Tamales!

[Mara]

Every year for as long as I can remember, someone in my family has made big batches of tamales for Christmas. We only make them once a year and some years everyone pitches in and does something, and some years my Grandma did everything and other years my Mom. The last few years my oldest cousin has learned how to make them from Grandma, with her own tweaks. We always get about 5-6 for us to enjoy on our own, and since they are so filling these last us like 1.5 weeks so it's a great Christmas treat and always gone around New Years.

However, this year, my oldest cousin just had her first baby girl...so she's not making them. Her brother is making them, he's never made them before, with her guidance. My Grandma dislocated her shoulder a few months ago and so she can't do anything in the way of cooking really.

My Mom is making them, but to be really frank, I don't like her tamales as she likes blander food, so consequently her tamales are so undersalted, underspiced, and bland that whenever they give us some we don't even eat them and end up tossing them.

So my options this year are:

1) Eat Mom's tamales.
2) Try to beg 4-5 off of my cousin but I have no idea how her brother's will come out...he's a fledgling cook.
3) Take a stab and make my own.

I've decided on #3.

For years and years I have put learning this task off as it seems SO incredibly daunting the way my family always talked about it. But I am a pretty good cook now that I have had years of practice, I love to spice my stuff up and have gotten good at tasting as I go along and knowing what to add. I get rave reviews on much of what I make when I do cook.

SO...I started researching online as my Grandma's 'recipe' is mostly in her head and I have a hard time getting full data from her, it's easier to come to her with questions and just ask her specifics she can then answer with a yes or no rather than getting a full recipe and instructions from her.

My last day of work this year is the 21st so I plan to make them over the wkd before Christmas. So PS'ers...how many of you are familiar with tamale recipes...I figure a few are out there. How do you make them, what do you put in. I want to make a batch of beef and a batch of sweet ones with raisins. I will get prepared masa from a local Mexican store, my corn husks there too but will make the meat and sauce entirely from scratch.

So for those well-versed in the art...what type of meat do you use? What I have found is that beef shoulder roast seems most suggested? Is there a better quality that I can get? Also most recipes use a fair amount of onion, garlic, chilies, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper. Any other spices you'd suggest? Lastly, for anyone who knows how to make sweet, how do you sweeten ready made masa...aka if I use the same masa as my beef ones for the sweet, I read you have to add something to the masa to make it sweeter. Like coconut milk or similar. Do I just mix this into my prepared/bought masa? Or will that make it too runny. Suggestions?

Any help MUCH APPRECIATED!! Having had these for years I know how good they can be, and how bad. I want mine to be excellent of course.

 

[Angel7]

Good for you Mara!
I'm sorry, I have no experience and nothing to add to help you except...
I will be more than willing to be your taste-tester! Just ship them on out to Chicago!

Good luck, I'm sure they will be delicious!

 

[Mandarine]

YUMMM...I love tamales!!!

In Venezuela we make something very similar, but not excatly the same...we call them "hallacas" and we only make them for Christmas...They are so YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!

I don''t have any recipes to share...but just wanted to wish you luck! I am sure they will be delicious!

Come back with pictures and of course with the final recipe!

M~

 

[door knob solitaire]

Yeah Mara!! You go girlfriend! As a veggie I make mind with tofu or soy meat substitute, black beans, and also make a jack and chile cheese filling.

The main thing I think is I make the masa stuff a day in advance and let it mature in the fridge. It makes it easier to work with. I make mine the old way with ties on each end. I tried the fold over it never worked.

You will have to forgive the sacrilege I am about to suggest...but keep this in the back of you mind if your project fails. This is a secret...kay? Target has in the label of Archer farms the best tamales. They are fat and folded. They come in some sort of beef which I never read the ingredients and the ever loved Monterrey jack and green Chile cheese filling. Obviously I get the latter. Use something like old el paso enchilada sauce to coat and viola...it is interpreted as if I slayed for hours...days on my recipe. I think they are on sale...about $3.49 for a boxed bag of 6 corn husked wrapped tamales ready to steam. I keep them as a staple in my freezer. Micro for 3 and ready to rock.

