Tamales!

JAN25

Tamale Time

Posted on January 25, 2013 by Devany

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I make a big batch of tamales several times a year. Yesterday I made a batch of pork and green chile tamales. They are not at all difficult to make and they freeze really well. They are also easy to re-steam. Here is the recipe, but keep in mind the filling can be any number of things, from chiles and cheese to chicken, pork, crab, beef etc. Once you get the rolling technique down you will be able to make them with anything. I often triple this recipe. This recipe makes about 20 good sized tamales. You can make them smaller if you are using them as an appetizer.

You will need: 

Cornhusks or banana leaves for wrappers

String

4 cups of Masa para tamales (this can be found in the Hispanic aisle of most large grocery stores.

1 1/2 cups of home rendered lard (see here how to do it and why) or butter

4 cups of good stock (I used duck stock, but turkey chicken or veal stock works great)

2 tablespoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

A large pot fitted for steaming. You need a lot of water for this, so raise your steaming basket to allow for a lot of water. This has to boil for 40-60 minutes.

Filling: 

2 tablespoons lard or olive oil
2 cups of well seasoned shredded pork shoulder (see my recipe here for making smoked braised pork shoulder Latin style).

1 onion finely chopped

6-8 roasted poblano chiles seeded, skinned and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces (or in a pinch you can use canned green chiles)

8 cloves of garlic finely minced

1 tablespoon Vik’s Garlic Fix

1 tablespoon Sweet Onion Sugar

1 teaspoon of smoked salt (I make my own, but you can buy it here)

2 tablespoons of Ancho Chile powder

1/2 cup of stock

2 cups of Queso para Quesedillas, para papusas or Jack cheese grated. Any good melting cheese is fine for this.

Sauce:

4 tablespoons of masa para tamales

4 tablespoons of house rendered lard or butter

1 cup of New Mexico Red or Green Chile powder

3 cups of good stock

Method

Cut lengths of string long enough to wrap the tamales. There are different ways of folding and wrapping the tamales, but this is my favorite way to do it. You can also tie just the ends or you can fold it so there is one side open and don’t even use strings. If you do this, you must place them upright in your steamer. Some people use parchment paper instead of corn husks or banana leaves.

Soak the corn husks in hot water, weight them down so they are immersed. Just before making the tamales, pour out the water. If you are using banana leaves they need to be heated to soften. I blanch them and place them on a wet towel.

In a stand mixer (or bowl with a beater) whip the cold lard for about 3 minutes on high speed till it is fluffy

In a bowl, combine dry ingredients and stir. Fold that and the stock into the lard. Mix until a very moist (but not sticky) dough forms. Chill for about 20 minutes while you prepare the filling.

In a large skillet melt the lard and add onions. Stir and cook till the onions are translucent, add garlic in a hot spot and stir, then add the chiles and spices and finally deglaze the pan with the stock and allow to simmer till the stock is absorbed, then cool.

Set up a station on a table or counter top. You will need the masa, the cheese, the filling, the string and a platter to stack the finished tamales on.

Start with about 1/2 cup of masa on a corn husk. Fold the sides of the husk where you will want the ends of the tamales to be and spread the masa with the folded husk. Do the same thing with the top and bottom of the husk so that the dough is spread out and you end up with a square of dough about 4″ X 4″. You will need to select the husks that are large enough to accommodate this size of tamale. You should have at least an inch of exposed husk on all sides. Place the filling in the center of the masa and lightly push down on it. Then take the bottom end of the husk and roll it forward to meet the end of the dough. Pull the dough forward making the two ends of dough meet. Then fold in the sides and roll the tamale. Place the string under the tamale and tie like a package. Repeat till you have used all of the dough or filling.

In a steam pot, place the tamales on a rack, cover and boil vigorously for 40-50 minutes. While you are steaming make the sauce.

Chile Sauce:

You can use New Mexico Red or Green Chile powder for this. I used red this time, but my next batch of corn, cheese and chile tamales I am making green sauce.

Make a roux of the masa and lard, stir till slightly brown. Add the chile powder and stir, then whisk in the stock. Allow to simmer and thicken slightly. Keep warm till ready to serve.

To serve, open the husks and remove the tamales to a plate. The masa should be soft and supple, yet firm enough to hold together. Spoon the sauce over and add additional cheese, crema and chopped cilantro. Enjoy!

 Please visit my other blog where this post originated, it is all about Food! www.sassyspoon.wordpress.com 

Christmas Eve Supper at Hale Pali

Wonderful friends, great food, good wine, Pink Martini's Christmas Album, candle light and lots of laughter make the recipe for a perfect Christmas Eve. The only thing missing was my son! We had fantastic weather all weekend and I cooked for days and days making dozens of different tamales and Chiles en Nogada. I smoked a ham and made a great mustard sauce (see recipe below) to go with it. Our friends brought the rest of the meal and we ate till we could eat no more. Enjoy the pictures of our evening in Paradise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can find more pictures and updates on my Facebook Page!

MUSTARD SAUCE:

·         2 egg yolks, beaten

·         3 tablespoons prepared mustard

·         2 tablespoons white vinegar

·         1 tablespoon sugar

·         1 tablespoon water

·         3/4 teaspoon salt

·         1 tablespoon butter

·         1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

·         1/2 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Combine egg yolks, mustard, vinegar, sugar, water and salt in a heavy saucepan. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture is thickened and reaches 160°, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in butter and horseradish. Cool. Fold in cream. 

Tamale Time!

