Stupidly Easy BBQ Pie

One evening I sat wondering WTF I should make for dinner.  I had some hamburger and some cheese.  I spotted a can of Grands biscuits in the back of the fridge, and I knew I had the makings for BBQ sauce.  Light bulb moment.

At first I thought about sloppy joe empanadas or maybe tiny bbq pizzas.  A quick look online steered me towards BBQ Pie.

1 can Grands flaky biscuits
1 lb hamburger
Your favorite bbq sauce (or whip up some like I did - I'll tell you how below)
1 cup or so of colby/jack cheese

Spray an 8x12 baking dish with PAM and press the biscuits into the bottom, around the edges, and up the sides.  Be patient and smoosh all the seams together.  Pop into the oven at the recommended temperature for about 10 minutes.  You want to give the biscuits a bit of a head start so they won't be raw on the inside.

Brown the hamburger and season with salt, pepper, garlic, onion powder (or dried onions) and drain completely.  While the meat is cooking heat up your BBQ sauce or make your own.  I use about a cup of ketchup, about a 1/4 cup of light brown sugar, a tablespoon or so of apple cider vinegar, and salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder.  I also include a few splashes of green chili sauce.  Add all ingredients into a sauce pan and heat.  Be sure to give it a taste...you can adjust according to your preference of heat, tang or sweetness.

When you're happy with the sauce, pour it over the meat and drizzle a couple of teaspoons of yellow mustard into the mix.  Stir well.

Take the now somewhat-browned biscuits out of the oven and pile on meat mixture.  Spread evenly around the dish and top with cheese.  Return the dish to the oven for another 8-10 minutes or until the edges of the biscuits are brown and the cheese is bubbly hot.

Serve with dill pickles and baked beans.  So stupidly easy.

Sweet Baby Jesus Slow Cooker Roast Beef

My mother used to cook the hell out of roast beef, so it was never one of my favorites.  Oh, she might have cooked it properly, but she didn't know how to slice it, so it ALWAYS came out dry and unforgivably unappealing.  So when I saw the following recipe for easy roast beef, of course I had my doubts.  No way could roast beef ever be that juicy good.  Color me wrong!  This roast beef is perfect...SBJ perfect.  Not only because it's amazingly flavorful, but it's sooooooo easy (even Joe can make it).  

Recipe:
Your favorite cut of meat for a roast - I prefer a nice tri-tip.
1 stick of salted butter, halved
1 packet of Au Jus dry gravy mix
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix
5-6 whole pepperoncinis

Depending on the size of the roast, you may want to cut it into larger chunks (I usually halve the tri-tip).  You can keep the fat on the meat or slice it off and toss it in the slow cooker - either way you'll get the deliciousness that comes from cooking fat in butter.

Arrange the beef in the slow cooker.  Sprinkle in the dry mixes, then toss in the butter pieces.  Load the pepperoncinis around the edges and tucked into the spaces between the meat chunks.  Put the lid on and turn the cooker on low for 8 hours.

That's it.  I swear.  No liquids, no veggies (roast them separately or make a batch of instant mashed potatoes), no kidding.  About 10 minutes before you're ready to eat, take the meat out and place on a platter.  Cover with foil and let it rest for a few minutes.  When you're ready for it, simply pull it apart with a fork...you can try to slice it if you want to, but it really will just fall apart.