tomato puree, 1/2 cup of ketchup, 2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard, and 4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce, and 1 heaping tablespoon of brown sugar. Stir all the ingredients to combine and let this all simmer for around 40 minutes or until the sauce is the consistency you like. Now at this point, I like to do a quick taste to adjust any seasoning I may need to add. Usually, it’s just a final sprinkling of salt. All that’s left is to butter the buns and toast them off. This recipe is full proof you really can’t mess it up. It’s just making a flavorful saucy sauce for your choice of ground meat.
