Here is a nice one-dish supper that I learned how to make from my friend Diane Ferris. The recipe calls for beef, but I had some ground venison I wanted to use, as well as some home-canned tomato sauce and tomatoes, and some of our own frozen corn. I have a friend who makes wonderful homemade, authentic tamales and steams them in the corn-husk wrappers. This dish is a pale imitation by contrast, but I try not to think of it as a tamale when I make it.

As usual, feel free to fiddle around with it. I think the proportions of meat, corn, tomatoes, onions and peppers can be pretty loose. The recipe calls for green pepper but you can use red instead, and if you like heat you could chop up a hot pepper and add it. The topping is less flexible because you want it to come out like cornbread, but the amount and sort of cheese are variable. Those flavored cheeses with everything from jalapenos to garlic to black pepper are all good possibilities, and you can use cheddar or jack cheese.

The cocoa is not a mistake. Cocoa powder – not the sweetened stuff – is used a lot in Mexican cooking; it is the essential ingredient in mole, for instance. It looks like a huge long list of ingredients but just think of it as a recipe for a hamburger and vegetable mixture (six are just seasonings) with a recipe for the cornbread topping. You can make the process more efficient if, while the filling mixture is cooking, you get the topping’s dry ingredients measured and whisked together and the wet ones measured and mixed, then put them together as soon as the filling is done.

As this recipe stands it can be easily tripled for a crowd of 15 to 20.

Tamale Pie

Filling:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 green or red pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 pound lean ground beef or venison

1 cup tomato sauce

1 large chopped fresh tomato or 2/3 cup canned tomatoes

1 package corn or 1 1/4 cup kernels

1 tablespoon cumin

2 teaspoons cocoa

1/2 teaspoon allspice

2 teaspoons chili powder, or more to taste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce or hot sauce of your choice

1 tablespoon cornmeal

Salt and pepper

Cook the onion and pepper together in the oil until the vegetables are softened. Then add the beef and brown it. Add all the rest of the ingredients and simmer all together for 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings. Put into a greased baking dish.

Topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

2 tablespoons of sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter, melted

2/3 cup milk

1 egg, beaten lightly

1/2 cup grated cheese

Preheat the oven to 40 degrees. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Add the wet ingredients and stir until it combined, being careful not to over mix. Fold in the grated cheese. Spoon evenly onto the top of the filling. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 30 more minutes.