Christmas Tamales

I decided to make tamales for a Christmas party at work. I was going to being the chocolate peppermint cookies I made last week. I made twice as many as I needed for Christmas Under the Stars and froze the second half for the work party. However, my cookies were gone within about five minutes and since I blogged about them before bringing them, people wanted to try them and kept asking me where they were. So, Plan B, I brought the second half of the cookies to my Tuesday and Wednesday community groups and decided to make something new for the party.

In this situation, most people would find the quickest, easiest thing to make last minute, but what do I do? I decide to try something festive that I have never made before that takes all day - tamales! Why? I have no idea! I keep making things! Christmas is turning me into a machine. It is fun though, I love learning something new.

I made pork tamales and they were time consuming but not as bad as I thought. I was able to make the pork filling yesterday, it just cooked in the crock pot all day, so no big deal. And today I made the masa and assembled them. I turned on some Christmas music and my friend, Cheryl came over and helped me assemble. It is definitely more fun to assemble tamales with friends.

Here is the recipe:

Pork Tamales

Makes about 30 tamales

Pork Filling:

Ingredients:

1/3 cup cider vinegar

3 Tbs. lime juice

3 canned chipotle chiles

3 tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp. pepper

4 cloves minced garlic

3 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. Mexican oregano

1 tsp. coriander

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. cloves

3 bay leaves

1 (5 lb.) boneless pork shoulder roast

1 large yellow onion, quartered

3 cups chicken broth

Directions:

Combine the cider vinegar, lime juice, chipotle chiles, garlic cloves and spices in blender and puree until completely smooth — about a minute or so. Coat pork pieces with the spice mixture and place in the broth. Add the bay leaves and the onion pieces.

Cover and cook on low until the pork is tender, about 9-10 hours. Stir the pork every few hours. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Add about 1 cup of the broth to the meat to keep it moist and flavorful. 

Strain the remainder of the liquid, discarding the bay leaves and onion, and reserve 7 cups for the masa dough. Refrigerate overnight then when the fat is solidified, skim it off of the top and discard.

Dough:

Ingredients:

9 cups masa harina

5 1/4 cups of broth from pork (or chicken broth if you don’t have enough liquid)

4 1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 tsp. paprika
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1 ½ cups lard

1 package dried corn husks  (about 75)

Directions:

Soak the corn husks in a large bowl of hot water for 2 hours.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the lard (yes, I said LARD) with a tablespoon of the broth until fluffy and about triple its original size (about 10 minutes). Combine the masa harina, baking powder, and spices; stir into the lard mixture, adding the broth in increments and mix until well incorporated and the mixture feels very fluffy and light. Test by taking a teaspoonful and dropping into a glass of water. It should float. If it falls to the bottom, keep on beating. The consistency should be of soft cookie dough.

Assemble & Steam:

Pat dry softened husks. When filling each husk, place the smooth side facing up from the palm of your hand. Spread 1/3 cup of masa with a large spatula or knife leaving a 2 - 3 inch border on the tapered (bottom) end of the husk. The masa should be evenly spread across the lower 3/4 of the husk leaving about 1 inch on the left side. 

Place 2-3 tablespoons of pork filling in a line along the center of the masa. Make sure to leave 1/2-inch at the top and bottom, and room on the sides for the masa to close around the meat.

Slide a second corn husk under the prepared one facing the opposite direction so that the masa is in the middle of the two tapered ends. 

Carefully roll the tamale, starting with the side covered in masa. Turn right side over to center of filling; fold left side over filling, allowing plain part of husk to wrap around filling.  

Fold the two tapered ends down and secure by tying the package shut with a thin strip of husk.

Line the bottom of a steamer basket loosely with a few of the husk scraps. 

Stack tamales upright, side by side. For best results, the tamales should be firmly packed, put not too tightly, as the dough needs room to expand some.

Layer some husk scraps atop the tamales to help lock in the steam and add another layer of flavoring. 

Once you have a full pot of assembled tamales, fill the bottom of the steamer pot with water, making sure the bottoms of the tamales are not in the water. Do not let the tamales touch the water or the dough will get soggy.

Cover and bring just to a boil. Steam the tamales for at least 2 hours, adding water as needed so the pot doesn’t go dry.

To test for doneness, carefully take out a tamale from the middle of the basket. Unwrap, the masa should be firm and pull away from husk easily, if not, continue cooking.

Your tamales can be eaten immediately, if you like. But to make them even better, eat them leftover: let them cool completely, then re-steam for about 15 to 20 minutes before serving. This gives you the best texture.