Tamales Tamales are made from 3 preparations: corn husks masa dough filling(s) CORN HUSKS For this recipe you will need 30 perfect husks (count them out carefully!). If you find some that are split or damaged keep those too - they can go on top in the steamer. Boil in a pot of water for a few minutes, weighted to stay submerged. Turn off the heat and leave in the pan until everything else is ready. Remove the husks and drain them and put them into a colander on a plate. NOTE: 30 large corn husks fill our largest soup pot to nearly full. This is the main limiting factor for not increasing this recipe to make 36 tamales. MASA Maseca version NOTE: buy Maseca Tamal if you can find it 6 cups masa harina (maseca) 1.5 to 2 cups lard (.69-.92 lbs) 4 cups chicken broth (or other liquid) 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoons salt 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder optional chili powder ground cumin liquid from pickled jalapenos Weigh out the lard. I was unable to pass the float test using 1.5 cups (.69 pounds) so next time try .78 lbs. I figure it's the air whipped into the lard that makes the masa lighter enough to float. In one stand mixer bowl, whip the lard with the whisk attachment for 10-15 minutes until white and fluffy. In the other stand mixing bowl, add dry ingredients and whisk by hand until uniformly distributed. Put the bowl on the mixer and put the paddle attachment. Turn the mixer down to its slowest speed and work the liquid into the masa harina a little at a time. If you do this with the speed too high or add too much liquid at a time it will fling liquid all over the place and you will have a heckuva cleanup job. Work the liquid all in + scrape down. Let rest 15 minutes for the liquid to be fully absorbed. Put the first bowl on the mixer, the one with the whipped lard. Add masa 1/4 at a time. Mix 10-15 minutes. At this time it should be very soft and pliable and uniformly mixed. If you like, drop a ball into a glass of water to see if it floats. Remove the masa to a plate. Weigh the masa and subtract a few grams and then divide by 30. Write that down - this is the amount of masa to weigh out for each tamale. Keep it covered with a damp cloth to keep it from drying out. Claudia's Masa: 6 cups Maseca for tamal 1 1/2 cup lard or vegetable shortening 2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp salt 4 cup chicken broth/ water 3/4 - 1 cup jalapeņos juice Fresh masa version 3.5 lbs fresh masa 9 oz. fats 2.5 teaspoons salt 2.5 teaspoons baking powder 1 15 oz. can chicken broth can try 1/2 teaspoon cumin Cream fats, salt and baking powder using the KitchenAid paddle attachment until fluffy. Work in the fresh masa a bit at a time. (Patty Jinich uses the whisk. You have to beat the lard for a long time before combining it with anything else.) Slowly add the chicken broth. When combined it should look about like hummus. Test fluffiness by dropping a bit into a glass of water. If it floats it's fluffy enough. Refrigerate batter for 1 hour minimum. After removing it from the refrigerator, add water a tablespoon at a time while stirring, to return it to hummus consistency. FILLING Rajas (poblano peppers) y Queso (cheese) 30 oz cheese, Oaxaca, mozzarella or Monterey Jack 8 poblano peppers 2 large tomatoes 2 Roma tomatoes 4 serrano peppers (try 1!) 1/2 onion sliced 2 garlic cloves 1/4 cumin 1 tablespoon bouillon Grate all the cheese and set it aside. RSP poblanos, then slice into strips not too long. Skin the tomatoes and serranos and add to blender. Then add garlic cloves, bouillon and cumin and blend until smooth. In a skillet saute the onion and poblanos in a little oil until the onion is soft. Then add the tomato/serrano sauce. Bring to a simmer and then simmer for 5 minutes. Then remove from heat and let cool completely. Alex and Nicky like pulled pork tamales. Meat Mixture (also works very well for barbacoa) 2 lbs of beef or pork 1 recipe marinade NOTE: the recipe below makes way too much for 2 pounds of meat. But afterwards the leftover "pot likker" can be ladled over things or perhaps used in Mexican rice. Marinate 1.5" chunks of meat in a gallon zip for at least 3 hours or overnight. Then preheat an oven to 300°F. Add meat and marinade to ovenproof bowl and roast 3 hours then test for fall-apart doneness. If you're in a hurry, you can slice the pork which lets you cut about 30 minutes off the Strain meat out and shred. After cool, refrigerate with some of the marinade to keep it moist. Leftovers freeze well. Marinade 6-12 dried chiles, your choice (New Mexico, Pasilla, Guajillo ...) 