South of the Border-3/12/10

I love Mexican food. How can you go wrong with lots of cheese, avocados, and slow cooked meat? My mom credits me with introducing our family to Mexican food. There were no Mexican restaurants in our part of New Hampshire when I was a kid. One night, I used the kid's cookbook "Meals from Many Lands" and made tacos. The local grocery store had an Old El Paso kit. That may not have been all that authentic but we were introduced to some basic components of a cuisine I now eat often several times a week. Tonight, I made a Tex-Mex dinner that combines Mexican flavors with an American classic, cornbread. The Pork and Poblano Tamale Pie in this month's Bon Appetit was a slow roasted pork-filled flavorful version of this classic. This recipe took a lot of dishes and took almost 3 hours so I wouldn't say it was quick or easy, but it was very good. I was a bit worried about the jalapeno pepper but it mellowed out in baking. It was a bit too spicy for Eyrleigh but certainly not too spicy for Richard and I. The only complaint Richard and I had was that the cornbread layer was too thick and there was not enough yummy filling.

Pork and Poblano Tamale Pie-A-