Cooler weather means tamale pie

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, August 28, 2005

There’s nothing like a change in the weather – thermometer down, energy level up – to send us right out to the kitchen to fix a real cooked dinner. Yippy, skippy and about time, I say.

So I say let’s get back to making tamale pie again, starting with this version shared by Marysville cook Kathy McCulley.

“I hope this recipe for tamale pie will help Norma J. Rohwer,” she says. “It is very easy. We eat a lot of easy meals at our house!”

And longtime helper-outer Jean Kroeze of Arlington antes up again, sharing a recipe taken from her copy of a cook book published by the Mount Wheeler Grange in Oso.

I, too, have a copy of this treasure, a gift from my much beloved, late Siamese cat Mr. Chin, the first Christmas we lived at Cicero. And, in a future column, we’ll have another recipe taken from this one-of-a-kind kitchen marvel.

Meanwhile, Kroeze tells us, “This tamale pie recipe was contributed by Fern Muma Rhoads. Mrs. Rhoads lived on the Whitman Road as a child and rode to the Oso School on a horse-drawn bus driven by Calvin Hollingsworth.

Ready, set, cook:

Easy tamale pie

1pound ground beef

1small onion, chopped

1/2cup chopped green pepper

1can (15 ounces) tomato sauce

1/2cup chopped ripe olives

1clove garlic, chopped

1cup thawed frozen corn

1teaspoon salt

2teaspoons chili powder

1 1/2cups shredded cheddar cheese

Topping:

3/4cup yellow cornmeal

1/2teaspoon salt

2cups cold water

1tablespoon butter or margarine

Sour cream (optional)

In skillet, cook beef, onion and green pepper until meat is browned. Add tomato sauce, olives, garlic, corn, salt and chili powder and cook for about 20 minutes or until mixture is thick. Stir in cheese and turn into greased 9-inch square baking pan.

For the topping, in saucepan, stir together cornmeal, salt and cold water and cook, stirring constantly, until thick. Stir in butter or margarine and spoon over hot meat mixture. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 40 minutes. If desired, serve topped with sour cream.

Oso hot tamale pie

1 1/2pounds ground beef

1onion, chopped

1clove garlic, minced

1/4cup olive oil

1/2cup chopped green pepper (optional)

1can (15 ounces) tomato sauce

1can (about 16 ounces) whole-kernel corn

1tablespoon salt

1 1/2tablespoons chili powder

1/4teaspoon pepper

1cup black olives

1cup grated cheese

1cup milk

2eggs

1cup cornmeal mixed with 1 cup water

Brown beef, onion and garlic in oil in skillet. Add green pepper, tomato sauce, corn, salt, chili powder, pepper, olives, cheese, milk and eggs. Add cornmeal mixed with water, and combine all ingredients well. Turn into casserole dish and bake at 350 degrees 1 hour.