4 cloves garlic 2 teaspoons cumin pinch oregano 1 teaspoon onion powder 1 teaspoon garlic powder (redundant) salt pepper (next 3 ingredients are optional) 2 tomatillos, quartered juice of 1/2 orange juice of 1 lime Break the stems off the chiles. Remove as many seeds as you can. If they don't fall out easily, don't worry, you can remove them later. Boil them in a pan with enough water to cover, for 10-40 minutes. Remove chiles, reserving liquid. Process chiles in a Cuisinart, then run through a food mill back into the Cuisinart. Discard skin and seeds. Add remaining ingredients and process until combined. Add a little reserved liquid if desired. Taste the mixture. If it needs more heat, add a little cayenne pepper. NOTE: some people fry the sauce after blending it together Tamales Prepare a large steaming pan (add water, add steamer/standoff ring and aluminum tamale walls). Put a penny in the bottom of the pan. If you run the pan dry the coin will bounce up and down and alert you. Lay one soaked corn husk out flat. Add dough and spread out as desired. Some people use a piece of plastic bag and press it into the desired position, then pull the plastic. Add filling down the middle. Roll and then fold over. I like to tie them with butcher's string, but the traditional way is to use a thin strip peeled from a corn husk Put each tamale into the steaming pan so it stands up. Repeat until you run out of corn husks, dough, or filling. Leftover filling can be frozen but do not freeze and reuse leftover masa. If you do, it will be very tough when cooked, and will stick hard to the corn husk wrapper. After filling all the tamales, lay some of the remaining husks (if any) over the top of the tamales to retain steam and heat, then steam for 1-2 hours. Put up in ziplocs, 2 to a bag. These freeze very well. from Claudia on Youtube: How many tamales you get depends on how much masa and filling you use. I got around 35 tamales ?? 16 oz corn husks Prepare husks as above. Add lard to bowl of stand mixer and beat as above. Heat the chicken broth in a saucepan. Then with paddle mixing slowly, work in the maseca in 2 cup increments, allowing it to combine thoroughly with the lard. Next add baking powder and salt. Then add the liquid from the can of pickled jalapenos. and the chicken broth gradually. Then beat the masa mixture for 5 minutes and test in a glass of water. Assemble tamales as normal. Nutrition: 2 cups dry maseca weigh 0.50 pounds 1.25 cups water weighs 0.65 pounds how many 2-cup issues of dry maseca make 3.5 pounds of wet masa? 2 cups wet weigh 1.15 pounds 3.5 / 1.15 =~ 3 now - how many calories are there in 2 cups of dry maseca? Ans: 880 calories how many calories in 3.5 pounds of fresh masa? Ans: 2675 how many calories in 9 ounces of fat? Ans: 2289 how many calories in 30 servings? 165 calories per tamale NOTES I have found that the quality of corn husks makes a difference. I like the kind they sell at El Mercado Latino, the big Latin grocery in Auburn. I have not found a large difference between fresh masa and Maseca. The fresh is more convenient. Fat is fat. Sometimes I use butter, sometimes lard, sometimes I combine them. The total is what matters. Claudia (Youtube) used a tortilla press lined with a bag to press a ball of masa flat on the corn husk. She overlapped the masa with husk fearlessly. All of Claudia's tamales had cheese. Some had rajas and some had pickled jalapenos. She got 30-35 tamales but she made them pretty big. Yield: 3.5# fresh + 9 oz. fat = 30 tamales 4 cups masa harina (maseca) + 2 cups (14.5 oz) lard = 30 tamales