Quick Dinner: Chili Pie, November 1
This is hardly original, but last night I pulled some chili out of the freezer, put it into an 8×8 pan, grated about 4 ounces of cheese and sprinkled it over the chili, made a batch of batter for the best corn muffins in the world, poured that over top of it, and cooked the whole thing for about 30 minutes at 400, until the top was set and the chili was bubbling up around the edges of the cornbread. It was extremely tasty, and I finished it just in time to take some to class for dinner (my masters program teaches its classes in the evening. Next semester, thankfully, there will be no night classes, because I’m doing an independent study with an undergraduate class.) It reheated nicely a little while later when Jeff wanted dinner, and still later when I got in from class and wanted seconds.
My only complaint (and most of why I’m posting about it, since the Internet is my memory these days) is that I got the chili to cornbread ratio off; I forgot that the cornbread was going to rise like crazy, so instead of chili and cornbread, we had cornbread with some chili. It was still extremely tasty, but I’ll want to adjust that ratio next time. I also wonder how this would do in the slow cooker - if I made chili in the slow cooker, then made up the corn muffins and dropped them into the chili to cook for the last hour. I think the muffins would steam and come out very tender, but I’m not sure. Anyone else ever tried this?
OhioMom said,
November 3, 2007 @ 9:10 am
I can’t answer the question on the slow cooker, don’t have one :) As far as the cornbread topping, I always make a 1/2 batch of cornbread when I use it as toppings. If you do make a whole batch, use the rest for hot water cornbread to be served later in the week with another dish.
Joyce said,
November 5, 2007 @ 6:09 pm
It’s going to have to be a half batch next time; I was just being a little too enthusiastic (we do love our cornbread. :) )
I don’t know what I’d do without our slow cooker. They’re cheap to obtain, and terribly handy.
What’s hot water cornbread?
OhioMom said,
November 5, 2007 @ 6:38 pm
Instead of using milk to make your cornbread, use hot tap water (not boiling). You want it a little thicker than pancake batter. Heat a little oil in a skillet (cast iron is best) and make it like you would a pancake, flipping once. I make it often to go with beans, soups etc.