Classy Joes

Today we are going to talk about one of our family's favorite easy dinners.  Something we have formally named "The Classy Joe".

Okay, how many of you love leftovers?  Right.  Me, not so much either.  Of course cooking a larger meal is great in theory, but after day two, no body wants to eat the same thing three nights in a row.  When I do make something with ground meat or chicken, I tend to follow the "cook once serve twice" philosophy and cook an extra pound of the meat and freeze it later to be used in an alternate meal or added to soups.  This way you only have to cook the meat once with all the great flavorings, but not have to eat it repeatedly all in the same week.  On top of that when I do defrost the meat, I will then try and make it different than the first time we had it, so it technically qualifies as a brand "new" meal!  (Pay no attention to the woman behind the green curtain kids... it is the great and powerful leftover wizard, carry on, nothing to see here. I will give you a heart, some courage, and a brain - along with the same exact same meat we had last week, but prepared an entirely new way. I'm magical like that.)

Little know fact: Manwich sloppy Joes are the cowardly lion's favorite meal!

So from that humble idea of tweaking your leftovers into a new meal, came the birth of one of our best-loved family favorites, titled "The Classy Joe".

Our family just loves sloppy joes.  The classic Manwich version. What is the best part about a sloppy Joe you ask?  Why the messy way it falls out of the bun (and all over you, if you are not careful).  When my stepson was growing up as a teenager, we referred to them as "Sloppy Dereks", which was a great honor for him. Well one day I figured out if you roll the left over sloppy Joe meat with some cheese in a crescent roll, all the messy goodness get's tucked inside and suddenly we needed a new name for our fancier, cleaner sandwiches. Quick! Invite the Queen of England over... let's eat all prim and proper with our pinkies out, because there is not a mess in sight!

Little known fact: Classy Joe's are the Queen of England's favorite meal...

First, let us gather your small list of ingredients (this will make 8 Classy Joes):

1 package of crescent dough
Left over sloppy Jo meat
Finely grated cheese
Cookie Sheet

The next thing you will want to do is grate some of your favorite cheese.  The best way is to use the smallest setting on your grater for a very fine (easy to melt) cheese.

Next, you will want to take your left over meat and heat it up a bit in the microwave.  You will only be baking these for about 15 minutes, so getting the meat up to temperature from the fridge or freezer is important for a piping hot filling.  Unroll  your crescent roll triangles and place a scoop of warmed meat in the widest part of the triangle

Next add a nice smattering of shredded cheese on top

Next roll these babies up very carefully. Try to tuck in all of the filling as you roll the wedge into a crescent shape.  Pinch the ends together so nothing can escape through the tips and place on a cookie sheet.

My trusty silpat mat is great for this, as the crescents will not stick to it

Next bake at 375º for around 15 minutes.  You want to make sure the outside of the crescents are nice and golden brown.

A little bit a cheese oozed out... but that's just fine around these parts

After that serve them up to your family and wait for the Ooo's and Ahh's.

Mmmm cheesey... meaty goodness....a

Please, great Oz... I mean mom, can I have some more?

 
Another idea would be to make them half size and serve them as an appetizer at your next football gathering of kid's birthday party. They actually are kind of fun to heat up and eat for lunch the next day or a late night snack too. I hope you enjoy your "Classy Joes" as much as we do!