(modified from Dear S.O.S)

1 whole chicken breast, poached, water reserved (enough to make 2 cups cooked chopped chicken)
water
2 1/2 C broth from poaching liquid
2 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 C corn meal
1 C chopped onion (about 1 small to medium)
1 tsp minced garlic (I use about 2 cloves)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp crushed oregano
1 (1 lb) canned stewed tomatoes
1 (12 oz) can whole kernal corn, drained
1 can black beans, drained
1 small can diced green chiles
1 Tbsp chili powder

Heat broth with 1/4 tsp salt. Mix 1 1/4 cup cornmeal with 1 cup cold water and stir into hot broth. Cook and stir until mixture boils and thickens. Reduce heat, cover and cook, until very thick, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cook onion and garlic in hot oil until tender. Add oregano, tomatoes, corn, black beans, diced chilis, chili powder and the remaining 1 1 /2 tsp salt. Simmer 5 minutes. Slowly stir in remaining 1/4 cup cornmeal and stir until thickened. Add chicken.

Line 1 1/2 quart baking dish with cornmeal mixture, reserving about 1 cup for the topping. Add chicken mixture to baking dish. Spoon or pipe reserved 1 cup cornmeal mixture around the edge. Bake at 350F 20-30 minutes or until heated through. Makes 4-6 servings.

Liz, July 1

Well, tonight was the night.

I made the recipe according to the directions.  However, I started a
little too soon on the tomato mixture, but it still turned out great. I
didn't use a 1 1/2 qt container, because I don't have one. However, I
found a corning ware casserole pot that has "11 inches" written on it,
used that, and it fit perfectly. I was wondering how much of the chicken
mixture I would have leftover, but it all fit.

I didn't realise the cornflour mixture got so heavy!  I really need a
stronger spoon to stir it around. Not having a piping bag, I just used a
teaspoon to dollop places around the edges, and then went around again
and filled in the gaps.

It cooked for 25 minutes, and came out perfectly.  John and I ate it by
itself, and Emily ate some of it too (she had already eaten). John and I
both had seconds, and I can tell this is going to be something that will
taste fantastic reheated too.

John was wonderful, he cleaned up after dinner and wiped Emily down. (A
total and pleasant surprise).

For dessert, we had cresent rolls with chocolate inside. Baked for 20
minutes, and then left out for the same amount of time. The chocolate
mixture was nice, soft, and a gooey warm.

Thanks Ranee for the recipe, it was wonderful.

Liz



Jean Peters, July 2

So Friday night and I had left-over chicken from last night so I decided
to give it a go.  When I chopped up the chicken I had exactly 2 cups,
which I figured was a good sign.  I did make some substitutions though.
Because I was using precooked chicken I used a stock cube for the broth
and cut the salt out of the polenta.  As Mark doesn't eat tomatoes, I
used a cup and a half of water and added 2 teaspoons of tomato puree
instead.  As I already said I used dried beans (which I forgot about
when cooking and burned to the bottom of the saucepan).  I also used
fresh chile and oregano and added ground black pepper.

Bearing in mind that I had never cooked polenta before, I had *no* idea
what this was going to turn out like, except that given the amount of
chile I added, it was going to be *hot*.  Like Liz, I just dolloped the
mixture on the top before putting it in the oven, but if I make it again
I think that I'd use less polenta and just put it on the top instead of
lining the casserole with it. 

Our verdict? - we liked the chicken mixture but there was *way* too much
polenta/cornmeal for our tastes.

Jean



Vicky Larmour, July 5

I made it on Sunday night. I also used a stock cube for the broth and
cut out the salt, because to be honest I wasn't sure about how to poach
chicken... I pan-fried it instead. 

Like Jean, I also couldn't find tinned black beans so I used a tin of
mixed pulses (red kidney beans, aduki beans, chick peas, black-eye
beans...) instead. 

I realised as I mixed up the polenta with the broth that I had got
quick-cook polenta, so I didn't cook it for as long as the recipe said
before lining the casserole with it. 

When I had it all in the casserole ready to bake I couldn't resist
adding some grated cheddar cheese on top :-)

> Bearing in mind that I had never cooked polenta before, I had *no*
> idea what this was going to turn out like, 

Me too! Our verdict was that we liked it (although I wasn't convinced
the polenta was meant to end up like it did - kind of smooshy) but in
future I would probably add chopped sweet peppers to the chicken mixture
and do a bit less polenta - and possibly add some herbs or onion or
something to the polenta to make it a bit less plain. 

