Tamale Pie

I found this recipe on the box of cornmeal, and it looked yummy so I decided to try it.  However, the original recipe called for 1 1/2 lbs ground beef, and I only had about 1 lb (of ground turkey) so I decided to just scale down the rest of the ingredients a bit as well.  The directions said to use a 12x8 baking dish, so I figured I would be fine with an 11x7 dish.

Except I forgot to scale everything else.  I greased up the smaller pan and cooked up the smaller amount of ground turkey, but left everything else the same.  Fortunately, I didn't have any overflow problems.  I was worried about that!

I also completely forgot to add the salt AND the chilies to the crust.  Boo.  I set some of the chilies aside to mix into the topping, then put the rest in with the turkey.  Oh, but they weren't green chilies.  I bought jalapenos by mistake.  Yeah, this dish was quite spicy!  It did taste very good though.

I found while I was making the crust that it needed to be stirred almost constantly.  I stirred it once or twice a minute with a whisk, but as it got thicker it stuck to the bottom more.  By the time I finished the consistency at the top of the mixture was different from that at the bottom of the pan.  It was much thicker at the bottom!

I definitely want to make it again.  Except I will make sure to use the right amount of meat, the right size dish, will buy the correct ingredients, and will remember to actually put them in!

CRUST

• 2 1/4 cups cornmeal
• 2 cups water
• 1 can (12 fl oz) evaporated milk
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
• 1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
• Sliced jalapeños (optional) 

FILLING

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 2 cups (16 oz) enchilada sauce
• 1 cup whole kernel corn
• 1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced black olives, drained
• 1 tsp. salt 

PREHEAT oven to 425*.  Grease 12x8 baking dish.
COMBINE corn meal, water, evaporated milk and salt in medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently (constantly?), for 5 to 7 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chilies. Reserve 2 cups corn meal mixture; cover with plastic wrap. Spread remaining corn meal mixture on bottom and up sides of prepared baking dish.
BAKE for 10 minutes. Cool in dish on wire rack.
COOK beef, onion and garlic in large skillet until beef is browned; drain. Stir in enchilada sauce, corn, olives and salt.  Spoon beef filling into corn meal crust. Spread reserved corn meal mixture over beef filling.
BAKE for 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake for additional 5 to 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Garnish with jalapeños if desired.

The original recipe and links to other cornbread recipes can be found here.

Turkey Bean Soup

So I'm trying to keep up with the meals/recipes I've been making.  There are a few that I haven't written about, but instead of putting the new stuff at the back of the list, I'll just try to get to those when I can.  Otherwise my list will get very long and I will forget what I did!

Tonight I made Turkey Bean Soup.  It came out pretty good, but it was a bit on the bland side.  Which doesn't bother me so much, I'm usually grabbing something to eat as I'm moving around the house (or this evening...while I was walking James to the park), but Tim likes things with more flavor.  So I'll have to figure out how to spice this one up a bit.

Here's the recipe:

• 1 cup dried kidney beans
• 1 cup dried garbanzo beans
• 8 cups water
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 7 cups water
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chilies
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Follow directions on package to soak the beans (I did the quick soak method, rapid boil for 2 minutes then sit for 1 hour).
2. In a large pot, cook the turkey, onion, and celery over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.
3. Add the water & bouillon cubes, stir & let simmer for a minute for the cubes to dissolve.
4. Add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until heated through and beans and carrots are tender.

Original recipe:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Turkey-Bean-Soup/Detail.aspx?src=etaf

Notes:

~ Soaking the beans ahead of time (i.e. overnight) is a better idea, but of course I was looking for something last minute and didn't leave myself enough time.  Or, you can do what the original recipe called for, and use canned kidney beans & frozen lima beans.  :-)

~ Next time I make this, I will use more onion.  The original recipe called for 1 cup of onion, but I didn't feel like measuring it, but I think I should have put more in.

