Chilli cornbread pie

This is an adaptation of Ainsley Harriott's recipe from his Friends and Family Cookbook.

This is so lovely and spicy, the cornbread is a perfect topping, sucking up some of the spicy sauce.  I have deviated, yet again, from the original recipe and method but we love it this way, it makes a change from chilli and rice and reheats well.

Ingredients:

For the chilli

1. 1 onion, very finely chopped
2. 2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes (I used Basics range)
3. 1 tin of kidney beans (I used cannellini beans as we prefer the beans without skin on)
4. 2 fat cloves of garlic chopped finely
5. Chilli, either two level tsp of chipotle chilli paste or 2 red chilli's deseeded and finely chopped
6. 500g minced meat (I used Basics pork and beef frozen mince)
7. 1 beef stock cube
8. S&P to taste
9. A splosh of wine, either red or white if you have any to hand, otherwise omit this.
10. Sunflower oil for frying
11. Optional:  Half a cube of dark chocolate and/or Quarter tsp ground cinnamon (both add richness)

For the cornbread topping

1. 150ml soured cream (or fat free Greek yogurt if watching the calories)
2. 150ml cold water
3. 2 eggs
4. Half tsp salt
5. 2 tsp baking powder
6. 150g fine polenta (cornmeal)
7. 150g SR flour

Begin by warming the oil in a heavy pan and add the chopped onions, cook for five minutes without browning then add the minced meat and brown all over breaking up any lumps as you go.  Once browned crumble the stock cube over and combine then add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.  Next pour the chopped tomatoes in and stir through the chilli or chipotle paste and wine, if using. Stir and taste, season at this point and adjust the chilli to taste.  I cook this in a slow cooker, you don't have to.  

I put the whole lot into the slow cooker and left it to cook for 3-6 hours on low, when ready to eat I added the beans and stirred to combine then made the cornbread whilst they warmed through.  This can all be done in the original pan but cooked slowly for half an hour to skip the slow cooked stage

Pre heat the oven to 180C or equivalent.  For the cornbread mix the dry ingredients in a food mixer bowl then whisk the soured cream, water and eggs together in another bowl and pour over the dry ingredients.  Whisk on low for a minute and then up to high for a couple of minutes to form a thick batter.   This can be done by hand, it's hard work though.

There are two ways of finishing this dish.

1:  To assemble, pour the chilli meat mixture into a high sided roasting tin then pour the batter over.  Place in the oven for 30 minutes, check it's cooked as you would a sponge cake, insert a knife into the cornbread, if it comes out clean it's done, otherwise give it 10 more minutes.

2:  How I do it.  If using a slow cooker, place half the meat mixture into your roasting tin and top with the cornbread, leave the rest of the chilli in the slow cooker on low or keep warm if your slow cooker has that facility.

Once the cornbread has cooked in the oven dish up and add the rest of the chilli meat mixture to the dish to serve.  This ensures a lot of rich sauce as the cornbread can suck up a lot whilst cooking.  This way there will still be a delicious layer of chilli infused cornbread, it's the best of both worlds we feel.