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Julie Bove[_2_] Julie Bove[_2_] is offline
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Default 1920's Humble Tamale Pie

That should say 1 cup of cornmeal.
"Julie Bove" > wrote in message
...
> Just got finished reading a great book called Fashionable Food. It is
> seven decades of food fads (mainly USA food) up until the 1990's. It has
> lots of recipes and pictures of how kitchens were over the years. This
> sort of thing is right up my alley! Keep in mind that the recipes listed
> were fads. And it did say that most of the recipes were really pretty
> inedible but the end result could be pretty such as the composed salads
> made to resemble flowers dotted with tinted cream cheese. And here I
> found the 1920's Humble Tamale Pie recipe. Yes, there is an American
> savory pie but... Why it is called a pie is beyond me because I think
> it's more of a casserole than pie although it does have layers.
>
> I have made tamale pies over the years using a cornbread top crust. They
> were okay but did not taste like a tamale. And neither did this. This
> actually didn't taste very good to me at all. More like creamed corn gone
> bad. Didn't have the texture of creamed corn mind you. Just oddly enough
> the taste. And I like creamed corn but something just wasn't right with
> this.
>
> And I did make a few mistakes. One being that I apparently can not judge
> what half is. Put too much mush on the bottom and not enough on top.
> Didn't seem to matter once it was slopped on the plate. Two being that I
> didn't measure my tomatoes and may have put too many in. I used two 14.5
> oz cans. Probably should have gone with 1.5 cans or better still some
> other form of tomato product because this wasn't so great in there. Then
> I put in too much chili powder which my husband probably liked because
> there is no amount of heat that is too much for him. It was just a wee
> bit more than I liked but not so much that it left me screaming. I wound
> up tossing that bottle of chili powder. It was a cheap brand and all
> clumped. And not much left in it so I just tossed it. I have more and
> better stuff. Oh and I used Bob's Red Mill corn meal. I had never tried
> it before and it seemed a bit coarser than I am used to. Perhaps should
> have used Alber's instead?
>
> The end result? Extremely filling! I only ate perhaps 12 bites of the
> stuff and it sat in my stomach like lead. Served with plain pinto beans
> on the side and some canned Spanish rice. Yeah the rice wasn't too good
> either but it was cheap at Big Lots and I figured from the aroma that this
> thing gave off while baking that I would be needing something additional.
> At least the beans were good! Heh! But as I described this to my mom,
> she said it sounded just like a dish that her mom made when she was a kid.
> It is very economical and my mom came from a big family so I can see how
> this would fit the bill there. Here is the recipe if you are so inclined.
>
> 3 cups water
> 1 teaspoon salt
> 1 cornmeal
> 1 Tablespoon butter or mild vegetable oil
> 1 pound ground beef
> 1 large onion, finely chopped
> 2 cups canned tomatoes, drained and chopped
> 2 teaspoons chili powder or to taste
> Salt and pepper
>
> Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir 1 cup of the water and the salt into
> the cornmeal in a large saucepan. Bring remaining 2 cups water to a boil
> and stir into the cornmeal mixture. Cook over low heat, stirring
> constantly, until thick. Line a buttered 9 inch square baking dish (I
> used my big blue cornflower Pyrex) with half of the mush.
>
> Melt butter in skillet. Fry beef and onion until meat is lightly browned
> and onion is soft. Drain excess fat. Add tomatoes and seasonings and
> cook for a few minutes. Note that I had to cook for more than a few.
> Even though my tomatoes did not appear to have much juice, it sure did
> come out of them as they cooked. I did buy pre-chopped so perhaps the
> whole would have been better and I would chop them. That is most likely
> what they had in those days. Taste and correct the seasoning. Pour meat
> mixture over the mush and top with the rest of the mush. Bake until
> browned, 35 to 40 minutes. Mine actually took a bit less but most likely
> because I didn't have enough mush on the top. And it gave off a lot of
> liquid despite being cooked down after the tomatoes were added for close
> to 20 min.
>
> I doubt that I will make this again. But if I do, I will likely add some
> chilies or something to amp up the flavor. Perhaps add them to the mush.
> And use another form of tomato product like sauce or salsa. Heck, I might
> even forgo the mush and just use creamed corn. But then it will be even
> less tamale-like and in no way will be a pie but... It might taste
> better. I have used creamed corn in my enchilada casserole because it
> gives a bit of a creamy texture that otherwise would be missing due to my
> not being able to have cheese.
>