I have tried using hot paprika''s...chipotle pepper powder...cumin...chile powders...fresh ground pepper...in my mix ...all can make yours stand out from the rest. You can taste the masa and get an idea for how spicy your mix will be. I have a friend who used tomateos (for the life of me I cann''t remember how to spell that!! You know the little green tomato looking thingy??) to make them a green color. Using a large amount of paprika will give you a red tamale.

Sweet pepper powders can add sweetness...there is some sweet mole you can add to!

Report back with what you learned....good luck!! §

 

[KimberlyH]

I made tamales from scratch last year and plan to do so again this year. I can''t remember where I found this recipe as I saved it on my hard drive, but here''s the dough:

INGREDIENTS:
6 cups masa harina and 5 cups warm water or chicken broth
1 1/2 cups lard or shortening
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chile powder
1 1/2 teaspoon salt
PREPARATION:
In a mixing bowl combine masa and warm water or broth until combined.
Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes or so to let the masa soften. Then mix it on low speed until a dough forms.
After Masa or Masa Harina is prepared-
Gradually add in the salt, cumin and onion powder.

In a separate bowl, whip lard or shortening until fluffy. Add the lard to the dough a little at a time while mixing until well combined.

The mixture should be about the consistency of peanut butter. If not, add more masa, water or broth as necessary.

Cover and store in refrigerator until ready to use.

BEEF FILLLING:

• 3 cups shredded beef
• 8 large roasted chiles- skin, seeds and veins removed and coarsely chopped.
• 1 white onion- peeled and coarsely chopped.
• 6 cloves of garlic- peeled and crushed.
• 1 jalapeno- seeded and diced
• 3 potatoes- peeled, boiled and chopped into large chunks.
• 1 cup homemade chile sauce or store bought.

GREEN CHILE AND CHEESE FILLING

• 1 cup green chiles, roasted, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 3 cups shredded Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup green chile sauce
• 1/2 cup whole corn kernels added to dough

PREPARATION

1. Sort the husks
Go through the corn husks removing any debris. Separate the larger usable pieces from the smaller bits and pieces. Save the smaller pieces for later.
2. Soak the husks
Place the husks into a large bowl. Cover husks with warm water. Set a heavy item (like a heavy bowl) on top of the husks to keep them submerged.
3. Prepare the husks
Remove the husks from the water and pat dry. Place into a covered dish or a large plastic bag to prevent from drying out. Use only the larger and medium sized husks for the tamales. The smaller ones can be used later for ties or patches. When looking at the husk, they have a narrow end, a broad end, and 2 long sides.
4. Adding the dough
Lay a husk on a flat surface. Place 1-2 tablespoons of dough onto the husk. When spreading the dough, leave a space of about 4 inches from the narrow end of the husk and about 2 inches from the other end. Spread the dough to the edge of one of the long sides and 2 inches away from the other long side. Try to keep the dough approximately 1/4 to a 1/2 inch thick.
5. Filling
Spread about a tablespoon of filling down the center of the dough.
6. Folding
Locate the long side with a 2 inch space with no masa. Fold that over, slightly overlapping the other side so the edges of the dough meet. Wrap the extra husk around the back.
Then fold the broad end over the top and then the longer narrow end over the broad end.
7. Tying
Create strips of husk by cutting or tearing 1/4 inch lengths off of some of the smaller or unusable husks. Use these to tie across the middle of the tamale to hold the flaps down.
8. Steaming
Set tamales upright in a steamer. You can buy large steamers made just for this purpose. You may have something else you can use to create the same effect. The key is to have a small amount of boiling water on the bottom of the pot and a colander or mesh of some sort to keep the tamales away from the water.
Steam for about 90 minutes

I cooked a roast, covered in salsa, in the crockpot the day before for tender meat.

They were really good for a first attempt. I want to perfect the art before I explore more, but will definitely use this recipe again.

 

[Skippy123]

Mara, I think I wuve you for loving tamales; they are a huge tradition here!!!!! I wuve you too Kimi! Wait a second, all you lady's who posted that you love them, your wuved by me.

hehe Wow, I didn't know so many PS'ers made them

I guess biscochitos are a New Mexican thing, no biscochitos over there?

