at home with ann

Continuing my recent obsession with cornbread, today we have tamale pie.  I've never made tamale pie before, but now that I have it's going into the regular rotation.  Similar in concept to shepherd's pie or leftover Thanksgiving pie, the protein, vegetables, spices and sauce make up the bottom layer with the carbs on top, and the whole thing gets baked together.  In this case, sort of a taco bottom with cornbread topping.  This recipe is merely a starting point, as with many things, you can customize it based on your tastes and whatever you have on hand.  Tamale Pie Serves 6-8 Ingredients: Olive or canola oil 1 package ground turkey (mine was 20 oz.) 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed 1 bell pepper, chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 3 chiplote peppers in adobo sauce, minced 1-2 teaspoons cumin 1-2 teaspoons chili powder kosher salt and ground black pepper 1 14 oz. can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes 1 recipe cornbread 1 jala...

This cornbread recipe is so easy that I let Jon make it while I was holding the baby, and only gave him instructions once or twice.  I can be a little bossy in the kitchen, as you may have guessed.  This isn't one of those puree your fresh corn and grind cornmeal and use buttermilk kind of recipes.  One step up from an instant mix, it's ready to eat in 25 minutes and I'm sure you have all the ingredients in your pantry right now.  Except maybe cornmeal, but you should pick that up for making homemade pizza anyway. Cornbread 1 cup cornmeal 1 cup flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup canola oil 1 cup milk 1 egg Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl (I just use a 2 cup measure to minimize dishes), whisk together oil, milk and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined. Pour into a 9x9 baking dish coated with cooking spray...