Being young and domestically-impaired had its challenges, the first being that I never thought about “what’s for dinner” until I was hungry. To me, hunger was a sign that it was time to get in the car and drive to the closest restaurant (a bad habit that I still struggle with today). Second, if I actually did think about, I had no idea how to pull a meal together. If the meat was cooked correctly, the potatoes would burn, or I’d forget to take the bread out of the oven (or put it in.) There was always some mistake.
Thankfully, in those early married years, someone gave me a “Sunday Dinner” cookbook. (I think the name was eventually changed to “The Original Sunday Dinner” because so many were copying it.) It was a compilation cookbook put together by a pastor’s wife from our denomination. It was HUGE, not the normal spiral kind of church cookbook, but thick and heavy and bound like a book. It was full of delicious recipes from pastor’s wives all across the U.S.A.
I learned how to make lasagna, Coca-Cola cake, strawberry salad and dozens of other foods. I would pick a salad, a vegetable and a meat dish and experiment with it until I mastered it.
Sadly, that cookbook is lost (or packed up for our remodel)…but it was responsible for the few early cooking successes that I had.
This recipe for Bar-B-Cups became our favorite. Using prepackaged ingredients and with a short cooking time, it featured barbeque, cheese and bread in one delicious bite.
Somewhere around that time I discovered that a lettuce wedge could be considered a salad.
I would cut a head of iceberg lettuce into wedges, drizzle them with bottled dressing and bottled bacon bits, then boil some frozen corn-on-the-cob and call it a meal. The hot buttered corn and crisp, cold lettuce were perfect compliments to the Bar-B-Cups. It wasn’t the healthiest meal, but it was good and I felt like Martha Stewart when I finished it. (Actually, it was before Martha and the only cooking show I had ever watched was Julia Childs and I’m pretty sure neither of them would ever have made Bar-B-Cups – but you get my meaning.) Over the years I made several variations of it, but the original was always our favorite.
These days we eat very differently in our home, but on occasion, nothing satisfies like that original comfort food. Enjoy!
Ingredients:
1 lbs. lean ground beef
1 c. bottled BBQ sauce (pick your favorite)
1 c. grated cheese
1 can of refrigerated biscuits (I use Grands)
Salt & Pepper
You will need:
Skillet
Spatula (I use a wooden spoon)
Muffin pan
Colander
Cooking spray, oil or butter to grease pan
Preheat the oven to 350. In a skillet, brown the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper – I usually do 4 – 8 turns of each grinder that I use.*
While it is browning grease the muffin pan. You can use cooking spray, but it is a bit healthier to use butter or oil. (Just put a bit of oil on a paper towel and wipe around each muffin cup.)
Open the can of biscuits. With your hands, press each one flat. Place in muffin pan. (I stretch them up the sides as much as I can without tearing the dough.)
When your meat is brown, pour off the excess fat. (I drain mine in a colander placed in my kitchen sink. You don’t want the grease in your drain, so put the colander over a bowl and discard the grease after it cools. It will scoop right out and into the trash then.)
Put the meat back in the hot skillet and stir in the BBQ sauce. Let simmer on low for about five minutes.
Turn off the heat. Divide the meat evenly into the biscuit cups. Top with grated cheese. Bake at 350 until biscuits are golden and cheese is bubbly – usually 15 to 20 minutes. (Read the directions on your brand of biscuits for an estimate – then just watch until the biscuits are cooked like you like them.)
We like ours still a bit soft on bottom.
Let cool for five minutes. Loosen the edges with a knife and serve. Feeds four.
*If you put a pot of water on the stove when you start your meat, it should be boiling by the time you put the Bar-B-Cups in the oven. Drop your frozen corn in at that point and it will be done when the biscuits are finished. The lettuce wedges take all of two minutes. I do those when the Bar-B-Cups are cooling.
I remember that cookbook!