Do you ever eat something wonderful and can’t get over just how darned ugly it is? Food photography makes me laugh sometimes because it is the ultimate in what my husband would call “putting a pig in a dress.” Under no circumstances in the real world, other than photographing it for potential internet distribution, would I try to gussy up this casserole. It is what it is, and it is kind of homely. And, I like it that way. So this is tamale casserole in a prom dress. Now let’s get over the appearances and get to eating.
This is one of those dishes that is destined, with the giant bakers of chicken spaghetti and King Ranch Casserole, to be served to family we love and our sons’ football teams. Why? This is the kind of food on which growing boys will hurt themselves. And, they don’t care if it is ugly. You will try to put a green salad with it, but they will not care about that either. And these are some of the best foods going. Casseroles by nature are family or group affairs. Making a casserole means things are getting social. It means you are feeding families, teams, congregations and parties. I love casseroles. Some are awful, I’ll grant you. But I love the idea of them, kind of like I love the idea of pie. I’ve made a go of re-thinking a lot of my casseroles to get rid of the “cream of” element, and the quality of the food has gone way up, as has the likelihood that I’ll be serving these to anyone who wanders into my home, kings or thieves. I prefer the latter as guests, to be honest. But you get my point.
This is actually a combination of two casseroles, a chile relleno casserole and a tamale pie. The chile relleno casserole has an eggy topping and I was in the mood for a cornbread type of topping, so here we are. The bottom of the dish is covered in green chiles, an idea for which I give my beloved cousin Joey the credit. The chile relleno casserole that I monkeyed with here was hers. If you can get the canned whole green chiles instead of the chopped, do so. I found at least seven varieties and sizes of green chiles, but all were chopped so that is what I used here.
Preparation:
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 pounds ground beef
½ medium-size white onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 teaspoons chili powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon kosher salt
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
3 cups water
1-½ cups corn meal
1 (14.75 ounce) can creamed corn
1 egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 (7 ounce) can whole green chiles (chopped will do)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a nonstick pan, heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil and add the chopped onions. Saute the onions for three minutes. Add the ground beef and gently break it up and brown it in the skillet along with the onions. When the beef is just browned, add the garlic and the jalapenos and continue to cook for one minute. Add the cumin, chili powder and salt and stir to combine. Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine. Remove the skillet from the heat.
In a medium saucepan, bring three cups of water to a simmer. Using a whisk slowly add the corn meal and stir to minimize lumps. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the creamed corn. Once the corn is incorporated, stir in the egg. Then stir in the baking powder, salt, and cheese.
In a 9” by 13” casserole dish, layer the ingredients in the following order: green chiles, meat, cornmeal topping. Spread the topping so that you have a smooth surface.
Place the dish in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Sounds yummy. One night’s menu for next week will include this dish.
Casseroles are so ‘homey’, I love them.
Bless your heart, that doesn’t look ugly, it looks delicious!
I am on a rather strict diet and cannot have creamed corn.
Do you think frozen corn (cooked), mixed with greek yogurt mite work?
Do you have a lower calorie sub for the cheddar cheese? Mont.Jack cheese? Another? I shop at Wholefoods if you are familiar with that chain (organic) and can think of another product.
Thank you!
*Utopia
JanAnd, no…bless your heart! Thank you. It is really kind of funny. This thing I do, food blogging, is so centered on gorgeous, perfectly staged, mouthwatering photos. It has little to do with what the food actually tastes like, because if the photos are compelling enough, people will come. I think most of the people reading at home never even cook the stuff. Like my mom says, she feels full and happy just looking at it and then doesn’t feel the need to dirty up the kitchen. But, some of my ALL TIME favorite recipes are pretty homely looking casseroles. They are wonderful just exactly the way they are. But, it is hard to get a really great photo of them…precisely because they are…well…homely looking. And, I need my photos to work in a timely fashion, because I’ve got kids to fetch, etc. I think this casserole is pretty too, but it is mostly because I know how good it is. That is why I rely on my readers who love good old fashioned casseroles to help me spread the word when I do my “homely” posts just in case I can’t get my photos posted on the traffic drivers that I rely so heavily upon for traffic, like foodgawker, tastespotting, tasteologie, photograzing, and stumbleupon.
Well that was a rather long winded response, wasn’t it? I think all I meant to say was THANKS!
Utopia, very interesting dilemma. Many people make this type of casserole by skipping the cheese and creamed corn altogether and just mixing a package of cornbread mix by the package directions. You can spoon this bread batter on top of the beef and bake it up according to the package directions. I’m sure you can find some brand that works with your needs, that perhaps uses oils and eggs instead of the dairy. And, then, yes, you could add some corn kernels to that. Would that work for you? I hope so. And, yes, I love Whole Foods, too. As for lower calorie cheeses, I’m sort of scared of them and would probably just use less of the cheddar. You could also just sprinkle some cheese on the finished casserole, such as the queso fresco or some Monterrey jack. Let me know if you find a successful solution. I’m sure plenty of folks would like to know the work around. Good Luck!
Was looking for something just like this to make when the boys are home for Christmas. Do you think it’s possible to put together 24-48 hours in advance? Thanks for another great recipe!
Nancy, I think this would be great made ahead. But, let’s think about how to go about it. I absolutely know that it would be great to prepare it all the way through layering in the meat. This could be wrapped and kept in the refrigerator for a day or two easily. It seems to me like the unbaked topping might absorb too much liquid in the fridge, and then there is the part about the raw egg. It would probably be just fine, but I would probably either do the corn meal part on the day you are going to bake it, OR I would make the whole thing, start to finish, and then refrigerate it and warm it on serving day. What do you think? Given how the cornmeal is dumped into boiling water, the egg might actually reach a safe temperature in the unbaked topping so as not to be a concern, at all. I’m just not sure. But, yes, in one of these forms, I think it would be a terrific “make ahead” dish. Let us know what you do.
This is SO good… I made it the day after I read your post, and I have another dish of it in the oven now for a potluck! lol I added some chopped green onion and a little bit of chili powder to the corn pudding topping, and it adds just a little oomph. I LOVE the way it smells almost like nachos while it’s baking! :-D Thanks for adding another cheap, super easy dish to my dinner rotation!
Yay!!!!!
This looks delicious and very comforting! Quick question on the creamed corn–what size of can?
14.75 ounce! I will put it in the list immediately. Thank you so much for bringing that to my attention. That is a big oops. I hope you like it.
This really is yummy. I didn’t have creamed corn (and didn’t want to go to the store) so I used your recipe for cream of chicken soup but used all milk (no broth) and added a little sugar and regular corn. It worked out really well. Caroline LOVED it. She has requested leftovers for her lunch tomorrow.
Well, YUM!!! IF you were trying to pretty up the presentation (not that it is necessary), I served this with a garnish of finely shredded iceberg lettuce topped with quartered grape tomatoes and sliced, pickled jalapeño. I topped the squares with a small amount of sour cream and a bit of tomatillo salsa that I’d made a while back and needed to use. Planning to make ahead as freezer meals. Great, easy recipe! Oh! And I’d only thawed 1 pound of ground beef but had an almost full can of opened black beans that needed to be used, so I tossed those in to the beef mixture. Thanks for sharing!!
Katie, I love the black beans idea!
where does the cheese fit in?
oops! found it!