Barbecue Casserole

This one falls into the same category as my Chili Dog recipe...in other words, it is, um, not the healthiest recipe in the world. But as with the Chili Dogs, it is guiltily delicious, and as long as you only make it once in a blue moon, you are probably safe.

The key to this one is using your very favorite barbecue sauce. In our house we like Stubbs, which comes in all sorts of flavors.

And now that I look at the picture, I see that the correct spelling is Bar-B-Q sauce.

Anyway, here's the deal. Cook up some ground beef and onion and drench it in the Bar-B-Q sauce. Throw in a little Tabasco too, since we are going for broke here. Then take a can of refrigerated biscuits -- you know the ones I mean? The ones in the exploding can that we all secretly could eat 10 of if nobody was looking? Peel them apart and lay them in a casserole dish. Pour the beef mixture over it, then top the whole thing with shredded cheddar cheese. Bake until the biscuits are cooked through, the cheese is melted and the kitchen smells like Bar-B-Q Paradise.

Happy Bar-B-Q, everyone...you only go around once, after all.

BARBECUE CASSEROLE

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 3/4 cup barbecue sauce
• Tabasco sauce to taste
• 1 large can refrigerated biscuits
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375 and grease 9x13 baking dish.

2. Cook ground beef in a large skillet until it begins to brown, and then add onion. Cook until beef is fully browned. Stir in barbecue sauce and Tabasco.

3. Lay biscuits in single layer in the baking dish. Top with beef mixture. Sprinkle cheddar cheese evenly over all.

4. Bake until biscuits are cooked and cheese is melted, about 20 minutes. Let cool for about 5 minutes and then serve.

Click here for printable recipe.

Country Ham Biscuits

Remember those ham souffles from the other day? Well, as luck would have it, I still had just enough leftover ham from that little escapade to make these scrumptious little ham biscuits. They are easy as easy can be -- all you need is some leftover sliced ham, some really, really, really good mustard, and about a half hour to make these rustic little biscuits.

Now the one thing you DO have to make sure of is that you use self-rising flour. If you don't have any on hand never fear, you can make your own like this: click here. But make sure you use it, so your biscuits come out with a nice little rise to them and not like cute little bricks. All you do is mix up that flour with some butter and some buttermilk (and if you have leftover buttermilk make sure you make some of THIS!). Add in some extra flour if your dough is too sticky. Roll it out to a nice rectangle, cut it into biscuit size pieces and pop it in the oven for about 15 minutes or so. Let them cool for about 5 minutes so they are easier to cut open -- slice them in half, slather them with that nice mustard, layer on as much ham as you want and voila! Perfect, quick, delicious lunch or light dinner.

COUNTRY HAM BISCUITS, adapted from Saveur

2 1/2 cups self-rising flour

4 tbsp. butter

1 cup buttermilk

4 oz. thinly sliced cooked 


country ham or ham of choice

1. Heat oven to 425˚. Sift flour into a large bowl; mix in butter until the mixture has the consistency of cornmeal. Using a wooden spoon, stir in buttermilk to form a dough. Transfer dough to a floured work surface; knead briefly until smooth.


2. Roll dough into a 1⁄4"-thick rectangle. Cut dough into twelve 4" x 3" rectangles; transfer to a baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 15–20 minutes. Cool slightly. To serve, slice biscuits, spread with your favorite mustard and stuff with ham.

Click here for printable recipe