It also occurred to me that if one were feeling lazy, one could simply
use a jar of Mexican cooking sauce mixed with some cooked chicken for
the "filling".

So, thanks to Ranee for a great recipe! It is a completely new addition
to my repertoire and I will really enjoy trying it out a few more times
to get it completely right to our tastes! :-)

Vicky



Shari, July 6

I tried the recipe out this weekend as well.  Yum!!  I agree with the
other posters who said that there was just a little too much
cornmeal/polenta.  I love Vicky's idea about mixing some herbs into the
cornmeal.  I'm going to try that next time.  The only ingredient we
omitted was the onions (Erick won't eat them).  I ran into one small
problem:  My 1.5 qt casserole dish was almost too small!  Once I had the
tomato mixture and cornmeal in it it was about ready to overflow.  I
think I'll use a slightly bigger dish next time.  Overall, we really
like this recipe, and I can't wait to experiment with it some more.  Oh,
by the way, I agree with Liz-- the leftovers are *wonderful.*

Take care,
Shari



Gainesmk, July 6

I made the casserole last Thursday night.  I found that the cornmeal
didn't need to be cooked for quite as long as the recipe called for, and
I only used it on the bottom of the pan.  I, too, used grated Cheddar on
the top (it didn't look right w/o the cheese!).  We both really enjoyed
it, and Mark said to definitely add it to the casserole list.

Also, for veggies - could you use cubed tofu in place of the chicken?
Just a thought...

kellie



Michelle, July 7

I tried the recipe last night. My DH doesn't like corn or beans (but I
love them), so I made when I knew he was busy.

My casserole dish was also too small (but I have no clue how many qts it
is, I didn't have any conversion table handy) so I made another small
one on the side. (A personal casserole). I ate that one and kept the
rest for my lunches.

I discovered that I don't really like corn meal.  It's not bad, but not
my favorite. I would not have discovered that unless I tried it, right?
But the mix is delicious!

It was the first time that I did poached chicken. I didn't "know" how to
do it, but I figured that it was just to boil the chicken in water.
Anyway, it turned out just fine.

By the way, I was speaking to my mother (about quarts and poaching
chicken) on the phone while doing the recipe, and she threw a comment
like "Yep, that sounds like an american recipe". I have no clue what
that meant, but I thought it was quite funny.

Michelle



Tara, July 9

I made the Tamale Casserole last night, and I have to thank Ranee for
the recipe, because it was a smashing success!

The only real problem I had was with the timing of preparing the
different parts, but that was more because I was in a hurry to get it in
the oven.

I cooked the chicken and chopped it up (using two boneless chicken
breasts - forgot that's all I had).  I wished at that point I had some
canned chicken broth, because the broth from boneless chicken just isn't
as good as that from whole, but oh well!

While the chicken was cooking, I measured out the other ingredients and
prepared everything.  I've never liked onions, but I've gotten to the
point that I can eat them if they are very finely chopped and then
cooked until they are completely soft.  So I chopped up the onion in the
food processor and then got it cooking with the garlic.  Then I realized
I didn't have any whole kernal corn!  I figured cream-style would not be
as good and make the recipe too mushy, so I skipped the corn altogether.
When I cooked the tomato mixture, I also added a dash of cilantro and a
dash or two of cumin.

I also goofed a little and didn't save enough cornmeal mixture for the
edging, but it worked out okay (the piping bag really helped here - that
stuff gets amazingly thick). After about 20 minutes in the oven, I
topped it off with some shredded cheese and baked it another 10 minutes.

I served the dish with refried beans and blue corn tortilla chips.
According to the guys (my husband and our friend Tom), it was superb! I
really liked it a lot and next time it will be so much easier to make
now that I'm familiar with how long everything takes. This one is going
to become a staple in our house!

-Tara



Jan A. Cordes, July 12

Remind me next time I decide to cook not to do it on one of the hotest
days of the year.

I got this bug to cook something for us yesterday.  That doesn't happen
often so I have to run with it.  I had mentioned this recipe to Drew and
made the mistake of telling him I was thinking of making it.  Later I
had a change of heart and thought something cooler might be good.
Unfortunately, by then he had his stomach set on the tamale pie.  So, I
gave it a try.

