My Experiment with Homemade Tamales

Sorry for the shadows!

 



Know me for a second, you know I am a LOVER of Hispanic cooking, particularly of Mexican cooking. I love and am fascinated by the Mexican heritage so I stalk my poor friends who are of Mexican descent, who cook with the ferocity that I cook, for tips on cooking, seek out Mexican recipes, study Mexican spices...you name it. I also refuse to go the shortcut route on Mexican cooking, even with my Agave Nectar Margarita a commercial margarita mix isn't allowed in my home.

One of my favorite dishes is the tamale. I LOVE 'em, but have always been incredibly intimidated by preparing them. In the 1990's, I worked for a company that a woman by the name of Rosa Hernandez, who to supplement her income sold homemade tamales. I was always in for 2 dozen a month. When I left the company, that was the end to homemade tamales for me. As I would ask my friends to teach me how to make them, I would get "they are too time consuming. I don't make them." So, alas, I put my love of tamales on the back shelf of my mind.

One day, I decided that I was going to take the bull by the horns. I WAS going to overcome my fear of making them. After I found a recipe for them on Allrecipes, I purchased the corn husks and the mesa, but then my fears of screwing them up crept in again. I put everything in my cabinets for a later day.

As I was recipe searching for meals, this Homemade Tamales recipe popped up again. That was it...CARPE DIEM...Seize the Day...I was on. The rest of the ingredients were added to my shopping list and I was on my way. I am not a fan of lard so I stopped by my Jewel butcher and asked her if lard could be interchanged with shortnening. I explained to her that I was making tamales for the first time and wasn't a fan of them. Now, Suzanna told me that she actually makes them frequently and told me that I could use Canola oil instead of either of them. I was really happy at that point. One thing she had warned me about was the "wrapping of the tamale in the corn husk. As someone who has to use a toothpick to secure my cabbage rolls, I felt my insecurity creeping back in. This time, I wasn't going to let it stop me though.

So I set off and here was the outcome...

Ingredients:

Tamale Filling:

1 1/4 pounds pork loin

1 large onion, halved

1 clove garlic

4 dried California chile pods

2 cups water

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 cup sour cream

 

Tamale Dough:

2 cups masa harina

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup Canola Oil

1 (8 ounce) package dried corn husks

 

 

Directions:

 

1) Place pork into a Dutch oven with onion and garlic, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the meat is cooked through, about 2 hours.

 

2) Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from the chile pods. Place chiles in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. Transfer the chiles and water to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture, stir in salt, and set aside. Shred the cooked meat and mix in one cup of the chile sauce.

 

3) Soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water. In a large bowl, beat the oil with a tablespoon of the broth until blended. Combine the masa harina, baking powder and salt; stir into the oil mixture, adding more broth as necessary to form a spongy dough.

 

4) Spread the dough out over the corn husks to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Place one tablespoon of the meat filling into the center. Fold the sides of the husks in toward the center and place in a steamer. Steam for 1 hour.

 

 

Tamales without sauce and filling exposed

 

5) Remove tamales from husks and drizzle remaining chile sauce over. Top with sour cream. For a creamy sauce, mix sour cream into the chile sauce. 

 

So, I did it! I made my first batch of tamales. What was my take? I found the process of making tamales to be less intimidating, but can see why my friends say it is tedious. On that note, I will be doing this again. It took me back to my Rosa Hernandez days.

 

I partnered it with my Mexican Rice and the simple slow cooker refried beans recipe to hit The Pub and Grub recipe base really soon!  

 

As for this recipe, though, I will continue to use this one but make my changes to it. I like my foods spicy and found this recipe to be a bit bland. My husband, on the other hand felt it was restaurant quality. When Suzanna asked me how my tamales went, I explained my issue with the blandness and she explained the pepper to use instead of the California pepper I used. So, next time I will use that pepper. I will also be trying my hand at the beef tamale recipe. I will also set aside a day and make the by the dozens and freeze them.

 

 I am no longer intimidated by the tamale!