My mother-in-law, Carma Willardsen Nuttall, was a genuine American treasure. I remember her with great fondness. I have filched a few of her recipes like this one and a chicken-and-rice casserole.
This is a hybride eschewing canned milk and cream of mushroom soup from this recipe and also her enchilada casserole recipe. Unless you put jalapeños into this in place of the diced green chiles, this isn't really spicy at all.
In order to bake this in a Pyrex® 13" × 9" dish and serve 8-10 people, I doubled the original recipe.
| Crust | |
|---|---|
| 2½ cups | corn meal |
| 24 oz | canned milk (substitute oat or almond milk) |
| 2 cups | water |
| 1 tsp | salt |
| Filling | |
| 2 lb | ground beef |
| 28 oz | green (or red) chili sauce for enchiladas |
| 1 clove | garlic, minced |
| 2 cups | fine-diced onion |
| ½ cup | diced bell pepper, any color |
| 2 cans | diced green chiles |
| 1 pkg | frozen corn |
| 1 can | sliced olives |
| 14 oz | can diced tomatoes |
| 2 tbsp | chili powder |
| 2 tsp | salt |
| ½ tsp | black pepper |
| 2 cups | grated cheddar or Montery Jack cheese |
For crust: Combine ingredients in a large sauce pan. Cook over medium heat until thick. Set aside 1 cup covered. Spread remaining mixture on bottom and sides of a well greased 13" × 9" oven dish. Bake in preheated oven at 425° for 10 minutes.
For filling: Brown meat and clarify onion and bell pepper. Lower heat and add green chiles, corn, olives, tomatoes. Stir in chili powder, salt and black pepper.
Assembly: Slop filling over crust layering in cheese. Cover with set-aside crust dough. Cover with foil and back in oven for 15-20 minutes.
Remove from oven, spread more cheese on top and return to oven briefly to melt (or even brown cheese slightly). Serve with dollups of sour cream, guacamole, and/or salsa.
(Someday...)