Pie ala Stove

Since my budget is too tight to afford full cable, and I would be terribly distracted by a full offering of channels, my Food Network obsession has been limited to watching Paula Deen and Giada De Laurentiis over lunch at my parents' place. Then, a few months ago while flipping stations on a Saturday morning, I came across a cooking show on PBS. I had watched some of PBS's culinary offerings before but had not been overly impressed. But then I caught an episode of America's Test Kitchen and I had met the public television's version of Alton Brown. Each episode, they make one or two dishes "the right way" after having tested recipes numerous times and variations to come up with what they think is the best way to make the food item. Each episode also features an equipment corner, where testers evaluate cooking utensils and accessories, and the tasting lab, where testers vote on the best brand of food product (chocolate, Italian dressing, red wine vinegar, etc.).

I usually am able to catch an episode over the weekend, and their dishes look great, but I had never actually made any of them. Sure, they looked good on screen, but did it translated to me and my kitchen? The test came when they did an episode on skillet dinners. The first dish they made was skillet chicken pot pie, which looked good even though I am not a chicken pot pie fan. I think it is due to the frozen meal pot pies more than an actual aversion to them as a whole.

However, their second skillet meal offering piqued my interest, Skillet Tamale Pie. This appealed to me more both because it was not a pot pie and because I already had most of the ingredients on hand. So, I decided to test America's Test Kitchen. Could I make this in thirty minutes or less? Would it actually work? How would it taste?

I am not sure if I made it in thirty minutes or less, but it was simple to make, and half the time was baking. Yes, baking. It is a half stove top, half oven dish. You mix all the tamale ingredients in a oven-safe skillet (or, pour it into an oven-safe dish if you were not sure about it, like me), then you dollop cornbread on top of the skillet mixture, smooth it out, and pop it in the oven for ten minutes. And the results? See for yourself...

And the taste? Wonderful. Warm, hearty, tasted like something mom would make on a cool Monday night growing up. The meat (I used turkey because it was in my freezer) was tasty, the tomatoes were a nice burst of flavor, and I should not have cut the chili powder dosing in half because it could have used more heat. The cornbread was fabulous - not doughy, not dry, the thing I was most worried about with the skillet-to-oven action. Skillet tamale pie is like having a bowl of chili with the cornbread on top like a thick "crust." And it reheats great. Add a little more cilantro on top of the reheated dish, little cheese, maybe some sour cream, and you are good to go.

Allison's America's Test Kitchen test results - a solid "A."