~ I originally added 6 cups of water and 3 bouillon cubes to the turkey/onion/celery mixture, but as I added the other ingredients it didn't seem like it would be enough liquid, so I added an additional 2 cups water and another bouillon cube.  At the time I was planning to add some sweet potato also, but later decided against it, and when it finished cooking I wished I had left it at 6 cups of water.  But then, after serving some for dinner and setting some aside for Tim's lunch tomorrow, I think it wasn't too bad after all.  So I think next time I'll try 7 cups of water.  Yeah, kinda wishy washy, I know.  :-)

~ I didn't want the soup to be too spicy, so I originally added only 4 T of the green chilies (1/2 can).  But after tasting it at dinner, I added the rest of the can before putting the leftovers away.

~ Next time I will definitely increase the spices, I'm just not sure if I will go to 2 teaspoons each or all the way up to a whole tablespoon.  We'll have to see when the time comes.

~ I don't know if I will increase the salt, it seemed plenty salty enough for me, but I forgot to ask Tim what he thought about that.

All in all, I did like it, and I think with a few tweaks it will be really yummy.  I do plan to make it again.  But next time I will plan to make some biscuits or corn bread or something to go with it as well.

Margaret's Marvelous Meatballs (modified)

I have had a recipe for meatballs (given to me by my Mother-in-law) stuck to my fridge for...well I don't know how long.  Quite awhile.  I know when she first gave it to me and I'm not telling, I'm embarrassed that I've had it that long and never tried to make it!  But this past week, I had an abundance of ground turkey sitting in my freezer thanks to an awesome sale at Stater Bros, and as I was trying to figure out what to make for dinner, the recipe suddenly jumped out at me!  So that's what we had for dinner.

Here's the original recipe:
2 lbs lean hamburger
1 C corn flakes
2 T soy sauce
2 eggs
1/2 t garlic salt
2 T chopped onion
Sauce:
1 can jellied cranberry sauce
1 12 oz bottle Del Monte Chili Sauce
2 T brown sugar
1 T lemon juice
Crush corn flakes and add all ingredients; mix well.  Roll into little balls (if they are too big the sauce won't cook in).
Melt ingredients for sauce together to mix well.  Pour over meatballs and cook 30-45 minutes at 350*.  Meatballs are best when reheated.  Serve over noodles or rice if desired.

Here's my modifications:
2 lbs ground turkey
1 C old-fashioned oats
2 T Worcestershire sauce
2 eggs
1 T Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute (not 100% sure on the amount I used)
2 onion slices, chopped

Sauce:
1 can jellied cranberry sauce
1 12 oz bottle Stater Bros Chili Sauce
2 T brown sugar
lemon juice from 1 lemon

Directions:
Mix meat, oats, W. sauce, eggs, seasoning, & chopped onions; mix well.  Roll into little balls (if they are too big the sauce won't cook in).

Melt ingredients for sauce together to mix well.  Pour over meatballs and cook 30-45 minutes at 350*.  Meatballs are best when reheated.  Serve over noodles or rice if desired.

My notes:
These came out so delicious!  I loved them!  I wish I had made them a long time ago, I don't know what took me so long!  :-)

It was a bit tedious to make the little balls, and I ended up running out of room in the pyrex dish I was using (a 7"x11" I think), so I got another one out and use that.  Well I filled that one up too and I still had a decent amount of meat mixture left.  I squished the meatballs together a little bit and that made some room but I was nervous about them sticking together while they were cooking.  So I got out my mini muffin tin and there was just enough meat mixture left to make 24 more meatballs!  I used a silverware teaspoon to spoon some sauce over each meatball in the muffin tins, then divided the rest between the two pyrex dishes and put it all in the oven.

30 minutes later I checked the meatballs and the ones in the pyrex dishes were perfectly done!  The ones in the mini muffin tin were slightly burnt unfortunately.  They still tasted good though.  But the ones cooked in the pyrex dishes were awesome!  I served them with some brown rice and a salad and we had a great dinner!

James loved them also, he often ate 4 or 5 meatballs in one sitting.  The recipe makes a good amount too, we had several delicious meals of leftovers.  I definitely will be making these again.