I love beef tamales and Rob likes chicken green chile tamales. Both recipes are included here. The assembly is the same...just the fillings are different. They're time consuming...so have a friend help you. Tamale making parties are called tamaladas. We have these for our Christmas Eve dinner. Prepare the meat and corn shucks the day before assembling. My friend, Anne, used to bring the pork roast and I would provide the beef roast. Then we would split the cost of the rest of the ingredients. So, at the end of the day, we both had tamales for the freezer. We usually make this recipe 6 times bigger. 1 1/2 lbs of meat will yield about 18 tamales. You'll need a stock pot, or other deep pot to cook them in. The corn shucks are found in the mexican foods aisle, or the produce section. The masa harina is found in a bag in the mexican foods aisle.
2021 version
About 36 corn husks
Filling:
1/2 medium, white onion
4 garlic cloves, whole
2 bayleaf
2 tsp salt, kosher
1/2 tsp black peppercorns, whole
10-12 cups of water
2 lbs fatty pork roast
2 Tbsp oil for browning
Sauce:
8 large dried guajillos
3 dried ancho chiles
1/4 medium white onion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp lard, butter, or oil
2 Tbsp flour
3 cups broth (reserved after cooking meat)
Masa:
6 cups masa harina
1 tsp baking powder
300 grams lard
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
4 to 6 cups of broth
Cut the meat into large hunks. Brown all sides in hot oil in a dutch oven. Add the rest of the ingredients for the meat. Bring to a boil, cover, and turn down to medium low for two hours, or until fork tender. Remove meat from the pot. Strain out broth. Discard the bay leaves. Put the cooked onion and garlic in a bowl. Measure 2 cups of broth into a medium to large bowl. Reserve 1 cup of broth separate for the sauce. The remaining broth can be used in the masa.
Rinse the corn husks, then weight down in hot water to soften.
Rinse the dried chilis. Cut open and remove seeds, stem, and seed membrane. Soak in the medium to large bowl with the 2 cups of reserved broth, reserved from the meat. Start making the masa. Cut the dry ingredients into the lard with your hands. Work it until uniformly crumbly. Add 1 cup of broth. Work the broth into the masa. Add another cup of broth and repeat. Cover the bowl and let sit 10 minutes. Work in another cup of broth. Mix, repeat. Cover again and let sit 10 minutes. The mixture should be very soft but not soupy, and not stick to your hands. After the second sitting, you may want to add more broth or not. The masa will soak up a surprising amount of liquid.
Shred the meat with a fork, or a mixer. Set aside. Prepare the sauce. Dump the soaked chilis with the liquid into a blender. Add the onion and garlic from the meat, the fresh onion and garlic, salt, and cumin to the blender. Blend until smooth. Heat the fat in the dutch oven. Add the flour and brown to make a roux. Add the sauce from the blender and whisk well. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes on medium heat. Add the meat to the dutch oven. Stir well. Take off the heat.
Drain the corn shucks and stand upright in a tall sided bowl. Lay out the assembly station, including a cookie sheet. Assemble the tamales, folding the tapered edge under. Steam upright in a large pot for 50-60 minutes on medium heat. Add water every 20 minutes.
Granny's method:
2 pkgs corn shucks
unbleached crochet string
Prepare shucks by soaking in hot water in a large bowl overnight. Water will cool, but leave the shucks in the water until needed. Cut about 26 pieces of string...about 6" long. These will tie the ends of the tamales for cooking. Leftover corn shucks can be frozen for future use, or thrown away.
Beef filling:
4 Tbsp chili powder
8 cloves garlic, whole, peeled
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 lb pork roast (when using roasts...some fat is good...and 3/4 lb is the weight in meat...if you buy a bone in roast, get one about 4lbs to account for the bones.)
3/4 lb beef roast
salt
beef bouillon
Place the roasts in a roasting pan. Add the chili powder, garlic, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Using package directions...add beef bouillon and corresponding amount of water to the pan, enough to come 1/2 way up the side of the pan. Cover pan and cook in the oven for about 4 hours at 325 degrees, or until tender. Cool. Remove meat and garlic from the pan and shred in a food processor. Put in a bowl with a lid and store in the refrigerator if assembling tamales the next day. Save the broth in a separate bowl with lid as well. When ready to assemble, mix some broth into the meat to make a very moist mixture. Almost dripping when you pick up a little.
