Mom vs. Reese: Who has the best cornbread pie?

Wandering around some food websites, I discovered Reese Witherspoon’s recipe for Corn Bread Chili Pie. It reminded me a lot of my Mother’s Corn Pone Pie.

I headed for my recipe box and found my mom’s recipe, noting the card was written in 1978. There were many differences between the two recipes. For example, Mom used 2 pounds of ground beef; Witherspoon went with a pound of ground beef and a pound of ground pork.

Mom used chili powder, whereas Witherspoon used packets of chili seasoning mix. Witherspoon also added cheddar cheese and frozen corn to the batter, as well as adding corn to the beef mixture, too. I liked both of those ideas.

Mom didn’t use an iron skillet to make her Corn Pone Pie, as Witherspoon did. Perfect, since my iron skillet is a well-seasoned 50-year-old one.

Instead of just regular canned diced tomatoes, I went with fire-roasted tomatoes to kick the flavor up a notch.

Witherspoon uses tomato paste and chicken broth in her pie, where I omitted them both, believing they would make this too soupy. Mom also added Worcestershire Sauce, giving her pie a unique umami-enhanced flavor.

Originally, I was going to make this by going with Nan’s original homemade cornbread. However, believing that you might see that and not make this due to its added “from-scratch” complexity, I went with a boxed cornbread mix.

Mom used Jiffy brand Corn Muffin Mix, and that was my plan too, until I got to the supermarket and found that Jiffy was on sale and the shelf was empty.

Right next to the empty Jiffy Mix shelf was Krusteaz’s cornbread mix. I’d heard good things about that product and went with it. The only difference was that I would have needed two (8.5-ounce) boxes of Jiffy and only needed one (11.5-ounce) box of the Krusteaz.

It took a bit of time to peel and chop the onion, peel and mince the garlic. While the ground beef cooked, I stirred the cornbread batter together after adding the corn and cheese.

Once the cornbread batter covered the top of the ground beef and bean mixture, it went into the oven for 35 minutes.

Once done, since a well-filled iron skillet weighs a lot, I used hot pads to carefully remove it from the oven and placed it on a wire rack to cool down a bit.

My new and improved Corn Pone Pie was terrific, everything and more than I remembered it to be. I loved the updates, especially the corn and cheddar cheese. Witherspoon may have appreciated the flavor boost from the Worcestershire Sauce.

If you make this, know you’ll have plenty of leftovers.

• Don Mauer welcomes questions, comments and recipe makeover requests. Write to him at 1leanwizard@gmail.com.

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Mom’s Improved Corn Pone Pie

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled, ends trimmed, and chopped

2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced

2 pounds 93% lean ground beef*

2 teaspoons hot chili powder

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes*

2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce

1 cup frozen corn, divided*

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese*

1 (15-ounce) can low-sodium dark red kidney beans*

For the cornbread

1 (11.5-ounce) box Krusteaz Southern Cornbread & Muffin (OR 2 8.5-ounce boxes Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix) prepared according to package directions

⅓ cup melted butter**

2 eggs**

1 cup buttermilk**

Place the middle oven rack into the center position and begin heating the oven to 375°F.

Heat the olive oil in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the onion and sauté for 2 minutes before adding the garlic. Sauté for another minute and add the ground beef, breaking it up with edge of a metal spatula; stir and cook until the meat loses its pink color.

Reduce heat to medium and then stir in the chili powder, diced tomatoes, and Worcestershire Sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While the meat simmers, in a large mixing bowl, make the cornbread mixture according to package directions. When the cornbread batter is combined, add and stir in ½ cup of the frozen corn and the cheese. Set aside.

Stir the remaining ½-cup frozen corn and the kidney beans and their liquid into the meat mixture. Level the mixture, transfer and spread the cornbread batter over the meat mixture, leveling it out with an offset spatula. Bake for 35 minutes or until the cornbread is golden brown. Carefully remove from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack. Cool for 10 minutes. Serves 12.

*Organic preferred.

** Your cornbread mix may have different ingredients or quantities. Follow box instructions.

Nutrition values per serving (including cornbread mix): 389 calories (40.8% from fat), 17.6 g fat (8.1 g saturated fat), 32.5 g carbohydrates (30 net carbs), 6.6 g sugars, 3 g fiber, 24.8 g protein, 108 mg cholesterol, 621 mg sodium.