Last night for dinner I made taco casserole. I don’t really like the word casserole (though I do like casseroles… what can I say, I’m from the Midwest), but I don’t have a better name for this dish. Anyway… it’s not so pretty but it is pretty tasty. It kinda looks like a mash of dough and meat and sauce on a plate. Appetizing, huh?

My husband says it was good in his tum tum. He likes the flavor of it, especially the crust of biscuits and spicy taco sauce. The taco sauce gave it a distinct Mexican flavor, since we don’t use it in normal tacos. It would also give Sheba distinct Mexican flavor too. [Note: we don't give our kitty taco sauce, but we're considering getting her a kitty-sized sombrero. Any ideas where one could get one of those?] And on the kitty front, she just bit Ben in the stomach… maybe because it was filled with taco goodness?

sweet kitty... sometimes!

On that note… the recipe.

Taco Casserole [from Taste and Tell]

Ingredients:

• 16 ounces taco sauce
• 12 ounce can buttermilk biscuits [10], uncooked
• about 8 ounces shredded cheese [I used remains from the fridge... Colby, Monterrey Jack, and Mozzarella]
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/4 cup water
• cooking spray

Directions:

Grease a 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Preaheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread taco sauce out over bottom of the pan. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces, then place biscuits in sauce. Toss biscuit pieces to coat. Top with half of the cheese.

In a skillet, brown ground beef. Meanwhile, heat canola oil in another skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and green pepper and cook until soft. Once ground beef is cooked through, drain and return to pan. Stir in water, chili powder, and cumin, then add green pepper/garlic mixture.

After biscuits have cooked, top with ground beef mixture and the rest of the cheese. Return to oven and bake for 5-7 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve with sour cream and hot sauce.