Tamale Pie

This was somewhat of a difficult dish for me to prepare. It smelled so dog gone good while it was cooking that I wanted to start eating it before it made it to the casserole dish.

Tamale Pie -

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter Dutch oven and sauté 1 medium onion chopped, 1 cup baby bella or white mushrooms, and 1 cup of thinly sliced green onions over high heat until softened, about 4 minutes.

Then drop in 2 lbs. of lean ground meat, and cook it down until it fully browns. Strain the beef and veggies and set it aside. Remove all the juices that accumulated in the pot and put the pot back on the burner, and add to it the 2 cans of Rotel tomatoes. I used one can of original Rotel tomatoes and 1 can of Rotel with lime and cilantro. Cook the tomatoes for about 3 minutes on high heat or until the liquid reduces slightly.

Put the meat back into the pot and stir into it the 2 cloves of minced garlic, 3 heaping teaspoons of chili powder, 2 level teaspoons of cumin, 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce, 2 cans Mexican corn, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Combine everything well and simmer the meat mixture covered for about 5 minutes.

While the ground beef is cooking, butter an 9x13 Pyrex baking dish and sprinkle with 12 broken taco shells evenly over the bottom.

In a small bowl prepare two packages of Jeffy cornbread mix.

Set both aside temporarily.

Remove the cover from the pot and stir in 1 can of black beans with the liquid. Fully incorporated the beans into the meat. Cover the pot and simmer for 5 additional minutes.

Spoon out the meat mixture over the taco chips, spread 1 cup of sour cream over the meat, spread the cornbread mixture over the sour cream, sprinkle cheddar cheese or a blend of cheddar and Monterrey Jack cheese.

Bake in a pre-heated 450 degree oven for 15 to 20 minutes until the corn bread is golden brown. Serve piping hot!