Tamales 2011

Tamales

(here is the recipe as I wrote it down about 15 years ago when I moved away from home)

Every year for New Years we make tamales. No I am not mexican, but growing up we lived next to a family that was. They taught my mom and me how to make tamales. We were taught to use pork, and also that the pig ears were reserved for the guests of honor. I don't have the stomach for that, so I use beef.

This is Savannah using the food processor to make the chile sauce. 12 different dried peppers, roasted then soaked in boiling water, seeded then processed.

This is the beef mixture. After the chile sauce is done, you add the beef to it and then cook some more. It is SO yummy!

These are the chiles after they have been roasted, and soaked.

Preparing the masa dough

This is the masa dough. You whip up lard, then add the masa and beef brothTo be sure it is perfect, you have to drop a ball of the dough into cold water. If it floats to the top, it is ready.

here is Savannah folding up her first tamale

Here is Megan helping. She has been helping for a few years and pretty much can fold and tie them herself

Here are the finished tamales, waiting to be steamed for an hour in a tamale pot.

So here is the recipe...

Filling

4 lb beef rump roast

garlic salt

pepper

onion powder

Tapitio sauce

1 can green chiles

chili powder

cumin

water/beef broth

I place the beef in my slow cooker, and season in heavily with the dry ingredients. Then I pour over the chiles and the Tapitio, and then pour beef broth over all. I use enough broth to almost come to the top of the meat. I set my slow cooker to low and cook either over night or atleast 10-12 hours. When it is done, I let it cool so I can skim the fat off the top. Shred the meat.

HUSKS

place two bags of dried corn husks into a large sink filled with hot water. let soak for 2 hours

SAUCE

10-12 chiles ancho, California, New Mexico and Anaheim. place on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until puffy, DO NOT BURN. Place in a bowl and cover the chiles with boiling water. Let sit for atleast and hour. Meanwhile dice up a yellow onion and saute in canola oil until soft. When they are soft, don latex gloves and remove the stems and seeds from the chiles. Place the chiles into the bowl of a food processor. add about 3 cups of the chile water and process until smooth.

then you are going to add

1/4 c tomato sauce

2 cloves of garlic

1/4 c canola oil

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp cumin

1 onion (softened)

2 tsp sugar

process again until smooth. pour into a large stock pot and bring to a low boil, reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes. Add the shredded meat and about 3/4 cup of hot salsa and continue to simmer until heated through. remove from heat.

MASA

in a heavy duty mixer you will make the dough.

with the whip attachment, whip 2 cups of lard until in looks like frosting

in a seperate bowl combine 6 cups of masa para tamales

1 1/2 tsp salt

and 3 tsp of baking powder

combine with the lard

slowly start adding beef broth, and whip at high speed. you will use from 3 cups to 6 cups of brothafter each half cup, take a small piece of the dough and drop it into a cup of cold water, when it floats to the top it is ready.

The next part takes a lot of time, so the more hands to help the better. Possibly set up an assembly line. drain your husks and pat them dry with a tea towel. place about a golf ball sized piece of dough in your hand, roll it into a ball then flatten it. Place it in the middle center of the husk and flatten out some more. place a few teaspoons of the meat mixture on top of the dough, then take another bit of the dough, flatten and then cover the meat.

Roll one side of the husk to cover the dough, fold the other side over that, then fold the bottom up, and bring the top over all. use a piece of twine, or I cut the husks into long, thin strips, and use them to tie a knot around the husks.

fold up about 40 tamales. In a very large tamale pot, or a regular stock pot with a steamer rack. Add water and bring to a boil. cover the bottom of the steamer with a thin layer of corn husks. place the tamales in the steamer standing them up . place another layer of the corn husks on top, this keeps the tamales from getting to wet from the condensation.

Let steam about 40- 60 minutes. Remove one tamale to check for doneness

serve hot with some refried beans and cheese. And don't forget the Tapitio sauce. MMM this is my favorite holiday tradition

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