Comfort Food: Sante Fe Soup & Drop Biscuits

Now that Fall has finally graced Jacksonville with her presence, however fleetingly, our family has been thrown full-throttle into soup and chili mode. This is one of the things that we love most about fall, actually. It goes way back to Lee's 2L year at Richmond, when we made homemade Jambalaya on the first cold weekend of fall.  We had no money and a grocery list the size of an arm, but we weren't deterred. In the end, the secret ingredient [according to Lee] was half a bottle of Miller Lite. And then there was the Emeril Lagasse joke... it really was quite funny. You weren't there, of course, but you can trust me on this one.

ANYWAY. Since we've established that I'm slightly culinarily challenged, you won't be surprised that Lee was the one who made our Sante Fe Soup last night. He even grocery shopped [I know! How lucky am I?]  Plus, the recipe is super easy to make.  I've listed it below, in case you're interested.  It's a nice option when you want something like chili (chili-esque?), but not chili-chili.

The soup was thrown together while I was putting MB to bed last night, and then we sat on the deck [shivering, actually - it was 60!] sipping Dogfish Head Punkin Ales while it simmered on the stove.  I don't normally like to be cold, but when I remembered how vehemently I had complained about the lack of real seasons here, I decided to suck it up, put on my fleece, and enjoy the cool weather. And after, a FEAST was had.

Tonight--leftovers, which will probably be even better than the first round! I even managed to whip up some drop biscuits tonight. BAM!

Sante Fe Soup
Brown together 2 lbs. ground beef and 1 onion.
Add: 2 pkg. Ranch dressing mix, 2 pkg. taco seasoning.
Stir.
Then add:
1 16oz. can black beans
1 16oz. can kidney beans
1 16oz. can pinto beans
1 can rotel
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 cans yellow corn
2 c. water


Simmer 2 hours.
Garnish with sour cream and shredded cheese.


Quick Drop Biscuits
2 c. Bisquick
1 stick butter, melted
1 c. sour cream


Mix ingredients together and spoon into a greased mini-muffin pan.
Bake at 400 for 11 minutes or until lightly browned.