Thursday, January 12, 2012

Special Post: Twinsicles Side-by-Side Comparison

A couple of weeks ago, the babe and I had a playdate with my self-anointed "awesome-sauce" friend (and her truly awesome-sauce daughter) when she mentioned that she had tried a recipe she found in Cook This, Not That! After further discussion, we determined it was the same exact one I had tried a few weeks before. While she and her family really enjoyed it, we were not that impressed.

Cue light bulb moment!

We came up with the brilliant idea of selecting another recipe from this very same cookbook and cooking it the same night, to see how we fared this time. We often agree on a lot of things - hence the "twinsicles" note above (her word, not mine) - so we knew this would prove to be an interesting little experiment.

Here's how it went down:
  • I selected a recipe I thought we would all like and she agreed to make it.
  • Our schedules did not allow for same-night cooking, so I made this tonight, and she made it earlier in the week.
  • She prepared a review - which I have not read until I posted it below - and sent it to me.
Turkey Sloppy Joes
Source: Cook This, Not That by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, 2010

Ingredients:
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced (used pre-diced yellow, red & green)
  • 1 lb lean ground turkey
  • 1.5 c. tomato sauce (used no-salt added)
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste (used no-salt added)
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 tbsp chili powder
  • Salt/pepper to taste (skip)
  • 10-12 shakes Tabasco or other hot sauce
Directions:
  • Heat oil in a large skillet over med heat. Add onion & bell pepper and cook for about 2 mins, until softened. Add the turkey and cook, suing a wooden spoon to break up the meat, until the turkey is lightly browned. Add the tomato sauce, paste, sugar, vinegar, Worcestershire, chili powder, salt/pepper, and hot sauce.
  • Turn the heat down to low. Simmer for 10 mins, until liquid has reduced and the sauce fully coats the meat. Divide among four rolls.
Yield: 4 servings
Per serving (includes rolls, I think): 340 cals; 12g fat (2.5g sat); 820mg sodium

Compared to (according to the authors): Subway 6-inch meatball marinara sandwich at 580 cals, 23g fat and 1,530 mg sodium. That's more sodium than I eat in a day, btw.

Reviews:
I don't know if the kid was super hungry, but he pretty much swallowed his sandwich whole. The hubs and I also enjoyed. This was much better than the other recipe I tried, and I'd like to think I cut down on the sodium by using no-salt added products. And, IMO, this makes more than four servings (kid and I each had one sandwich, hubs had two, and we have enough left for one more). Plus, it was ridiculously fast to throw together.

Ranking:
Four Forks

REVIEW FROM TWINSICLE:

Going into this dinner, I didn’t have high hopes considering the Tuch told me the last time he ate Sloppy Joe’s (2 years ago) he got the stomach flu later that night… and I’m sure you can figure out where the story goes from there. However, the recipe looked super easy and I didn’t feel like putting much effort into dinner, so if he ended up puking again, it would’ve made a really awesome story (except, he didn’t… bummer). I followed the recipe pretty much exactly – I replaced the lean ground turkey with lean ground beef, though. (Ground turkey makes me want to vom.) I also thought I had brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce in the cupboard, but I was mistaken… so really, the recipe wasn’t “pretty much exact” but it was close enough, IMO.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the meal, though I think it could’ve used a little more salt. And maybe more chili powder. And maybe would’ve been fun with some garlic. But regardless, I ate it, and I’m not the biggest Sloppy Joe’s fan. The Tuch, on the other hand, wasn’t into the meal (though he did have seconds). “How many forks can I give this?” “Four.” “I give it two.” Two forks because it wasn’t a dreadful meal, but he never wants me to make it again.  But, I really didn’t think it was that bad. Methinks it goes back to the night two years ago.

1 comment:

  1. Two possibilities on why I loved it and the Tuch didn't... One - my wifey is the best cook in the world. Two - the Tuch is nuts. I think both are likely true.

    SF

    ReplyDelete