This Game Day Pie is actually a Jamaican Jerk Chili Pie with a Cornmeal Crust. It’s absolutely guaranteed to be a fan favorite on game day! We won an office chili cook-off with this recipe. Delicious and beautiful, your guests will be asking for more.
We provided our favorite chili recipe, but you can use any chili (plus flour to thicken it) with this crust, and still come out looking like the MVP.
What sets this chili apart is that we added the Jamaican jerk flavors to the pie. Our parents are both Jamaican, and we grew up on Jamaican staples like ackee and saltfish, curried chicken and oxtail. So when Christina suggested a jerk chili pie, we were intrigued. We didn’t go overboard with the jerk flavor – just enough to add a kick, and a subtle variation that makes this chili both unique and mouth-watering.
This Game Day Pie recipe is enough for 2 pies, and should serve about 16 people. Are you ready to get started? Let’s bake!
What you’ll Need:
For the crust
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup fine ground cornmeal
- 1 cup (2 sticks) butter -chilled and cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening – chilled and cut into cubes
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1/2 cup water, with ice cubes in it
- pie weights (or about 3-4 cups dried beans or uncooked rice)
- parchment paper (or foil)
For the filling
- 1/2 lb or so bone-in steak (just about any size and cut is fine since this will be stewed)
- 1 lb ground beef
- dried beans (we used 1/2 bag of each of black beans, red kidney beans and pinto beans – each bag was 1 lb)
- 1 large onion
- 6 cloves of garlic
- 2 whole sweet peppers or 8-10 small sweet peppers (I also used the small ones for my garnish)
- about 1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro – plus more for garnish
- 2-3 tsp each of cumin and coriander (dry seasonings)
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 package taco seasoning
- 1 tsp each onion powder and garlic powder
- 28 oz can diced or crushed tomatoes
- 6 oz can tomato paste (or half a jar of your favorite salsa)
- 3-4 cups beef broth
- 1 tsp tabasco sauce, fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice
- 1 cup flour
For the Jamaican jerk seasoning*
- *1 tsp whole all spice (aka pimento seeds)
- *1 bunch fresh thyme
- *4 tbsp wet jerk seasoning
- *1-2 tsp scotch bonnet pepper sauce (optional)
- *1 bay leaf
*If you are not into jerk flavors, just omit the ingredients marked with an *. Your chili will still be wonderful.
Garnish:
- 2 cups shredded cheese (a mexican mix is fine, or just cheddar)
- thinly sliced sweet peppers
- cilantro
- black olives (1 small can)
- sour cream (1 small cup is fine)
Instructions for Game Day Pie
Prep Day
1. Place 1/2 the onion, 3 cloves of garlic, about 1/4 cup cilantro (coarsely chopped), 2 tbsp fresh thyme (coarsely chopped), 1/2 tsp salt, 2 tbsp wet jerk seasoning and 1/2 tsp of the whole all spice- into a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a freezer bag over your steak. Make sure it covers the steak on all sides, and refrigerate.
2. Soak the beans for the chili. Pouring them into a large bowl and cover with a generous amount of cold water.
Game Day
1. Make the filling.
- Scrape the marinade off the beef, but don’t discard it. Sear the steak on high heat about 4 minutes per side. Set aside. After it has had a few minutes to rest, taste it and add salt if need be. Or just eat some of it… because no one will ever know… and its juicy and delicious…
- Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil in a large pan on high heat (I used the Instant Pot on saute mode) and place the remainder of the marinade (it’s too good to waste), the remaining 1/2 onion (chopped), the remaining 3 cloves of garlic (minced), 1 diced red or green pepper (or several small peppers), and 1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro into the pan. Saute until fragrant and the onions just start to become translucent.
- Add ground beef to the pan, mix and allow to brown slightly. Drain the beans and stir into the pot. Chop the steak into big chunks and add to the pot, bones and all. Add all your dry seasonings: bay leaf, cumin, coriander, chili powder, taco seasoning, onion powder, garlic powder. Then add your diced tomatoes, tomato paste, 3 cups beef broth and 2 tbsp wet jerk seasoning.
- Place several whole thyme sprigs and 1/2 tsp whole all spice into a cheese cloth and tie it up. Throw the cheesecloth into the pot and stir it well.
- Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 1.5 hours (or put on meat/stew mode in the Instant Pot for 1.5 hours). If cooking on the stove, loosely cover and check on it every 15 minutes or so; stir and add more broth if needed.
- Once the beans are soft (or after 1.5 hours in the Instant Pot), add salt to taste, the scotch bonnet pepper sauce, and the tabasco or lemon juice. (I also added more chili powder, cumin and coriander at the end, but that depends on your palate). Remove the cheesecloth, any bones and the bay leaf.
- Once you are satisfied with the flavor, stir in 1 cup of flour. Bring to a boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
2. Make the crust.
- Mix the 1 cup flour, 1 cup cornmeal, 1 tsp salt and 2 tbsp sugar in a medium sized bowl (or just use 1/2 the recipe if you are only making 1 pie).
- Add the chilled butter and shortening to the bowl. Use your hands, a food processor or pastry cutter to “cut” the fats into the flour mixture until you have pea-sized chunks of butter/shortening.
- Add the ice water (not the ice) 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough can clump together. Separate into 2 disks and chill for at least 15 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the dough and place into two 9 inch pie dishes (preferably cast iron). Pierce with a fork several times on the bottom.
- *Important*: “Blind bake (i.e. bake it the crust by itself) by adding parchment paper (or foil) and fill the pie with pie weights (or dried beans that you don’t want to ever eat again). Bake for 10 minutes or until the edges are slightly browned. Remove from the oven. Once cool to touch, remove the parchment/foil and weights/beans.
3. Add the Finishing Touches.
- 1. Fill the pie crusts with chili, and bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes. Then add your cheese and bake another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese has melted.
- Garnish and serve warm.
Enjoy!
Your guests will be raving. My kids asked for seconds (even the picky ones who say they don’t like chili). If you do make it, please comment and let us know – or post a pic on our instagram or facebook pages!
You can also make this our DIY Dollar Store lantern (right) as a centerpiece for your table! Just replace the candle with a mason jar filled with small peppers and a sprig of cilantro đŸ˜‰
Pro Tips:
- You’ll want to start this the night before for the best flavor. Or you can even make the filling several days in advance and keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake it (just add the flour and boil for 1 minute before you store it).
- If you don’t remember to start the pie the night before, you can use canned beans instead (which will take about 1/2 the cooking time), and seasonthe steak with onion powder, garlic powder, salt and wet jerk seasoning instead of marinating it.
- If you are only only making 1 pie, remove 1/2 the chili once it is finished cooking, but don’t add the flour. You can freeze or refrigerate and eat another day. Or keep it handy to serve to any guests who cannot have dairy. Use only 1/2 cup flour to stir into the chili you are using for the pie. Our pie filling for 1 pie required about 5-6 cups of chili.
- For the blind bake; once it is baked, allow the crust to cool slightly, and carefully lift the parchment paper (or foil) so that you can slide the pie weights or beans into a heat-safe container to be used again for the next pie!
- For the garnish, we just sliced small red, orange and yellow peppers very thinly and arranged them on a bed of cilantro leaves. We put a few spoons of sour cream into a freezer bag and cut 1/4 off the corner. We piped the sour cream onto the middle of the pie.