The Belle’s Cornbread Meat Pie

Welcome back to the kitchen, y’all! The men are almost through harvesting. Give us a week and praise the Lord. It will all be in the bins, and what isn’t in the bins will have been shipped out to the grain elevators. Will they slow down? You’re kidding, right? Nope, they’ll switch gears and try to get the land ready and “laid by”, that’s a farming term, before the winter rains. The goal is to have the ground as ready as possible for planting come Spring. All that to say, I’m stirring up another hearty meal for my beloved farmer, to keep him going. It’s my Corn Bread Meat Pie and I’ll show y’all the steps so you can bless your bunch. Let’s do it. (Psstt…I sorta kinda forgot to take the picture! Please forgive the half-eaten dish.)

We’ll begin by browning a pound of ground beef with a large chopped onion. We’ll drain the grease, and then we’ll return it to a heavy cast iron skillet, along with a half of a chopped bell pepper, a can of tomato sauce, a can of whole kernel corn (I’ve got freshly frozen corn from the freezer that I’ll be using. Don’t hate.)

We’ll also add 1 and ¾ cup of water, a tablespoon of chili powder, and salt and pepper it to taste. Just let this cook on low while we make the cornbread topping. Note: if you don’t have a large enough skillet, (bless your heart, and I mean that sincerely,) you can turn this out into a greased casserole dish before topping.

Now, about that corn bread. We’ll stir together ¾ cup of corn meal with a tablespoon each of all-purpose flour and sugar, and a tablespoon and a half of baking powder. We’ll stir in a well beaten egg, a tablespoon of melted butter (real butter please) and a ½ cup of milk. We’ll pour this over our meat mixture.

Now, some of it will sink below the surface but that’s a-okay! It will rise while it bakes and come out all brown and crispy! YUM! That’s my Corn Bread Meat Pie and it’s mighty good eating from the Belle’s kitchen to yours!