I seemed to have a reading comprehension problem in one or two places
(once with the salt and once with the cornmeal) but I was able to work
around that.  I had plenty of broth left so that when I dumped more salt
than I was supposed to into the broth I could get more broth. Then I
realized that I had put all the cornmeal into the broth instead of
saving 1/4 cup out.  So, I just added 1/4 cup to the bean/corn mix too.

I had trouble finding the exact size cans of stuff so just went with the
closest thing.  And, I used S&W Mexican style stewed tomatoes.  They
already had a bit of mexican spice to them.

It turned out pretty good in spite of my cornmeal goof.  We have tons
left though.  I was so hot by the time we ate it that I didn't want a
lot of food to eat.  We'll probably be eating this for days.  Well Drew
will.  I'm not that great about eating leftovers.  And, it's still
really hot so hot food is not that appealing to me.

Jan



Heather Oviatt, July 13

I finally got around to making this last night, and I couldn't have
picked a hotter day to do it.  I think the only good decision we made
was to eat outside, as it was cooler there than inside.

As I didn't have a lot of time to put it together, I decided to not
poach the chicken.  Instead I cut it up into chunks and cooked it with
the onions and garlic.  I don't think this made a big difference, and I
just cooked the cornmeal with regular water.

I took the meal over to Mike's parent's house.  We ate it with a salad.
FIL claimed it needed more salt, but then he thinks everything needs
more salt.  MIL also thought it needed something, but couldn't quite
figure out what.  Mike liked it just fine and took some leftovers for
lunch today, and we still have some left!

Heather



Karen Simmons, July 15

Ok, we're a little late, but we finally made the Tamale Pie.  

I wound up with chicken breasts that must have been from a mutant
chicken - we had about 3 cups of chopped up chicken, and some left over
still.  So of course I ended up adding a little more tomato, and a
little more onion, and....  Needless to say, we had a lot of filler. But
we didn't have the extra polento problem that some of you had.  We
added cheese on top too, since a casserole in our family always has
cheese on top.  

Kevin loved it but commented several times that he needed warm tortillas
to eat it with.  I thought it was great, but very, very filling. A
little goes a long way with this dish.  So we have leftovers for a
while!

The next time I make it (and it will get made again, especially when we
have company coming), I think I'll add some fresh cilantro and maybe a
little lime juice.  Oh, and I might add some spices or some cheese to
the polenta mixture.  

In the meanwhile, we have lunch for tomorrow and a snack for Kev while
I'm shooting my wedding this weekend.

Thanks Ranee - this one's a keeper!

Karen



Jodi Graham Wood, July 19

I never reported on our attempt at the chicken tamale pie - it turned
out great and we both liked it. The only change we might make in the
future is to use more of a cornbread (meaning with sugar) for the
crust/topping. Not as authentic, but more to our tastes. I also liked it
with sour cream on top.

Jodi G. W.



KathyK, July 21

Well, I finally made it, and only what...10 days late?  Stan really
loved it, though I thought it could have been spicier.

I added some chicken bullion cubes when I was poaching the chicken since
I only had boneless breasts, so I didn't add any salt (since they have
enough).  I also used some of the cold reserved liquid for mixing in the
cornmeal since I had some extra and didn't want to waste it.

Next time, I will probably buy hotter peppers (i used mild chiles, and I
should have gone with at least medium), a bit more chili powder, and the
cheese which people have mentioned.  I may also mix in some spices or
peppers with the crust (like cornbread has sometimes) to make that part
a little less balnd.

--Kathy Kula



S. Gold, August 12

Okay, I finally made the tamale pie...I know I'm slow, but I finally got
settled enough in my kitchen here to make a go of it.   Just finding
cornmeal in the supermarket was a challenge, ended up finding Goya in
the "ethnic" section. :) I must say, short of making a pie this was the
most complicated thing I've ever tried in my kitchen.  Scott found it
quite tasty, and I was disturbed by the fact that I didn't check to see
if I had a pan to put it in first.  I ended up baking mine in two loaf
pans, so I've taken to calling it tamale loaf.  We also smothered it in
sharp cheddar cheese, but I think it needed more zip.  This is probably
due to the fact that I used mexican stewed tomatoes instead of tomatoes
and a tin of chiles.  They weren't half as zippy as I expected, but by
the time I got that far in the recipe I was committed and had no way to
make it zippier.  :) All in all, I was proud that I was able to make
something that came out pretty well without any help from my husband.
I'm always whining for help in the kitchen, but I started this one
before he came home.  

Sarah