Tamale Pie

Taken from Sunset Favorite Recipes

Ingredients and directions

Saute together

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped green pepper
• 1 minced clove garlic (or 2)

until onions are golden. Then add

• 12 oz. can of corn, drained
• 15 oz. can of tomatoes, drained
• (my addition) 15 oz. can of black beans (or soak your own)
• 2 t. salt
• 4-6 t. chili powder (I prefer all 6)
• pepper to taste

and simmer for 5 minutes.

Here you can thicken with 1/2 c. of cornmeal in 1 c. water, or with 1/2 c. rice. If there's a lot of water that came off the vegetables, you won't need to add so much.

Stir in a small can of sliced black olives and spread mixture into a 9 x 13 pyrex baking pan. Now you need to make a topping:

Original cornmeal topping. Mix

• 1.5 c. milk
• 1/2 t. salt
• 2 T butter

and scald the milk. Gradually stir in 1/2 c. cornmeal and cook stirring until thickened. Stir in

• 1 c. shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 beaten eggs

and spread the whole over the meat mixture.

Improvised topping. I couldn't get hold of any cornmeal, but someone gave me a Betty Crocker cornbread and muffin mix (6.5 oz.), which I substituted flatly for the cornmeal in the above. Notwithstanding the fact that it's a different quantity of dry mix, and notwithstanding the fact that the mix called for much less liquid than the above, the substitution worked and tasted good.

Anyway. When you've got the topping spread over the meat mixture, bake it uncovered at 375F for about 40 minutes. Top will brown. 8-10 servings.

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