Tidy Joey sandwich doesn’t cheat on flavor; Patriots at Bills game day eats

Whether it’s tailgating or homegating, fans of the Buffalo Bills are known to be elite tier when it comes to food. Wingin’ It returns for it’s eighth season of Mad Hatter-esque recipes taking inspiration from the Buffalo Bills and their opponents.

Tidy Joey

Here at Buffalo Rumblings we like to honor football history. With the New England Patriots coming to town, Wingin’ It wants to celebrate the team’s dynasty. That’s right! It’s cheater week, where I take shortcuts to make my life easier while still delivering results.

This week’s recipe is a Tidy Joey. A Sloppy Joe variant that uses onion rings to help keep your lap clean! I’m cheating this edition by using my own recipe for Sloppy Joe meat found here, and simply doing a quick run through of the beer batter and frying process for the onion rings.

Tidy Joey

Makes: About four servings
Active Time: 10-15 minutes
Total Time: 10 – 15 minutes

Ingredients

Canola oil
1 large onion (I prefer red)
2 cups flour, divided
3/4 cup beer
Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste
Sloppy Joe meat (see separate recipe)
Hamburger buns

You will need: Sauté pan, long handled fork or tongs, mixing bowl, pie tin or similar for dredging, paper towels

1. Pour at least a half-inch of oil into pan; preheat on MED/HIGH (about 7/10 on my stove).
2. Slice onion into segments about quarter-inch to half-inch thick (there’s room for some preference here).
3. Separate onions into rings.
4. Dredge or toss onions in flour and set aside.
5. Make batter: Combine one cup flour, beer, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in mixing bowl.
6. Dredge onions in batter one ring at a time; carefully add to oil.
7. Flip onion rings carefully with fork or tongs after about 2 min in the order you placed them in the pan.
8. Fry continuously until light golden on both sides, flipping as needed
9. Remove onions rings with fork or tongs and carefully place them on paper towels to catch dripping oil.
10. Repeat until you’re out of onion, batter, or just sick of making onion rings.
11. Place two onion rings on bottom side of hamburger bun as seen in picture; fill with Sloppy Joe meat; add the top half of the bun and enjoy!

Wingin’ It Tips and Prep Gallery

If I’m being completely honest, I’ve done a batter recipe before too. This is a little bit of a different version so it’s technically new, but the real recipe here is the assembly. I’m honestly floored at how well the onion rings prevent the sandwich from bursting. And they’re delicious. I do have a few tips to share while we’re at it.

The batter isn’t an exact science, but luckily there’s some wiggle room with what will work. There’s a GIF right below showing the viscosity that I used, but you can go a little thicker too. Start with three-quarters of a cup of...