Mexican Food – Bead Yarn & Spatula

You may recall on Sunday I shared a recipe for a Slow Cooker Shredded Mexican Chicken, well, today I am sharing the recipe that I used the chicken for… A Skillet Tamale Pie. I came across this recipe when I clicked on an article about using Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix for recipes other than corn muffins. I think that Jiffy Corn Muffins is one of the first things that I baked when I was younger. It had been years since I purchased a box before I purchased the one I used in this recipe. I’ve tried making cornbread and corn muffins from scratch using cornmeal and to be honest I don’t know why. It never has the sweetness that I want and the texture is always a little off. I should just stuck with this tried and true box mix.

To make the skillet tamale I began by generously greasing a 9-inch cast iron skillet with softened butter and preheated my oven to 400 F. In a large bowl I combined 1 box of Jiffy mix with buttermilk, an egg, cream-style corn and a can of diced green beans. I stirred these ingredients together until they were just combined and then poured them into the prepared skillet and baked it for about 25 minutes, until it was set.

I removed the skillet from the oven and poked the cornbread with a fork several times. I then topped the cornbread with the cooked shredded chicken. Next I poured red chile enchilada sauce over the chicken and topped the sauce with shredded Monterey-Jack cheese. I returned the skillet to the oven and baked it for about 15 minutes, until the cheese melted.

This was so delicious and filling and something I will definitely be making again. Maybe next time though with ground beef.

Skillet Tamale Pie

Servings: 6-8
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Ingredients:

1 box Jiffy Corn Bread Mix

1/3 cup buttermilk*

1 egg

1 14.75 oz. can of cream-style corn

1 4.5 oz. can of diced green chiles

1 8 oz. can of red chile enchilada sauce

1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey-Jack cheese

For serving:

Crema (Sour Cream)

Cilantro

Salsa

Lime Wedges

*I made my own buttermilk by stirring together 1/3 cup whole milk with 1.5 to 2 teaspoons of white vinegar in a measuring cup. After letting the mixture sit for about 15 minutes at room temperature it began to curdle on the top which let me know it was ready to use.

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Grease a 9-inch cast iron skillet generously with softened butter and set aside.

In a large bowl combine the Jiffy mix, buttermilk, egg, cream-style corn and green chiles and stir together until just combined. Pour into the prepared skillet and bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until set.

Remove the skillet from the oven and poke the cornbread with a fork several times. Top with either cooked shredded chicken or ground beef and top the meat with the enchilada sauce and then the shredded cheese.

Return the skillet to the oven and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese has melted.

Recipe from All Hail Jiffy Cornbread Mix

You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting as many Slow Cooker Sunday recipes. It’s for a few reasons, one of them, I am running low on recipes. Quite a few of the recipes I have shared have been from this cookbook. While I haven’t tried them all, there are some dessert recipes I would like to try, I have tried those that sounded most appealing to me. Another reason, a lot of the recipes I come across are usually for 6- 10 servings, great if you are cooking for 2 or more people, but, since I cook for just myself that’s way too many leftovers. Don’t get me wrong, I love leftovers (especially since it means I don’t have to cook everyday),but, after eating the same thing for lunch & dinner after two or three days it just doesn’t taste the same by the 5^th or 6^th time eating it. And yes, I could start working on creating my own recipes, but, I am more comfortable creating recipes for stovetop and oven cooking. So, I did some research and came across the answer, a slow cooker cookbook with recipes geared towards 2 people. No more leftovers for days and days and days.

There’s a little bit of everything in this cookbook. A section on poultry, beef, breakfast, desserts and even seafood. Although, I always avoid making seafood in my slow cooker. I feel like since seafood cooks fast enough there’s no reason to slow cook it. Also, seafood odors can linger and cooking it in a slow cooker for hours on end may not be that delightful. So, I am geared with a new cookbook and ready to start using my smaller slow cooker to whip up some delicious meals that won’t be lasting me days on end.

First up, I made a Corn and Bean Enchilada Bake.

In a medium bowl I combined a chopped tomato, chopped onion, minced garlic, a minced jalapeno pepper, a can of black beans and corn.

After spraying the insert of my slow cooker with cooking spray I layered the ingredients for the enchilada.

I poured salsa verde in the bottom of the slow cooker. While the cookbook does include a recipe for homemade salsa verde I decided to go the easier route and used store bought. I then topped the salsa with 3 corn tortillas, overlapping them. I poured half of the bean mixture over the tortillas and topped it with more salsa verde and finally shredded cheese. I repeated the layers once more and then covered the slow cooker and set it to cook on low for 6 hours.

After the six hours the cheese had melted and the tortillas were soft. And I had the perfect sized meal for 2 lunches and 1 dinner.

Corn and Bean Enchilada Bake

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, minced

1 large tomato, seeded and chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 14oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 8.5oz. can yellow sweet corn

1 1/4 cups salsa verde

6 corn tortillas, taco style

2/3 cup Mexican blend shredded cheese

Directions:

In a medium bowl combine the first 6 ingredients.

Spray the insert of a slow cooker with cooking spray.

Pour 1/3 cup of salsa verde in the bottom of the slow cooker.

Place three of the tortillas in the slow cooker overlapping them. Pour half of the bean mixture over the tortillas and the top with half of the remaining salsa and half of the cheese. Repeat the layers, ending with the cheese.

Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.

Recipe from The Complete Slow Cooking for Two Cookbook