Halloween Tamale Pie

I got inspired by an offering on the Woman's Day site--a cute little tamale pie made to look like a Jack-o-lantern. Being the girly girl I am, I love cute food. That recipe has 4 boxes of cornbread mix in it and a special cake pan. Neither one of those was happening.

But I didn't give up on the idea. Thinking of my Mexican Cornbread...Sans Corn recipe, I decided it was worth a trial run to convert this fun dish into a low carb celebration. A few changes here and there, and I have a winner!

Halloween Tamale Pie

Filling:
1 lb lean ground beef
2 tbsp finely minced onion
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup salsa
1/3 cup shredded cheese

Batter:
1/2 cup almond meal
1/2 cup golden flax meal
2 tsp paprika
2 tsp baking powder
4 eggs
1/4 cup salsa
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup shredded cheese
2 tbsp water

In a skillet, brown the ground beef with the onion. Drain off any fat. Stir in the chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder until spices are evenly distributed. Add the salsa and cheese to combine, Set the mixture aside.

In a medium bowl, combine almond meal, golden flaxmeal, paprika and baking powder. Make a well in the center. Break the eggs into the well and mix with a fork to break the yolks. Stir to combine the eggs and dry ingredients. When no lumps remain, add the olive oil and salsa. Stir well, then add cheese.

Coat a quiche pan or large round cake pan with oil. Pour half of the batter into the dish. Using the back of an oiled spoon, spread the batter to cover the base. Form an edge similar to a pie crust. Bake 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven.

Place the beef mixture into the partially baked crust. Do not go to the edge. Smooth the meat with a spatula to compact it for easier spreading of the remaining batter. Add the 2 tablespoons of water to the remaining batter to thin it. Spoon batter over the beef. Use the back of the oiled spoon to smooth it and create an even thickness. Return the dish to the oven and bake an additional 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let the pie cool for 30 minutes. Invert the contents carefully onto a serving plate. Decorate with a green bell pepper stem. Cut a bell pepper into triangles for eyes and nose, and mouth as seen in the photo. Reheat the Jack-o-lantern in the microwave oven or a warm oven to bring back to serving temperature.

Serves 6   357 calories   3 net carbs (8 total)   23 g fat

The base after partial baking. See the edge?

My Pitty Tinker hoping for some of that beefy filling.

After baking with the batter baked over the beef,

So that is pretty darn easy. Just be sure to let it cool or the bready part will crumble when you try to remove it. Yes, I discovered that the hard way. Mine tore, so I added in some more cheese and melted it back together. I let it cool, then ran my spatula under it to loosen the base. No more problems. If you don't want to mess with inverting it, just serve it in the pan. In that case, just press the face into the top layer. (And do a better job covering the beef) I have not eaten this yet, I have it saved for tomorrow night's dinner with my middle boy at home. It smells amazing and I did nibble on the beef.

Even though my boys are all grown up, I still love to have fun with food. I have several Halloween themed foods to share with you this week.  One of these days the grandchildren will appreciate the way I like to create in the kitchen. Until then, I guess being around the teenagers keeps me young at heart.

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