Perfect Tamale Pie Recipe

This is a pretty decent recipe. I used the gf cornbread recipe in my collection to top this casserole. I also substituted a can of mild Rotel and a can of condensed tomato soup for the tomatoes and chiles. This gave the casserole a better consistency, in my opinion, plus that's the way my mom made it! Hahaha. I also added a can of both dark red and light red kidney beans for flavor and texture. I do love beans! For the spices I cut down the chili powder to one tablespoon and added a tablespoon of homemade taco seasoning. I added a teaspoon of smoked paprika as well. I also upped the cumin to a teaspoon and a half. I didn't add the cheese to the cornbread or the casserole. I layered it over the dish before pouring on the cornbread batter. I used 2 cups each Boar's Head smoked beechwood Wisconsin cheddar for a great smokiness and Boar's Head 3 pepper Colby Jack for a little bite. The combination is great. Overall this is a very tasty dish!

Based on Leafhoppers comment I made some changes to this recipe. For starters I used half 80/20 hamburger and half ground chorizo. I combined the two meats together prior to cooking. In addition to the chili powder and cumin called for in the recipe I used about 3 tblsp of no salt homemade taco seasoning. I used fire roasted corn and threw in some olives because I had an open container. For the cheese I used Monterey with Hatch Chiles in it. Thank you Fresh Basket. I also used Rotel canned tomatoes. For the topping I used an equal amount of lard instead of butter, added roughly 1 tsp of Ancho Chile powder and 1 tsp of Cumin. I also threw in some chopped green Chiles. I also cooked half the time with casserole cover. Next time I'll cover the whole cooking time. Overall pretty tasty. I'll probably make this again but spice it up a bit more, needs just a touch of heat. Maybe some chipotles.

Not bad but not perfect. Keep looking