A delicious combination of ground meat, peppers, onions, corn and cheese baked with a chive cornbread topping
This recipe was actually thought up in a long, traffic packed car ride home from work, many years ago
My cousins from the city would laugh at what we think of as traffic since we live in upstate New York, which means single lanes, slow drivers and school buses…
But however you define traffic, whether city or country, it is the perfect time to come up with ideas and in this case recipes
We were thinking tacos, or maybe quesadillas, hmmm, possibly chili perhaps? I knew we had some good tex mex style ingredients but we wanted something different
Well, we just love corn bread….and chili and cornbread really hit it off, so an idea formed
The Tex Mex casserole!
The best parts of tacos, chili and cornbread all brought together in delicious harmony
Lets start with the basics
We will need 1 red bell pepper, 1 large onion, 2 garlic cloves and 1 jalapeno
Cut the stem from the jalapeno, cut the pepper in half lengthwise and use a spoon to remove the seeds and ribs
Leaving the ribs in the pepper will actually add to it’s heat
Remove the seeds from the bell pepper, remove the skin from the onions and garlic and give everyone a chop
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat and add in the veggies
Sprinkle with kosher salt and ground black pepper
Cook 6-8 minutes or until the vegetables start to caramelize and the onions are slightly translucent
During these “interesting times” we are dealing with we like to try and get some leftovers out of a meal so we are using 3 pounds of groud turkey
You can certainly use any type of ground meat just keep in mind to drain off some of the fat if using ground beef
If you using less then 3 pounds adjust the seasoning to taste
Add the meat to the pan
Flip and turn the meat and cook 8-10 minutes breaking it up into smaller pieces as you go
Once the meat is all browned I like to use a potato masher to finish breaking it up
Next we are going to need 3-4 tablespoons of Taco Seasoning (taste as you go, you can add more, but you can’t take away), 1/2 cup of water, 3 tablespoons of Gravy Master and 2 cups corn (frozen or canned)
If using canned corn drain it
You can make your own taco seasoning by clicking the link below
Add the taco seasoning, water and Gravy Master to the meat and stir to combine
Add in the corn and mix to combine
Next up is our favorite part
Cheese!!!
We are using 8 ounces of shredded extra sharp white cheddar
We suggest buying an 8 ounce block and shredding it yourself as it tastes way better then the pre-shredded cheese in the bags
Add the cheese to the pan
Fold the cheese into the meat mixture, remove from the heat and set aside
What do you mean by fold it in?
Folding is a method of combining two or more ingredients of different thickness and weight using a spoon or in this case a rubber scraper to gently to get them mixed together without ruining the integrity of the ingredients
Preheat your oven to 400 F
Typically we would make homemade corn bread to top the meat with but times being as they are we didn’t have all the ingredients we needed
What we did have was a couple of boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix which happens to be a great brand and will work just fine especially when we spruce it up a bit
In a large bowl empty out the contents of the corn muffin mix
Next add in 2 eggs and 2/3 cups of milk
Whisk the ingredients together
Now for the sprucing up part I mentioned earlier
We happened to have a bountiful amount of chives this spring
I mean like no kidding
So we grabbed a bunch and gave them a fine chop
You can be as creative as you want with corn bread batter and add in fresh cilantro or diced jalapeno, etc
Fold the chopped chives into the batter
Let the batter rest for around 10 minutes, this will allow it to rise a bit and not be as dense
I transferred the meat mixture into a large baking dish sprayed with cooking oil
Now I could have used the pan since it is oven proof but I wanted a more even layer of corn bread and it will be easier to cut out squares
Pour in the batter and spread evenly to cover the meat
Place in the oven
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out of the corn bread clean
Let this rest for 10 minutes before cutting
Serve and dig in!!
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Enjoy!!!
Simply Sundays! ~ Tex Mex Casserole
Ingredients
For the Meat Mixture
3 pounds of ground turkey
1 red bell pepper
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
1 jalapeno
sprinkle each of kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 tablespoons of olive oil
3-4 tablespoons of Taco Seasoning
1/2 cup of water
3 tablespoons of Gravy Master
2 cups of corn (drained)
8 ounces of sharp cheddar cheese
For the Cornbread
2 – 8.5 ounce boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix
2 eggs
2/3 cup of milk
1 large bunch of fresh chives chopped (optional)
Directions
For the Meat Mixture
Cut the stem from the jalapeno, cut the pepper in half lengthwise and use a spoon to remove the seeds and ribs. Remove the seeds and top from 1 red bell pepper, remove the skin from 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves and give everyone a chop including the jalapeno
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat and add in the veggies. Sprinkle with kosher salt and ground black pepper. Cook 6-8 minutes or until the vegetables start to caramelize and the onions are slightly translucent
Add 3 pounds of ground turkey (or a ground meat of your choice). Flip and turn the meat and cook 8-10 minutes breaking it up into smaller pieces as you go. Once the meat is all browned I like to use a potato masher to finish breaking it up
To the meat add in 3-4 tablespoons of taco seasoning, 1/2 cup of water and 3 tablespoons of Gravy Master and mix to combine. Add in the corn mix. Grate 8 ounces of extra sharp cheddar cheese, fold into the meat mixture and remove from the heat
Preheat your oven to 400 F
For the Cornbread
In a large bowl empty out the contents of two 8.5 ounce boxes of Jiffy corn muffin mix. Add in 2 eggs and 2/3 cup of milk. Whisk the ingredients together. Fold in 1 large bunch of fresh chopped chives. Let the batter rest for around 10 minutes, this will allow it to rise a bit and not be as dense
Place the meat mixture in a large baking dish that was sprayed with cooking oil. Pour the cornbread batter over the top of the meat and spread out to evenly cover. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and a tester comes out of the corn bread clean
Let this rest for 10 minutes before cutting
Tools used to make this recipe
Architec Carving Board, Gripperwood
NuWave Flex Precision Induction Cooktop
KitchenAid Gourmet Stainless Steel Wire Masher, Black – KN008OHOBA
Pyrex Prepware 2-Cup Measuring Cup, Red Graphics, Clear
Silicone Flexible Rubber Baking Spatula
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