Tamales! 3-17-2009

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I have been wanting to learn how to make Tamales FOREVER! and so I finally just went online and found a recipe that sounded good and EASY and went to work! I was so excited to find the Masa and corn husks at a fairly inexpensive price....yay! I had chicken already in the freezer and leftover pork roast...so there's the meat...yay! What I didn't plan on was how long it took to assemble them all together! WOW! it took me like 3 hours just rolling, wrapping and tying! And I only used HALF of the meat! Which made 60! I will get the rest done soon I hope! lol! They turned out GREAT...anyway I thought so and the Family kept eating them (and again today - leftovers!) For some reason they weren't as spicy today as they seemed last night. Any how....I was excited that I attempted and it worked so I will do this again! I could eat these for breakfast! Dallin said next time I needed to do beef! This is the recipe if any of you are interested:
TAMALES:
Corn Husk:
Soak for at least 2 hours in hot water (found at walmart and gunnison market)

Meat:
Roast or chicken (I am thinking I used 5 split chicken breasts - 10 pieces all together)...I boiled the chicken with 1 TBLS Chili powder - 1 TBLS Garlic, minced - 1 TBLS salt until it started to fall apart. Let cool, remove meat from broth...SAVE and strain broth...set aside

Meat Filling:
8 cups shredded meat of choice (i have NO idea how many pounds that is! but I had a generous 8 cups of PACKED shredded chicken and pork) you can also do ground beef
3 TBLS Chili powder (and that is less than called for!)
1 1/2 TBLS Cumin
1 1/2 TBLS Garlic powder
1 1/2 TBLS salt
1 TBLS pepper
1/2 c. canola oil (corn oil is what it called for but I didn't have any)
mix together...I used my hands to blend it all up good!

Masa:
2 lbs Masa in large bowl (also used to make corn tortilla's - yum!) found at Gunnison Market also...$1.99 for a 4 lb bag!
1/2 TBLS Chili Powder
1/2 TBLS Cumin
1/2 TBLS Salt
1 tsp Pepper
Mix well, add 2 cups Corn oil (I used melted shortening, that is what I had...you can also use lard or butter) mix well, add reserved broth 1 cup at a time until Masa is the consistancy of thick peanut butter.

Assembly:
Take husk wipe off with paper towel, spread on the masa mixture (I found it easier to use my hands instead of a spatula), use about 2 TBLS of meat mixture down the center and roll to one side. Tuck ends inside and roll (this sounds easier than it really is!) tightly without popping the husk...on several I doubled up the husk. Then tie with pieces of husks. I would steam them 12 at a time on my stove top double boiler (what I usually do corn on the cob with - mine is small) Steam time about 15 minutes per batch....then let them cool...they set up really good. I would also normally cover them in Enchillada Sauce ( I use the canned stuff...making the tamale homemade was about all I wanted to attempt!) Mine were a bit spicy...(this is the unspicy recipe!) so I didn't do the sauce for the kids...just salad, sour cream and salsa! YUM! I had them for breakfast! :)
If you try them ENJOY! Also, alter the spices to meat your tastes! Some may like them HOTTER! Just kick up that chili powder! :)