I have no clue how to make them but my parents and sister make them; I just like eating them. Heeeeheee My family does pork and red chile filling.
I will ask them for their recipe. My aunt use to grind the corn and make the masa herself; those were the best ever!!!!! They sell the masa at costco! Do you do posole too? YUM! I vote make your own!!!

 

[Mara]

no i'm not a posole or menudo fan, not brave enough! hehee. i just love me some tamales! i love getting pork when i am out at down-home style restaurants but we always make beef at home.

we always make the shredded beef version, with black olives in them which i LOVE. and a dab of sour cream on top when you serve them. TASTY.

when i was young my grandma would make the sweet tamales with rasins in them and a slightly whiter masa (coconut milk added most likely from what i have read) and i thought they were SO GROSS. being a kid and all, i wanted my sweets in cookies, not corn products. but now i love the sweet tamales big time.

dks, the green tomato is tomatillo sauce. i have had so many different types of tamales in my life time, so many diff types are out there, venezuelan, chilean, mexican (and lots of versions here too), colombian, etc. but the ones we make at holidays are always the red meat sauce ones with no topping other than the dab of sour cream. and the black olives inside...which i have never had anywhere else. hehee.

thanks for the recipe kimi...the recipe i found called for searing the shoulder roast in a pan first then cooking it with water for about 2 hours til the beef falls off. good idea on the crockpot though i think i will still sear it as that will help seal in all the juices. then lots of onion, garlic, ancho, pasilla, and new mexico chilies, oregano, cumin etc. some call for tomato paste and others don't. definitely interesting variations. i can't wait to experiment. the meat for me will be the easy part i think, since i make multi-part recipes quite often (lasagna comes to mind)...but have to order my masa and then figure out how to adapt it to the consistency i want, and how to adapt it for the sweet ones. also have to ask my mom how much she typically orders etc.

i have cooked them before as we are required to cook our own basically, but it's the making of them that's new to me. hehe.

i will try to remember to take some pictures when i'm all said and done!!

oh and anyone love chorizo and eggs? BIG favorite of mine here. i make it sometimes for us with warm tortillas for scooping. and greg LOVES it. i do too but its just so bad for you hehee.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

a huge WOO-HOO to you Mara, for making your own tamales!

they are also a holiday tradition in my family (i''m 1/2 mexican). i remember bugging mama to take me to tia''s house the weeks leading up to xmas as she was the designated tamale-maker in our family. she hasn''t been able to make them for many years now as she''s quite elderly. so we''ve been buying them from this family who just a couple of years ago started a legit business: http://www.thegourmettamalefactory.com/ the pork in green sauce and the sweet corn are my favorites.

YUM!

 

[KimberlyH]

Mara,

As you know, I''m a lasagna maker too. Let me know how the searing works out. Sounds interesting. I''d love to try something different this year, but want all the work that goes into making them (I made 60 last year to deliver as gifts to friends/neighbors) to be worth it. I''ll probably delve into the adventure the weekend before Christmas so I we can wrap them up and deliver Christmas Eve day, before we head off to holiday gatherings and my parents'' house.

If you have any tips for me, I''ll gladly take them!

~K

 

[Linda W]

OK Mara, that does it!!!!

Rick and I are driving down to San Jose for your Tamales!!!!! I L O V E THEM

Linda

 

[qtiekiki]

I love tamales.

Mara - Good luck making them and let us know how it turns out.

Kim - Your recipe sounds yummy. Too bad DH isn''t really into tamales, otherwise I would try to make some.

Skippy - What''s posole? Must be similar to menudos since Mara mentioned them together. I love menudos. So yummy.

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 12/14/2007 9:48:37 PM
Author: qtiekiki
I love tamales.

Mara - Good luck making them and let us know how it turns out.

Kim - Your recipe sounds yummy. Too bad DH isn't really into tamales, otherwise I would try to make some.

Skippy - What's posole? Must be similar to menudos since Mara mentioned them together. I love menudos. So yummy.

