Pure Comfort…

Having a husband that occasionally eats 3 McDonald’s cheeseburgers and 2 McDonald’s baked apple pies* for lunch…I need to get a little creative for weekend lunches to keep the boy fed.

*Dan has been on a search to find the deep-fried pies they used to sell – he actually found a website that talked about the smaller McDonald’s having them due to space issues – they use the deep fryers to cook them…one day, victory will be his!

While I try my hardest to eat pretty healthy, a few comfort food/family recipes still find their way into the rotation. Ace’s Mom and Dad used to make “Meat Cups” for the boys and their simple recipe got passed along to me.

I made them as an appetizer for a block party a few years back and all of my drunk neighbors gobbled them up. I have to say, it is the perfect “drunk food”

For appetizers, I use my small muffin pans – 24 muffins…but this past weekend I wanted more of a lunch sized portion, heavier on the filling…

The ingredients include:
1 lb. lean ground beef (I have substituted ground turkey and shredded chicken before with excellent results)
BBQ Sauce – Sweet Baby Ray’s has become an easy favorite (I’ve made my own BBQ sauce as well)
Refrigerated Biscuits – I usually use the Pillsbury Grand Biscuits and cut them into 4’s for the smaller muffin pan. This time I used Pillsbury Grands! Jr – Golden Layers – Buttermilk, any brand will do…or you can use pizza dough or make your own.
Shredded Cheddar Cheese – Tillamook is my favorite – I definitely prefer using cheese I’ve shredded myself, pre-shredded doesn’t melt right.
Garlic – to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste

Sidenote: Speaking of Garlic – Trader Joe’s carries Dorot – a frozen crushed garlic – I often use it mid-week when I’m pressed for time. They also have frozen herbs by the same brand. LOVE them! Just pop em’ out and put the rest back in the freezer for later.

So the first step is to preheat the oven to the instructions on the biscuits. It varies depending what brand or kind you use. You then need to brown the ground beef with  salt, pepper and garlic. Once the meat has been browned and drained…add your BBQ sauce. Eyeball the amount of BBQ Sauce. I probably used a cup for the 1lb. of ground beef. You want the meat to be coated really well.

Using a non-stick muffin pan – flatten out your biscuit dough and place into each individual muffin hole. If you don’t have non-stick, I would definitely spray or coat the pan, so you can easily get them out.

You then add the meat into the biscuit cup…

and top with the shredded cheese – Like I said above, I used cheddar…but have used jack and mozzarella – just depends what your other ingredients are.

Slide them into the oven – when using the smaller muffin pan, you really need to watch them. They cook much faster.

I made sea salt oven fries for Dan and a spring mix salad for me. While we don’t have these very often, they sure are a great comfort food and substitute for Dan’s obsession with fast food lunches. He definitely prefers the smaller appetizer size, makes it easier to eat one after another.

Combos that would be good – ground turkey, chicken or beef, marinara and mozzarella – ground turkey, chicken or beef, taco seasoning or chili seasoning and sharp cheddar…the possibilities are endless and kids have loved them.