Homemade Tamales

Suddenly it's December. Now it's time to make the tamales for Christmas. Yes, officially it's Navidad time in the Southwestern USA and I am in a very Arizona boarder town. So every market and grocery store has case lots of Masa mix and wheelbarrows brimming with Corn Husks for Tamales by El Guapo - Hojas para Tamal . Bags and bags of dried chile, pasilla-ancho-o-heaven in billowing piles of joy. Yes. It's tamale time my lovelies. It is also Tuesday. So we're having our weekly tutorial (and I do try to make it every week, though sometimes mommy stuff gets in the way). If you don't happen to live in the Southwest and have these items on hand, I know there are a lot of online places to order these things. Maseca Corn Masa Flour for Tamales is what I use most often. I like how it turns out...and here it's not nearly as expensive as online. Right around 3$ for the 4.4lb bag. That makes a freakin' huge amount of tamales too. The recipe on the bag is a good starter.
EASY STEPS TO MAKE TAMALES RECIPE which is really similar to what I use for my turkey tamales. The best way to have left over turkey I have ever encountered is nestled in a warm tamale with some savory herbs and spices. Dear land. Here we go. Oh...you will need either a tamale steamer or a large pot with a steam insert and a tight fitting lid. I happen to have one I use for vegetables that also works for tamales. If you don't have one, the Aluminum Tamale Steamer is available on line. Get this...I don't even work for Maseca. So there's the free add for them.

For my tamale dough:
2 cups of Maseca for tamales
2 cups lukewarm broth
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup organic vegetable shortening (spectrum brand)
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/8 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 T lime juice

Turkey Tamales

1 lb lean cooked turkey, shredded

1 1/2 ounce pasilla-ancho, ground

1 tsp each whole: cumin seed, coriander seed, black peppercorn

2 tsp minced garlic

2T lime juice

2T olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

16 dry corn husks

2 1/2 lb prepared masa (tamale dough above)

First, I cover then corn husks in hot water. Then I start grinding the whole spices. If you don't have a coffee grinder or spice grinder, you can used the preground spices. They won't have as fresh a flavor, but they will work. Ironically, this coffee grinder I have has never once been used for coffee...only spices. It is also the same one I use for my Chef Tess Fajita Seasoning, if I can add a shameless plug for my spice blend. It's really crazy good.

Whirl them once or twice and then add the Pasilla - Ancho Dried Chile Peppers. Also available on most online sources. Again, this is the kind I prefer. It has a bit of smokiness to it and I love that. Remove the stems and most of the seeds. I don't make my tamales super hot...but the more seeds you keep, the hotter the tamale.

The smell is most amazing! I promise.

Combine the fresh ground spices,garlic, lime juice, oil and salt. Marinate covered in the fridge while you make the masa dough.

Masa dough is cool.

Combine Maseca, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, coriander and cumin in a bowl. Add the broth, lime juice and shortening, beating vigorously.

It should be spongy. Not soupy. Sponge masa square pants...oye! Yikes.

Take out the corn husks from the water, lay flat. Put about 1/2 cup masa dough in the middle of the corn husk and spread it out in a 2 inch circle.

Put a tablespoon of the seasoned turkey in. Do the hokey poky.

Random vegetarian note:

If you don't want to use meat, you can use corn with green chiles. 1 lb corn, 1/2 cup green chiles, 1/2 cup onion...and the same seasoning as above. You will also need cheese if you eat it. about 6 ounces of sharp cheddar.

See, I didn't forget the vegetarians. Ace was so happy.

Now you need to roll up the corn husk, being careful to keep the masa dough surrounding the meat or cheese. One roll, then fold the bottom "pointed end" of the corn husk toward the middle of the tamale.

Hold the fold down with your thumb and roll again.

The rolled corn husk will cover the fold.

Lay flat, roll side down.

I like to bundle the open end and tie it with a strip of corn husk. Husk can be torn when wet. Who knew? At any rate, I bunch...then tie tight. Some people fold them over and tie the whole thing. Some people don't tie them at all. Do what you want. I think they cook better when they are a little contained.

Tie.

Nestle them in the steamer and cover with a clean wet wash cloth. Cover with a tight fitting lid. Heat is low, but water is boiling. Approximately 1 hour. I always stick to one hour at least.

1 hour. I know you can't even wait...but you'll have to. Time warp on my blog goes really quickly anyway. Woooosh. See?

So this is the moment of truth. Is it a good tamale...or not?
Moist, savory, spicy, full of well rounded flavor, and all for me (especially the "all for me" part). Yup. That's a good tamale right there folks. (click on that picture... go on.)

I will now break forth into singing like Julie Andrews, "...Brown paper packages tied up with string..." Laaa laaa laaa laa...
Feel honored you got to hear that (or not). Brown paper packages...or something similar.
Happy?

There you go. Savory tamales. Oooo la la.