As promised, I am giving you the recipe for tamales. The masa or dough is my basic and most favorite masa, made with fresh corn. I also rendered my own lard. You can see step by step instructions for rendering lard here. The fillings and wrappings can vary greatly in style as well as ingredients. I used dried corn husks that had been soaked for a few hours in hot water. You can also use fresh or frozen banana leaves or Ti leaves but they will need to be softened briefly on a grill so that they will bend but not break. I used lengths of cotton cooking string and strips of the corn husks to tie the tamales, but there are versions that are made folded and not tied at all.

A variety of condiments or sauces can be served with tamales. In this case I opted for a New Mexico style chile sauce which is extremely simple to make. All you have to do is take dried New Mexico Chiles or California Chiles (these are the Anaheim or simular varieties, mild in flavor). Remove the stems, then the seeds and toast slightly on a griddle. Soak in boiling water for 1 hour. Remove from the water and place in a blender with just about 1/4 cup of the liquid or chicken stock and puree completely. Then strain with a food mill or sieve. This sauce will keep for up to two weeks in the refrigerator and also freezes well.

For this session of tamale making, I wanted finger food, so I made the tamales as small as I could. That is not an easy task if you are using a filling. Some tamales such as Cuban tamales are made with all the ingredients included in the masa, therefore they would be much easier to make small.

Basic Fresh Corn Masa

• Fresh corn cut from 10 ears of corn or good quality frozen corn either way you need about 4 cups of corn. 
• 4 cups of Masa para Tamales this is a dry masa available in the flour section of most any grocery store. Do not get masa para tortillas, which is an instant tortilla masa. 
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups of fresh rendered lard. If you do not want to make your own lard, you may be able to find it at the butcher counter of most Hispanic markets ask for manteca. DO NOT buy packaged hydrogenated lard in the baking section. We don't have Hispanic markets in Hawaii, so making our own is pretty much the only option. Read the article on rendering lard for more information about lard vs shortening. For those of you that are lard-phobic or on very restricted diets, there are other options of course butter being the next best and after that any vegetable shortening that has not been hydrogenated. Do not use oil as it will change the texture completely. 
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup of chicken stock. I made stock when I cooked the chicken thighs for the filling. But if you don't make stock, boxed stock is fine, just look for organic lower sodium stock. 

*I also added some chile powder to one of my masa recipes just to add some variety in color. 

Method: 

• Place the corn kernels in a food processor w/steel blade and pulse till it is roughly chopped up. This should only take 4-5 pulses. Add the masa, the baking soda, salt and sugar and just pulse a few more times to mix. 
• In a mixing bowl or a clean food processor bowl beat the lard till it is light and fluffy. 
• Mix both batches of ingredients together in a large bowl. If your food processor is large enough, that is fine, otherwise stir very well until the masa is well incorporated. Add as much stock as it takes to make a very moist but firm dough. You should be able to roll it into a soft ball. Make it as moist as you can while still being able to roll into a ball, This is crucial for having moist tamales. Cover and let rest at least 30 minutes before using.
• The masa can be made ahead and refrigerated, but allow it to come back to room temperature before using. 

Fillings: 

I made two filings and there are endless combinations. 

Queso Blanco and Green Chile Filling

• Roast 6 large green chiles (poblano or anaheim) on a grill, place in plastic bag to steam for 15 minutes and then remove the skin, stems and seeds. Cut into 2-3 inch slices about 1/2 inch wide. If you cannot find fresh chiles, you can use canned chiles (not jalapenos) .
• Queso Blanco or Jack cheese cut into small fingers 2-3 inches long and about 1/2 inch wide

Chicken and Cheddar with Caramelized Onions Filling

• About 1-2 cups of cooked chicken
• Caramelized Onions: 2 whole onions rough chopped cooked down in olive oil till caramelized 
• Sharp Cheddar Cheese cut into 2-3 inch fingers 

Assembly: 

• Take about 2 tablespoons of masa and put into the center of a wet corn husk. Using wet hands (the dough will not stick) pat it down about 1/4 of an inch thick, making a rectangle at least 3 inches wide and about 5 inches tall. Put the filling in the center. 
• Using the side of the corn husk nearest you pull the husk up and over the filling to the edge of where the filling ends and pull in as you would do in making sushi maki, to complete the roll. The dough should not be sticking to the corn husk.and it should be covering the filling. You can then roll or fold the corn husk around the tamal and secure with string or husk ties.  

Cooking:

In a steamer or large pot with a folding steam basket, add enough water to cover the bottom but not too much so that the tamales are not sitting in water. Add tamales and cover. Heat water to a gentle boil and maintain the boil (and water level) for about an hour. I use about two or three layers of tamales, small batches are best. Since this is a labor intensive endeavor, I tend to make extra tamales and freeze them. Just pop them from the freezer to the microwave  or thaw and steam later. 

If you liked this post, you might also like these recent posts on Mexican Cooking in Hawaii: 

Chiles en Nogada   Turkey with Rich Dark Mole Sauce

Superbowl Sunrise

This post is mostly pictures because I am busy cooking up a storm for our Super Bowl party. The game starts at 1:30 here. This morning as I was stirring the red chile sauce that is going with the mini tamales I could not resist taking some shots of the spectacular sunrise with a cruise ship coming in. The whales were playing too, but I could not catch them in a good shot today. I will post tomorrow with the recipes and pictures for the mini tamales. I am making two kinds, green chile w/queso blanco and a chicken w/caramelized onions and cheddar. I am also serving a maple smoked pork but in the form of pulled pork sliders with pickles and cole slaw. No Super Bowl is complete without Buffalo Wings. I do mine in the traditional way, except I use saracha sauce instead of Tom's hot sauce. All of the guests are bringing food, so it should be fun to see what else arrives at Hali Pali. 

Check back for tamale post tomorrow!

This surfer girl was paddling out to see the whales!