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Winter has returned and recipe researcher Sheila Kern has come up with the perfect meals to match the weather outside. Who doesn't like Tamale Pie, a good white fish like Tilapia or zucchini bread? Thought so. Many of the Tamale Pie ingredients, Tilapia and zucchini are all on sale. Enjoy!

Tamale Pie

From www.texascooking.com

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 or 2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 T olive or canola oil

1 pound lean ground beef (ground turkey works, too)

14.5-ounce can of whole, peeled tomatoes (drained) or 3 medium tomatoes, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 cup cornmeal

4 cups water

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon chili powder

Sliced ripe olives

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Saute the onion, green pepper and garlic in the oil until just tender. Crumble the ground beef into the skillet and brown. Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper and chili powder. Cook over low-to-medium heat for about 20 minutes.

While the meat mixture is simmering, bring 3 cups of the water to a boil. Slowly pour the corn meal into the remaining 1 cup of cold water, stirring until smooth. Add the salt and chile powder to the boiling water, and then, stirring constantly, add the cold corn meal mixture to the boiling water. Cook and stir for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cover.

Spray a casserole or baking dish with vegetable cooking spray. Using half of the cornmeal mixture, line the dish. Fill with the meat mixture. Sprinkle sliced ripe olives over the top. Using the remaining half of the cornmeal mixture, cover the top of the pie.

Bake at 350°F for 20 minutes or until nicely browned. Makes about 6 servings.

Note: You can jazz this up with chopped green chiles, grated cheese, etc., but it's not necessary. This is classic tamale pie.

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 Pecan-crusted Tilapia

From www.bigoven.com

Ingredients

1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs

2 tablespoon pecans finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

3 tablespoon all-purpose flour

4 ounces tilapia or snapper fillets

1 tablespoon vegetable oil divided

4 lemon wedges

Instructions

Combine first 5 ingredients in a shallow dish. Combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a medium bowl; place flour in a shallow dish. Dredge 1fillet in flour. Dip in buttermilk mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture.

Repeat procedure with remaining fillets, flour, buttermilk mixture, and breadcrumb mixture. Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 fillets; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and fillets. Serve with lemon wedges.

Parmesan-Crusted Tilapia

From www.rachelraymag.com

Every Day with Rachael Ray October 2006

Ingredients

3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons paprika

1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley

4 tilapia fillets (about 1 pound total)

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400º. In a shallow dish, combine the cheese with the paprika and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Drizzle the fish with olive oil and dredge in the cheese mixture. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake until the fish is opaque in the thickest part, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve the fish with the lemon wedges.

Zucchini Bread

From www.foodnetwork.com

Recipe courtesy Paula Deen

Show: Paula's Home Cooking Episode: Weekend House Guest

Yield 2 loaves

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3 cups sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs, beaten

1/3 cup water

2 cups grated zucchini

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, nutmeg, baking soda, cinnamon and sugar. In a separate bowl, combine oil, eggs, water, zucchini and lemon juice. Mix wet ingredients into dry, add nuts and fold in. Bake in 2 standard loaf pans, sprayed with nonstick spray, for 1 hour, or until a tester comes out clean. Alternately, bake in 5 mini loaf pans for about 45 minutes.