About Me

My photo
I'm a foodie and an amateur chef. I love to cook and to learn all I can about food! I believe that food is very powerful. It can bring people closer together, and it can also destroy relationships. I'm serious! P.S.- I can't stand doing the dishes!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Sunken Southwestern Fajita Pie

Hello again Fellow Eaters,

I hope you all are eating well!

I believe .....that I am an inspired cook (as I believe that most, if not all, cooks are). I can often look back on my recipes and figure out what, or whom in particular inspired me to think up a specific dish. Sometimes it's the music that I'm listening to that inspires me, or a movie that I have watched recently. Sometimes my recipes can be related to what I was feeling at the time, or to what the weather is like outside. Even books inspire me! Other times I can tie a recipe back to a childhood memory, or to a person in my life, especially when it comes to my friends and family.

I owe the concept of this recipe to my dear friend Nicky's mom, Mrs. C! Back in middle and high school, Nicky used to have get- togethers at her house and Mrs. C would feed us WELL .. (that woman can COOK!!). On those evenings (and many times in between) we also got to have tons of girl talk, advice from the wise Mrs. C, and lots of chocolate!

For my "Going- Away- to- College Party" Mrs. C made her taco pie for dinner.

Sunken Southwestern Fajita Pie
I have never forgotten that pie and so some weeks ago, when I was faced with leftovers from a cookout (many many hamburgers) I decided to make my own rendition. I already had bell peppers, onions, and garlic chopped up from the day before so, I cut up the hamburgers (I would estimate that it ended up being 1.5 lbs of meat), grabbed 2 boxes of cornbread mix, 2 cans of beans ( I used black or kidney beans). The first thing I did was to make the cornbread batter and bake it until the edges were mostly firm but the middle was still quite soft. While the cornbread was bakng, I sauteed the bell peppers, onions, and garlic in olive oil. I added some salt, pepper and chili powder. In a large bowl I tossed the beans, the cut up hamburgers, and the sauteed mixture. When I took the cornbread out of the oven, I poured everything into the center of the cormbread (the softest part) and let it sink. This creates a crust of sorts around the edge. I topped the whole thing with some grated cheddar cheese and popped it back into the oven until the cheese was melted the filling was bubbling. I topped it with some sour cream, and served it up. A side salad goes well with this dish, and is a great way to add some color, and some more nutrition to this meal.

Thank you to my dear friends Nicky, and Mrs. C, for their many (many) years of loving friendship, encouragement, good advice, and for feeding me marvelous food on many occasions! I love you both!

1 comment: