Daily Dinner Table
Ideas for dinner tonight. Household and kitchen tips, recipes, tweaks. What's worked great, and not so great.
Taco Fiesta
It has been years since I’ve made this dish. This was a favorite of my son, Alexander, when he was a youngster. I wanted to make it for him (if I could recall how the heck I made it) and see if it was what we remembered. I’m not usually a “casserole” maker. Personally, I love them, they are tasty, usually pretty easy, a great way to use up ingredients, and a treat to just re-heat for a night off from cooking. I don’t make them often first because I just don’t think of it, and probably mainly because my husband has an aversion even to the word casserole. It’s pretty funny, really. He ends up actually enjoying them. It’s especially humorous because he will happily eat whatever is served, has an extremely diverse palate, never complains and is always complimentary. He’s not crazy about the word curry either. I guess if that’s the only thing he says he doesn’t like, that’s not so bad. Again, he enjoys the food, just not the names. So, there’s the birth of the name Taco Fiesta! What casserole? No casserole here! He travels often, so I need to make them more often for myself while he’s away. Who knows, maybe I can come up with some creative names and recipes to disguise The Casserole. So here is my “Taco Fiesta”.
Only you and I know it’s a casserole.
You’ll need:
2 packages Jiffy cornbread mix
2 eggs
2/3 c milk
1 lb ground beef (or turkey if you prefer) I try to buy only grass-fed beef when at all possible.
1/4 c diced onion
olive oil
1 envelope taco seasoning
2/3 c water
1 1/2 c grated cheese. (cheddar, monterey jack, colby all work)
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
Tony Legner’s Cat 5 Food Polish
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In medium bowl mix cornbread, eggs, and milk. Stir to blend. Mixture will still be lumpy. (basically follow box directions). Pour into a 9″ square baking pan, or something of equivalent size. Set aside.
In pan, drizzle olive oil and heat over medium. Add onion, sweat the onion for a few minutes until it becomes translucent. Add ground meat and brown. Add taco seasoning, and the water. Cook over medium heat until the liquid thickens and reduces. Add tomatoes. Mix well. Spoon mixture gently over the cornbread. Top with grated cheese and a sprinkle of Tony Legner’s Cat 5 food polish.
Taco Fiesta before going into the oven.
Bake in oven about 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and cornbread fluffy and browned. Serve sour cream or greek yogurt, chipotle salsa, and guacamole on the side, with a crisp green salad. 
Daily Dinner Table 