I was surprised to find this recipe in my Mid Century Recipe Box. The Mid Century Cook wasn’t exactly known for spicy Mexican food.
I have made tamales before. My sister-in-law is of Mexican decent, so I have been exposed to some wonderful ethnic dishes. I would love to spend a week cooking with her mother - a pretty good chef - to learn all her secrets.
I am hosting a Cinco De Mayo lunch at my husband’s work, so this recipe seemed just the thing.
Tamales can be made in advance, which it great, considering they are very time consuming. You can refrigerator them for up to one week, and reheat them in the steamer or the microwave.
I used a combination of beef and chicken, so I had two different types of tamales to offer. The filling is very full of flavor, and a bit spicy with the chili powder.
The envelope is soft and very corn flavored. I used Masa instead of plain old corn meal.
For the fat, I used butter. I would have preferred to use lard, but couldn’t find any at my local grocer.
For the cornhusks I found synthetic husks on Amazon. They were fairly inexpensive and I found them to be easier to use than actual corn husks. Corn husks have a tendency to rip, the synthetic ones did not.
I used my Oster Oven to steam the tamales. I placed a rack in the bottom to stack the tamales on. I set the oven to 375 degrees. This seemed to work well in the 45 minute time frame.
The tamales were delicious. Yes, the recipe is complicated, but it is certainly worth it!
HOT TAMALES
FILLING
3/4 Pound Chicken, Veal or Beef
1 Onion
3 Cloves Garlic
Bay Leaves
3 Tablespoons Fat
3 Ounces Chili Powder
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 1/2 Cups Hot Water
ENVELOPE
4 Cups Yellow Corn Meal
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 1/2 Cups Stock
1/2 Pound Fat
1 Pound Cornhusks
Boil meat in waters with one onion, 1 garlic clove and 2 bay leaves. When meat is tender, remove and drain. Cut meat into small cubes. Heat 3 tablespoons fat, add the meat and brown. Mash 2 cloves garlic and add to the meat. Stir the chili powder and salt into the hot water and mix with meat. Cook 10 minutes. Mix cornmeal, salt, half the stock and all of the fat. Beat well with a wooden spoon and then add the remaining stock. Dry the cornhusks on the inside and spread thinly with the cornmeal mixture. Add 1 teaspoon of the meat filling and roll. Fold both ends down. Stack in a steamer. Cover husks pyramid style. Pour four cups of boiling water into the pan and cover tightly. Steam for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
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