No not at all similar! Posole = thick soup that's usually made with pork, hominy(corn), garlic, onion, chili peppers, cilantro, and broth. I cannot eat menudo or smell it; I know lots of people who rave about it though. heeehee

Menudo = soup of tripe (in case anyone is wondering what it is).

 

[Linda W]

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww tripe soup???? NOOOOO thank you!!!

I am with you Skippy, I don''t ever want to taste that stuff, or even see it for that matter.

Linda

 

[Mara]

hehe some people just LOVE menudo. no thanks for me!! lol Linda re coming to visit...if they came out good only!!

So apparently my Grandma told my Mom that she would make the meat and sauce for me if I wanted her to. This throws a wrench into things because I *love* Grandma''s meat and sauce. So I am really tempted to just say YES Grandma PLEASE make my meat and sauce. Obviously I''d get her all the stuff she needs.

I am considering doing this and then making them myself (assembly and masa etc)...and then making the sweet raisin rum ones myself..and then I can give some to Grandma too.

Must mull it over a bit more. The most intimidating thing to me about making them is the meat and sauce because I grew up loving Grandma''s...so I am afraid I will be disappointed if I do them differently. Maybe I will have her make it for me but I can go over and help her make the sauce so I can see exactly how it''s done and write things down since there is no actual recipe. Then do my raisin rum ones separately and I can experiment more with these because I don''t have any mental ''set'' way they should be.

Decisions decisions!!

 

[Skippy123]

Date: 12/15/2007 12:11:08 AM
Author: Mara
hehe some people just LOVE menudo. no thanks for me!! lol Linda re coming to visit...if they came out good only!!

So apparently my Grandma told my Mom that she would make the meat and sauce for me if I wanted her to. This throws a wrench into things because I *love* Grandma''s meat and sauce. So I am really tempted to just say YES Grandma PLEASE make my meat and sauce. Obviously I''d get her all the stuff she needs.

I am considering doing this and then making them myself (assembly and masa etc)...and then making the sweet raisin rum ones myself..and then I can give some to Grandma too.

Must mull it over a bit more. The most intimidating thing to me about making them is the meat and sauce because I grew up loving Grandma''s...so I am afraid I will be disappointed if I do them differently. Maybe I will have her make it for me but I can go over and help her make the sauce so I can see exactly how it''s done and write things down since there is no actual recipe. Then do my raisin rum ones separately and I can experiment more with these because I don''t have any mental ''set'' way they should be.

Decisions decisions!!

Mara, I would soooo do that! In fact my parents make the chile meat for my sister and then the following year she learned on her own.

 

[chicagohills]

Here is a site that I have used to make my tamales. It usually takes me three days to do it by myself. Get some girlfriends together (on the final filling day) for a tamale party. Don''t forget the drinks. You''ll be a hero to your husband and all that are lucky enough for a dinner invite. I found this recipe to be quite flavorful and authentic tasting. Being able to freeze them for long periods makes those tasty little suckers worth all the work. Good luck, cookin'' mama!


http://www.sonofthesouth.net/tamales/Tamale_Recipe.htm

PS I happen to know that these spices are what makes them taste authentic. My good friend''s mom kept some similar tasting tamales in a painters bucket by the front door of their apartment in Pilsen, IL. I''m sure any other Chicagoland people are familiar with Pilsen.

 

[sera]

We''re having tamales for Christmas this year again... love ''em. One Christmas the neighbors got together to make them, but now we just get the most awesome tamales from The Tamale Man in downtown L.A.

 

[Lorelei]

Mara I just wanted to wish you luck and to say your idea of watching Grandma make the sauce etc is a good one also so you can take notes. This is how I would do it.

 

[Lynn B]

DKS:

OOOOH! I am interested in the Target tamales!!! I don't have a Target real local, but when I get to "the big city"

there's one there. Didn't even know it had a frozen food section! Do all Targets have that?

Also, do you have a package handy that you could tell me the basic calorie, fat and fiber count, pretty please?!!!

(I did a search on Target's website, but the tamales didn't show up.)

