Slow Cooker Saturday

One of the things I love about Tamale Pie is how forgiving it is. I found a recipe for Tamale Pie made in a crockpot on the "year of crockpotting" blog. This is my variation of it. When Alex asked me what I was making for dinner I told him "tamale pie - it's another one of those Mexican dishes that uses the pretty much the same ingredients - just in a different order". He said "Peasant food".

So here's my version. This time. It will be different next time.

Filling:

1 lb. ground beef - cooked and drained (I put a little garlic salt on it while it was cooking)
1 can black beans - drained and rinsed
1 can corn - drained
1 can diced tomatoes (you could puree them if kids don't like the texture)
1 small can diced green chilies
1 T chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
diced onion to taste (I like fresh, but used dehydrated because I can't chop onions with my arm in a cast)
1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar/jack cheese

Dump all of the above in a crockpot. I used my 1981 crockpot - I think it holds about 4 quarts. Stir well.

I was going to use a homemade cornmeal topping, but oops...no cornmeal. I made up 2 cups of Marie Callendar's cornbread mix with 1 cup water and dumped that on top (after lightly packing down the filling).

I covered and cooked for a little less than 2 hours on high, at which point I propped the lid slightly open with a chopstick so that the moisture could vent. I continued cooking for a total cooking time of 2 hours 45 minutes. The cornbread was cooked all the way through and we ate it up.

Judging:

Alex - 8.5 - "it's good." (he had thirds)

Steve - 7.0 - "it's edible and I'd have it again" (he had seconds - but admits that tamale pie isn't really a favorite of his anyway)

Me - 9.5 for execution, 7.0 for taste. I liked how easy this was - and how food storage friendly. I do like a good tamale pie but this one was a bit so-so as far as taste. I think I would doctor it up a little next time - fresh onions, diced green peppers, maybe some olives....I would also use my homemade cornmeal crust. Oh yeah, I'll be making this again.