Recipes from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Tamale Pie

The Finished Dish

Ingredients:

Crust:

3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups cold water
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (I use Penzey's medium, salt free)
1 tablespoon butter or margarine, not oil. you could use bacon dripping or lard if you're into cholesterol & a really authenic taste (real tamales use lard in the cornmeal wrapping) but you need a fat which is relatively solid at room temperatures
1/2 cup grated Cheddar or Mexican blend cheese, for topping (Optional)
Sliced black olives (Optional)

Filling:

1 pound lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 small can (14 ounces) tomatoes with chile peppers
1 can (15 ounces) whole kernel corn with peppers, drained
1/2 can ripe olives, sliced (save the rest for the crust)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbl chili powder (Again, I use Penzey's Medium, salt free)
1 cup grated Cheddar or Mexican blend cheese (Optional, if you use cheese on the crust, I'd omit it here)

Preparation:

Brown ground beef with onions; drain well. Add tomato sauce, tomatoes & chiles, corn, olives, garlic, & chili powder. Heat to boiling; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for about 20 minutes, or until thickened (This needs to be relatively dry & not soupy). Add cheese if using it; stir until cheese is melted. Set filling aside.

In a saucepan, combine cornmeal, salt, water and chili powder. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick. Stir in butter. Spread half of the mixture into a baking dish, I use a deep dish pie plate. Spoon filling over bottom crust; spoon remaining cornmeal mixture over filling. Bake at 375° for 45 minutes. If desired, sprinkle 1/2 cup cheese & the rest of the sliced olives over the crust about 5 minutes before casserole is done. (Necessary if you want the top crust to brown up properly, if you put on the cheese when the baking starts it will prevent the top crust from setting up properly)

Recipes from the Twit Army Mess Hall - Chili con Carne

Ingredients

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. stew meat cut into pieces about 1/2 the size of a eraser
1.5 c. chopped onions
2 tbl. chopped garlic
3/4 c. chili powder
(n.b. I use Penzey's medium heat but use what you want, if you use pure powdered chile, i.e. nothing but ground chile, you'll need to add 1.5 tbl of cumin)
1 tlb. sweet paprika
1 - 2 tbl. cayenne pepper
1 8 oz can tomato puree (you can use sauce for a thinner chili sauce)
16 oz. water
1 can corn with peppers
1/4 c masa harina (This is finely ground corn flour, not corn starch, you can't subsititute)

Optional add ins
Grated cheese
Chopped onions


Preparation

Brown meat pieces when about 1/2 way done add the ground meat & onions & finish browning all the meat. Drain off as much fat as possible.

Mix spices into water to dissolve, add garlic, spiced water & tomato puree to pot & stir to mix, let simmer for 2 - 3 hours to blend the flavors (since the meat is already cooked you could theoretically eat this within 30 minutes but the longer it simmers the better the flavors blend)
1 hr before eating add the corn. 30 minutes before eating add the masa & stir well (This will thicken up the chili)

I serve this in scooped out sour dough bread bowls covered with chopped onions & cheese but you can serve it any way you want.

Serves 4 (or only 2 if you REALLY, REALLY like chili)
This can be easily doubled or tripled & you can freeze the leftovers for up to about 3 months to heat & serve later.

Also, this can be made in a slow cooker on low. Cook the meat in a skillet & then add everything but the corn and masa to a slow cooker. Cook on low for about 6 hours then add the corn & masa, cook for another 30 minute then serve.