Thank you!
Lynn

 

[Mara]

LOL Lynn at the calorie count etc. While I do watch what I eat many times...tamales are typically NOT healthy depending on how they are made. Many places still use Lard in their Masa (the corn stuff)...and the meat tastes better when it''s got a little fat on it. My mom makes really lean ones and they are kind of tough and not as good unfortunately.

I think I am going to see if Grandma can make the meat and sauce and go over and watch her next wkd. Then assemble myself with Greg (this is the easy part, I do it every year with my fam)...and steam them. I also want to give some to our neighbors and their family and freeze 8-10 for us to cook during the year. Whee. Will keep everyone posted on the results!

 

[Mara]

how is everyone doing with their tamales??? i just made my beef and pork ones. grandma made the sauce and i did the rest. greg helped with assembly and now they are in the fridge. i just shredded chicken from the crockpot to make some green chile chicken ones. and i am making the rum raisin sweet ones as well. whee...tamale year for sure.

 

[KimberlyH]

I''ve got 30 on the stove steaming, 8 more that are in the fridge because they didn''t fit and 72 more to make. I need to make more dough and the filling for the green chile and cheese, still have plenty of pork fillling left, to be used tomorrow. We have company coming for dinner so we had to stop (John is acting as my sous chef) because the house needed to be cleaned, we need to get dinner, not tamales, going, oh, and our Christmas lights have shorted so he''s on day 2 of a hunt to figure out what happened, so annoying!. We''ll finish up assembly and get all of our steaming done (we hope!) tomorrow. If not, there''s always Monday, we''re staying close to home for Christmas Eve so we''ve got all day. John also made salsa from scratch that we''ll include in our gift packages. So sweet of him!

 

[door knob solitaire]

Woo Woo Mara...you little hot tamale!! You rock! (You don''t have to eat your moms now do you?

) I bet everyone is going to rave over yours.

What secrets did you learn? Anything to help the rest of us?

WE ARE PROUD OF YOU!! HEY HEY!! Hey!!

We are proud of you!! §

 

[Mara]

welp i'm done with the assembly! started at about noon today and just finished at about 6pm...cleaned up a bit then greg and i went for a 1 hour walk (i ate like 7 cookies all day as my lunch haha) with portia. then we came back home, i showered, he cleaned up the kitchen the 'right' way and did the dishes, and now he's showering so we can go get some real grub for dinner, aka something that is not cookies!

so i ended up with (estimated counts) about 45-50 beef and pork tamales with grandma's famous red sauce; about 25 chicken chile verde tamales with cumin and garlic and green sauce; and then for the sweet ones, about 16 sweet rum and raisin tamales, and about 12 sweet pineapple and raisin tamales. whew! they are all in the fridge, we don't typically cook them til we are ready to eat them...so i will most likely steam the sweet ones tomorrow and then make the savory ones for xmas eve dinner on monday. i have two pots to steam them in so i can do two batches at once. i will freeze about 10 of the beef/pork and 10 of the chicken for us to have during the year. and i'll give grandma some as well, and we'll eat some for xmas eve dinner. i'm hoping to have a few to give to people who have never had them before like our neighbors, esp the sweet ones as they are kind of unique.

i definitely am glad i made them this year but wow what a chore when you do it almost all on your own. the three 'cheats' i had were that grandma made the red sauce for me (though i did get an idea of how she makes them aka a loose version of a 'recipe') which has california chiles as well as 2 other types of chiles, peanut butter, garlic and chocolate; that i used a las palmas can of chile verde (green sauce) for my chicken ones...i was going to make a tomatillo sauce from scratch and then grandma was like well the las palmas green sauce is really good, so maybe start with that. so i did and i adapted it by adding cayenne pepper, cumin and garlic, salt and pepper to taste til i got it where i wanted it. and i slow cookered a full chicken with garlic and cumin and evoo; and last cheat was that i got the masa prepared from a local hole in the wall mexican place that my family recommends. you can mix your own from scratch, but it's tedious and honestly they do a better job of it anyway from what my family tells me, and we take the prepared dough and modify it anyway, so i started with the prepared dough and added beef broth from the cooked beef from yesterday, evoo, chile for coloring the masa and baking powder...then whipped it til it floated.

