I guess every bodies mother is responsible for some food habits, good or bad later in their life.  Or maybe your father or grandmother. I often tell people I know that “mom and grandma are the number one enemy of foods” Its not done on purpose Im sure, but it happens. Your mom cooks a certain food a certain way and you hate it and it sticks in your head that’show that food is supposed to be done. Example, green beans. If mom just plopped them from a can and put them in a bowl and heated them until they turned to mush or heaven forbid just microwaved them until they had hidden pockets of nuclear level hot spots then slopped them to you with public school cafeteria panache then yeah, you probably hate them. But when you get a little older, and start cooking for yourself or find somebody who knows how to cook for you. And you take some fresh green beans, boil them in very salty water, shock them to keep them green and pretty then with a little butter and pan toasted walnuts toss them with a bit more salt. Then, THEN that’s some good green beans and you can see that mama may  have just did what was quick, not what tasted good.   That’s exactly how I decided that you can taste all the food you hated when you were younger again.  But, sometimes a good old standard mama style comfort dish is just what you need. 

So last night we had my moms “Cheeseburger Casserole” I used to love this and would stop a serious game of Super Mario Bros. 3 to get some of it. When I was younger it seemed to take forever if I knew she was making it and when I didn’t know it was coming it seemed to appear out of nowhere. 28 minutes to be done from start to finish.

Gear:
1 to 1 1/2 lbs ground beef chuck
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
1 can of biscuits, not flaky just regular flavor jumbo biscuits
sliced American cheese about 5 slices
*optional, canned corn or other mixed veggies
*optional, 1 egg and a little water for egg wash.
1 large skillet for meat
1 baking dish for the whole shebang.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook beef and season to your liking, I use minced garlic and basil and cayenne pepper.
After cooked, there should be minimal draining since we used ground chuck.
Lower heat and add veggies if you choose and about half the jar of pasta sauce. Mix well and let come to a simmer for 2 minutes.
Pour this into the baking dish. Cover with cheese slices making sure to cover whole surface.
Line top with biscuits. If you like you can lightly egg wash the top to make them super golden brown when you are done. Bake for about 15 minutes. Biscuits will be golden brown and make a nice “thump” sound when…when thumped.

Not the most glamorous not the most amazing techniques but its fast and not to bad.

Do not use Velveeta cheese, it will melt way to much and it will be soupy. Swiss or pepper jack is ok, but good ol American processed cheese food is just fine!!  Do not use flaky biscuits, they just don’t work the same way. If you add veggies, beware of mushrooms, they are mostly water and will make it very soupy. If you want you can you flatten the biscuits a bit in your hands to make them larger, then layer them in alternating rows to make it looks a bit more awesome when it comes from the oven.

Sometimes you just cant replace a childhood favorite and last night that hit the spot for feeling 12 years old again and defeating the Eggplant Wizards on Kid Icarus for the NES.