Chicken Filling:
1 whole chicken
4 cloves garlic, whole, peeled
1 small can green chiles OR 1/4 cup fresh, roasted green chiles..chopped
chicken bouillon
pinch salt
1/2 lb monterey jack cheese, grated
Put chicken in crock pot with garlic, green chiles, salt, and enough water, and bouillon to come 1/2 way up the side of the crock pot. Set crock pot on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove chicken and pick off the meat. Strain the broth into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate if assembling tamales the next day. Pick out garlic and large pieces of green chile. Shred chicken, garlic and green chile in a food processor. Refrigerate meat, covered. When ready to assemble tamales, mix cheese into chicken mixture and add enough broth to make a very moist mixture...almost dripping when you pick up a little.
Masa Batter:
1 1/4 cups lard OR vegetable shortening...see note at bottom of this page. Lard should be slightly softened but not runny.
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 cups masa harina
2 1/4 cups hot water
1 to 1 1/2 cups beef or chicken broth
2 tsp chili powder
Mix the masa harina with the hot water. With a hand mixer on medium high, beat lard with salt and baking powder until light in texture...about 1 minute. Continue beating as you add the masa in three additions. Reduce speed to medium low and add 1 cup of broth. Continue beating for another minute or so, until a small dollop of batter floats in a cup of cold water. Beat in enough additional broth to give the mixture the consistency of quick bread dough. It should hold its shape in a spoon. Taste the batter and season with additional salt if necessary.
Assembly:
Choose corn shucks that are large. Save the small pieces to use for cooking. The corn shucks have an inside and an outside. They will curve in toward the inside. Lay out a corn shuck and place a small handful of masa in the center. Work the masa out toward the edges making a rectangle the width of the shuck, and about 2" in length. Leave about 1 1/2" at the bottom and top of the shuck. Place a spoonful of filling vertically down the center of the masa and roll the shuck from right to left. Tie both ends with a piece of string.
Cooking:
Boil water in a separate pan. Set up a stock pot with a steamer basket, or colander set upside down in the bottom of the pan. You could also use a disposable pie pan with holes poked in it. Lay the scrap corn shucks around the outside edge of the steamer, colander, or pie tin. Lay a single thin layer of shucks along the center. Add enough hot water to come almost to the top of the scrap shucks. Stand the tamales up inside the pot. Cover and cook over medium high heat about 30-60 minutes until done. DO NOT let the pan go dry...it will burn and ruin the tamales. If the water is getting low, slowly pour boiling water down the side of the pan until it reaches just to the top of the scrap shucks again. They're done when the shuck pulls away from the masa, and the masa holds together. Remove the tamales from the pan. The masa will firm up more when the tamales cool.
Serving:
Serve warm tamales plain, or with a red enchilada sauce for beef and a green enchilada sauce for chicken. To reheat...steam tamales for about 15 minutes, OR put in the oven at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet with a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack for about 10 minutes, OR cover with a wet paper towel, and microwave for 1 minute.
FREEZE:
Tamales can be frozen after cooking and cooling.
NOTE:Lard is best for tamales. If you can't find it...use shortening. If you render you're own lard, you'll have richer tasting tamales. See the post titled Rendering Lard to learn how. Here's the link...http://peacefulcottagerecipes.blogspot.com/2009/01/rendering-lard.html
unbleached crochet string
Prepare shucks by soaking in hot water in a large bowl overnight. Water will cool, but leave the shucks in the water until needed. Cut about 26 pieces of string...about 6" long. These will tie the ends of the tamales for cooking. Leftover corn shucks can be frozen for future use, or thrown away.
Beef filling:
4 Tbsp chili powder
8 cloves garlic, whole, peeled
1/2 tsp black pepper
3/4 lb pork roast (when using roasts...some fat is good...and 3/4 lb is the weight in meat...if you buy a bone in roast, get one about 4lbs to account for the bones.)
