Chili Relleno Bake

This is a recipe from Paula Deen's magazine. I made it last night out of curiosity and it's pretty good. It's like a nice, warm Mexican casserole...perfect for a cold night. I had never had sausage in a Mexican dish before, and it gave it a sort of breakfast feel. My family told me I could make this again....ALWAYS a good sign:)

*Note: it calls for 5 cans of whole chilies. I knew my family wouldn't go for this, so I just bought two and placed them at the bottom of the dish (and not in the middle). I enjoyed them and they did add flavor to the dish. The recipe also calls for 1/4 tsp of hot sauce. As I was pouring, the cap came off and probably close to 1/4 CUP came out. It did not affect the taste, though, at all. In fact, I think the more hot sauce, the better. I omitted the salt, due to this, too!*


Chili Relleno Bake
1 pound ground chuck
1 pound ground sausage
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup salsa
5 (4-ounce) cans whole chilies, drained
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese with peppers
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1/3 cup yellow cornmeal
4 large eggs
¼ cup all-purpose flour
1 ½ cup milk
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp hot sauce
Garnish: sour cream, chopped fresh cilantro

*Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease 13x9-inch baking dish

*In a large skillet, combine ground chuck, ground sausage, onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until meat it browned and crumbly. Drain well. Stir in salsa.

*Cut chilies in half lengthwise; remove seeds. Place half of chilies evenly over bottom of baking dish. Spoon half of meat mixture over chilies. Sprinkle evenly with half of cheese. Place remaining chilies in an even layer over cheese. Spoon remaining meat mixture over chilies. Top evenly with remaining cheese. Sprinkle cornmeal evenly over cheese.

*In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and flour until smooth. Whisk in milk, salt and hot sauce. Pour over cornmeal. Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until set. Let cool 10 minutes. Cut into squares to serve. Garnish with sour cream and chopped fresh cilantro, if desired.