Hot Tamale Casserole

"If you like Mexican food you'll love this recipe! It's a little extra work but well worth it. Make it as hot or as mild as you like."
 
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photo by PalatablePastime photo by PalatablePastime
photo by PalatablePastime
photo by PalatablePastime photo by PalatablePastime
Ready In:
1hr 30mins
Ingredients:
24
Serves:
8
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ingredients

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directions

  • Heat oil in a large skillet.
  • Add onion and green pepper; saute until tender.
  • Add beef and cook until crumbly.
  • Add tomatoes (if the tomatoes are very juicy take off some juice, keep it you can add it if needed), tomato paste, corn, olives, cumin, salt, all spice, chili powder, pepper sauce and cornmeal.
  • Simmer stirring frequently for 30 minutes.
  • Preheat oven to 450°F.
  • Spoon mixture into a 2 1/2 qt casserole.
  • MAKE TAMALE TOPPING----------------.
  • In a large bowl mix, flour cornmeal, sugar and baking powder.
  • Add melted butter, milk, and egg.
  • Stir only until dry ingredients are just moistened.
  • Quickly stir in the jalapeno pepper and cheese.
  • BACK TO THE CASSEROLE-----------.
  • Spoon the topping in large spoonfuls around the edge of the casserole.
  • Bake in 450°F uncovered for 25-30 minutes or until cornmeal topping is cooked through and lightly browned.

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Reviews

  1. This was very very good. Yes it is a little work, but is very much worth it.
     
  2. Made this last night for dinner. Excellent flavor. I was hesitant to use a whole tablespoon of cumin, but went ahead and wasn't at all sorry...it was just perfect. The last part of the recipe says to cook in a 350 degree oven, even though previously we are instructed to preheat to 450 degrees. Since most cornbreads are baked at 450 degrees I stuck with that and in 25 minutes the casserole was perfect. Thank you so much for sharing, I will be making this again soon.
     
  3. DELICIOUS! I've liked this dish from the first time I've tried it and as I've play with to tickle my particular taste, it keeps getting better. After 4-5 attempts at this recipe this is what I've come up with, so far. I use peeled, chopped, well drained, fresh Tomatoes, I have to help my friends get rid of the pesky things, you know. I shred some of Miss Annie's Amazing Beef #46982 instead of using ground beef. The first time, I didn't have any Green Olives but the Black ones seemed to work just fine. I use whole Cummin Seeds, whole Allspice, And whole Chipotle Chili Powder, which I grind just before use. Fresh ground spices are lightyears better than the stuff that's been sitting around on a supermarket shelf for months.(www.worldspice.com has a variety of whole chili powders.) All of this was a bit thin so I simmered and stirred, stirred and simmered 'til it thickened nicely. For the topping I cut the Baking Powder to 1 teaspoon to make it a little less light and airy. I sub. Masa Harina for the corn meal to give it more of a true tamale flavor. For our Thursday night poker game this is often asked for ahead of time by my guests. Is it a bit of a hassle to make? Yes, a bit. Is it worth the hassle? You're damned straight! Thanx for posting this great recipe. Pierre
     
  4. This was good. We especially liked the cornbread topping. I baked the casserole for 25 minutes and the topping was done. I used one jalepeno in the filling and 1/2 of a jalepeno in the topping and it turned out fairly mild. My DS kept telling me how good this was and had thirds!
     
  5. It tasted like a very good pizza burger! Thanks for posting this recipe.
     
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Tweaks

  1. This was a great dish and the recipe is very forgiving of any needed or desired changes, it becomes very much your own original creation. I just moved across country, so I needed to make a few substitutions. I added a can of partially drained black beans in place of some of the meat and used a half a cup of salsa in place of tomato paste and some of the cumin. I did not have any chiles on hand, nor hot pepper sauce, so in the meat mixture I used what I had on hand, about one teaspoon of red chile flakes and several packets of Taco Bell Fire Sauce. Yes, those little packets with take out food come in handy, lol. I used a scant 1/4 tsp. of cinnamon and one clove stem, crushed, in place of the allspice. Last substitution I made was black olives for the green. I think maybe next time I will put a layer of cheese over the meat mixture, before topping it with cornmeal batter. It was great served with sour cream, green onions and some extra olives. This would be great to double and put in the freezer, too, for an easy meal during the week. Great for potlucks, too. Thanx, Bergy, for the recipe, this is no a family favorite.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

On January 10 2010 I will celebrate 9 years of Life with Zaar. I can't imagine being without it! It has become part of my daily routine. I feel very privileged to be one of the hosts on the Photo Forum. Taking photos of my culinary efforts is a full time hobby and I love it. My friends all know what to expect when they come to dinner "Are you finished taking pictures?" or "Did you get a photo of so & so?" I never let them wait too long and the food is NEVER cold! I now have over 6000 photos on Zaar - some fairly good and some definitely not so good. I am happy to say that practice does help. My roots are in Vancouver BC Canada - a very beautiful city that holds many wonderful memories for me. In 1990, I decided that for my retirement years I may want to settle in a smaller community and found a slice of heaven in the North Okanagan B.C. I love living here but every once in a while I miss the bright city lights, the Broadway shows and some of the small wonderful ethnic restaurants that Vancouver abounds in. That is easily resolved. I just take a trip to the coast, visit with friends for a weekend see a show and feast on Dim Sum or other specialty foods. I am getting a bit long in the tooth but was a very adventurous person. I have river rafted Hell's Gate on the Fraser river, been up in a glider over Hawaii (no not a Hang Glider!), gone hot air ballooning in the Napa Valley & the Fraser Valley, driven dune buggies on the dunes in Oregon, Para sailing in Mexico and tried many other adventurous, challenging, fun things. I have yet to try bungee jumping or sky diving. I may do them yet. I love to travel and experience other cultures. Mexco has been a favorite haunt. I have visited that lovely country many many times. Australia is another favorite as is England! In the past 16 months I have taken off 61 pounds and feel wonderful. I am off all medications and all systems are GO! In years I may be 79 but in spirit I am still in my forties. We are only as old as we allow ourselves to feel. Always think positive. Do something a bit challenging every day & always do something silly every day. Be a kid again! Laugh every day - it is internal jogging. Here are a few of my photos <embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" allowNetworking="all" allowFullscreen="true" src="http://w615.photobucket.com/pbwidget.swf?pbwurl=http://w615.photobucket.com/albums/tt233/Bergylicious/ABM slideshow/d95d7a18.pbw" height="360" width="480">
 
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