Ever have a week that you wish you could start over? I desperately want to go back to last Monday morning, before I had to make the decision to start my mother on hospice care.
The 14 year battle with lung cancer is coming to its conclusion. It is not over yet, but there comes a time when even the bravest and strongest warriors must lay down their arms, and surrender.
I am going to do my best to keep up with posting here, but forgive me if the post is just a photograph or a previously posted recipe. Some of early posts were seen by about three people total, so hopefully they’ll be “new to you.”
This recipe is one of my mother’s favorite. I remember her making this tamale pie all the time when I was a kid. I would steal the black olives and stick them on my fingers, then eat them one by one. I’ve already shared that joy with my daughter, since your fingers don’t fit into the olives once you grow up.
This recipe for tamale pie is a little different than others, in that you do not make a cornbread batter to spread on top. You just sprinkle the cornmeal over the juicy, spiced meat, which then absorbs all that flavor.
Recipe: Tamale Pie
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 cans (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes with 1/2 can water
- 1 cup black olives, chopped
- 1 1/2 cups corn meal, divided
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese blend
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Over medium high flame, heat the olive oil in a large skillet.
- Add the onion and red pepper to the pan, stirring occasionally, cook 3-5 minutes, until vegetables are softened.
- Add the garlic, cook about 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add the ground beef, chili powder, salt, and cumin to the pan, stirring to mix well.
- Brown the beef, then add the tomatoes and half can of water, and the olives.
- Spoon about half the ground beef mixture into a large, deep casserole.
- Sprinkle half of the cornmeal evenly over the ground beef.
- Top the cornmeal with the remaining ground beef, then sprinkle the the remaining cornmeal over the top.
- Spread the cheese evenly over the entire top of the cornmeal.
- Bake the tamale pie for 45-50 minutes.
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)
Cooking time: 45 minute(s)
