Sloppy Joes

This is referred to as "loosemeat" in some places. I'm never quite satisfied with the canned products that you add to 1 lb of ground beef. This is the result of years of fiddling around. Sylvia of Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem says of her excellent fried chicken breader, "It'll make the Colonel cry." This will make Manwich cry, and it's simple, using readily available ingredients.

1 1/4 lb ground beef
1 red bell pepper (I think they're a little sweeter than green, but green will do fine), seeded, deveined, chopped to the same size as the onion
1 med onion (cheap, not sweet), chopped
2 tsp minced garlic

Brown the above, drain grease.

Season with
1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
salt, msg (optional), and pepper to taste
2 TBSP worcestershire
ketchup (sorry, didn't measure, I'll revisit this next time) - you don't want the meat swimming in ketchup, just to be pleasantly moistened by it
a little water, because the ketchup alone is too thick - about 3 or 4 parts ketchup to 1 part water

Simmer, uncovered, till vinegar aroma from ketchup is gone, about 10 min.

Serve on fresh, cheap hamburger buns, with a fork for scarfing up the filling which inevitably spills onto the plate.