3/4 lb beef roast
salt
beef bouillon
Place the roasts in a roasting pan. Add the chili powder, garlic, pepper, and a pinch of salt. Using package directions...add beef bouillon and corresponding amount of water to the pan, enough to come 1/2 way up the side of the pan. Cover pan and cook in the oven for about 4 hours at 325 degrees, or until tender. Cool. Remove meat and garlic from the pan and shred in a food processor. Put in a bowl with a lid and store in the refrigerator if assembling tamales the next day. Save the broth in a separate bowl with lid as well. When ready to assemble, mix some broth into the meat to make a very moist mixture. Almost dripping when you pick up a little.
Chicken Filling:
1 whole chicken
4 cloves garlic, whole, peeled
1 small can green chiles OR 1/4 cup fresh, roasted green chiles..chopped
chicken bouillon
pinch salt
1/2 lb monterey jack cheese, grated
Put chicken in crock pot with garlic, green chiles, salt, and enough water, and bouillon to come 1/2 way up the side of the crock pot. Set crock pot on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours. Remove chicken and pick off the meat. Strain the broth into a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate if assembling tamales the next day. Pick out garlic and large pieces of green chile. Shred chicken, garlic and green chile in a food processor. Refrigerate meat, covered. When ready to assemble tamales, mix cheese into chicken mixture and add enough broth to make a very moist mixture...almost dripping when you pick up a little.
Masa Batter:
1 1/4 cups lard OR vegetable shortening...see note at bottom of this page. Lard should be slightly softened but not runny.
2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3 1/2 cups masa harina
2 1/4 cups hot water
1 to 1 1/2 cups beef or chicken broth
2 tsp chili powder
Mix the masa harina with the hot water. With a hand mixer on medium high, beat lard with salt and baking powder until light in texture...about 1 minute. Continue beating as you add the masa in three additions. Reduce speed to medium low and add 1 cup of broth. Continue beating for another minute or so, until a small dollop of batter floats in a cup of cold water. Beat in enough additional broth to give the mixture the consistency of quick bread dough. It should hold its shape in a spoon. Taste the batter and season with additional salt if necessary.
Assembly:
Choose corn shucks that are large. Save the small pieces to use for cooking. The corn shucks have an inside and an outside. They will curve in toward the inside. Lay out a corn shuck and place a small handful of masa in the center. Work the masa out toward the edges making a rectangle the width of the shuck, and about 2" in length. Leave about 1 1/2" at the bottom and top of the shuck. Place a spoonful of filling vertically down the center of the masa and roll the shuck from right to left. Tie both ends with a piece of string.
Cooking:
Boil water in a separate pan. Set up a stock pot with a steamer basket, or colander set upside down in the bottom of the pan. You could also use a disposable pie pan with holes poked in it. Lay the scrap corn shucks around the outside edge of the steamer, colander, or pie tin. Lay a single thin layer of shucks along the center. Add enough hot water to come almost to the top of the scrap shucks. Stand the tamales up inside the pot. Cover and cook over medium high heat about 30-60 minutes until done. DO NOT let the pan go dry...it will burn and ruin the tamales. If the water is getting low, slowly pour boiling water down the side of the pan until it reaches just to the top of the scrap shucks again. They're done when the shuck pulls away from the masa, and the masa holds together. Remove the tamales from the pan. The masa will firm up more when the tamales cool.
Serving:
Serve warm tamales plain, or with a red enchilada sauce for beef and a green enchilada sauce for chicken. To reheat...steam tamales for about 15 minutes, OR put in the oven at 350 degrees on a cookie sheet with a pan of boiling water on the bottom rack for about 10 minutes, OR cover with a wet paper towel, and microwave for 1 minute.
FREEZE:
Tamales can be frozen after cooking and cooling.
NOTE:Lard is best for tamales. If you can't find it...use shortening. If you render you're own lard, you'll have richer tasting tamales. See the post titled Rendering Lard to learn how. Here's the link...http://peacefulcottagerecipes.blogspot.com/2009/01/rendering-lard.html
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