Canned Biscuits & One More Apple Post...

When cooking for myself, I make a lot of half or quarter recipes so that I'm not eating one dish for an entire week.  When I only used half of a can of biscuits to make one of my favorite recipes that my mom always prepared, I decided to make a delicious dessert to complete the meal so that the biscuit dough wouldn't go to waste! These very different recipes show how versatile canned dough can be.

Pizza Cups

Ingredients

3/4 lb. ground beef, browned & drained

1 6-oz. can tomato paste

1 Tbsp. onion, minced

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp. salt

1 10-oz. can refrigerated biscuits

3/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Combine the ground beef, tomato paste, onion, Italian seasoning, and salt in a skillet. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.

2. Place biscuits in a greased muffin tin, pressing to cover bottom and sides.  

3. Spoon about 1/4 cup of beef mixture into each biscuit cup. Sprinkle with cheese.

4. Bake at 400 degrees for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 10 pizza cups.

My Notes: I do not typically use the onion in my pizza cups.  Be sure to buy a small size of biscuits (I usually get the Pillsbury Grands, Jr. size - not the large Grands biscuits) - otherwise you will have a large biscuit to meat ratio.

I have one final apple recipe to add to my last post, if those recipes don't use up the fall apple supply.  I greatly enjoy watching Food Network and saw this mouth-watering recipe one Saturday morning as I was stretching in front of the TV after my morning run.  The recipe is from the show Trisha's Southern Kitchen (which is currently my second favorite Food Network show - behind the Pioneer Woman, of course).

Apple Dumplings

Ingredients

2 apples

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup margarine

1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

8 canned buttermilk biscuits

4 tsp. cinnamon

Directions

1. Peel, core, and sliced the apples into 8 slices each.  Place in bowl of lemon juice and water to slow browning.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine 1 cup of water, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, margarine, and vanilla.  Bring the sugar mixture to a boil over medium heat.

3. Separate each piece of biscuit dough into two halves.  Wrap the biscuit half around an apple slice and seal the edges.

4. Place the biscuit-covered apple slices in a 9"x12" casserole dish.  Pour the sugar mixture over top.

5. Combine the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle over top.

6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes or until golden brown.

My Notes: The original recipe can be found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/trisha-yearwood/apple-dumplings-recipe.html.