everything else was from scratch. and it was fun, and a lot of work...greg helped me with the beef and pork assembly and made 1/2 of them with me. but the chicken and sweet ones were on my own. anyway, i can't wait to taste the results, i am sure that they will be good but it just depends HOW GOOD. i'm so picky when it comes to my cooking. the good thing is that now that i know most of how to do it...i can just keep perfecting things in years to come. and the sweet ones were really interesting to make because you have to sweeten the masa as well and that was tough! i was like oh i probably won't have to add as much sugar and coconut milk as some of the recipes call for. NOPE. i ended up using a can of condensed milk, a coconut milk can, AND sugar to get that stuff as sweet as it should be. and i read that it loses some sweetness in cooking so i tried to get it a little more sweet to start.

so YAY for breaking out of my 'scared to try it' mode with these famous family holiday treats and thanks everyone for all the tips and cheering squad. i did take pictures during the whole process so i will post those probably tomorrow or monday as well as pictures of the finished (hopefully yummy) product!

oh and kimi sounds like you guys made a good dent in what you need to get done today....!! hope yours come out fab as well.

 

[Miranda]

I''m dying here Mara. I only ate 1/2 of a corn dog (gross) for dinner and your tamales are sounding fabulous right about now! Seriously, great job. They sound so good. Your grandma''s sauce sounds really interesting. Chocolate? Peanut Butter? Did I read that right?

 

[Mara]

Yep Miranda! It's only one spoonful of Chocolate and one of PB. Really the base according to the 'loose' recipe is the diff varieties of chiles (California, Pacilla, G) steamed and pureed. Use broth to form the chile. Then add garlic. Then heat EVOO, add chile sauce, more garlic, PB, chocolate, Pumpkin Seed, Sesame Seed (powder for both seeds). Then salt and more broth for consistency. Definitely interesting and Greg comments it has a 'dry heat' to it....I really love the way it tastes and you can add milk if it's too spicy to get it to a flavor you like.

When we went to get the masa last nite we got burritos as well to bring home and Greg said the same thing I was thinking which was that we were tempted to get a tamale to try there but that we wanted to save ourselves til ours were ready! And tonite he was like I can't wait til they are cooked...haha.

Oh and Kimi we never tie our tamales, that would be way too time intensive, and if you wrap them a little tightly you actually don't need to which is nice.

 

[KimberlyH]

Wow, Mara, you are way ahead of me. I''m writing a paper now, so that after breakfast I can get back to work.

The sweet tamales sound delicious. The mole sauce sounds really good too.

My cheat this year was not making the sauces from scratch. I''m using a red and a green chile sauce, both Las Palmas. I make the dough from scratch, that''s the first thing I need to do this morning; we''ve run out.

We''re tying our with kitchen twine, not husks. The husks were too difficult last year, so we switched and it''s easy and secures them well. We steam them because we give them away as gifts, so people only have to warm them up.

Post pictures if you get a chance, I''d love to see yours.

 

[Skippy123]

I know where I am traveling to next year for the holidays

Yum, you lady's rock!!!

 

[Miranda]

Date: 12/23/2007 10:27:32 AM
Author: KimberlyH
Wow, Mara, you are way ahead of me. I''m writing a paper now, so that after breakfast I can get back to work.

The sweet tamales sound delicious. The mole sauce sounds really good too.

My cheat this year was not making the sauces from scratch. I''m using a red and a green chile sauce, both Las Palmas. I make the dough from scratch, that''s the first thing I need to do this morning; we''ve run out.

We''re tying our with kitchen twine, not husks. The husks were too difficult last year, so we switched and it''s easy and secures them well. We steam them because we give them away as gifts, so people only have to warm them up.

Post pictures if you get a chance, I''d love to see yours.

Oh Kimberly, you are like 1/2 hour away from me!!!! Wanna come over for xmas dinner??? I''d be happy to sample your tamales!

You guys are amazing! I can''t even imagine making tamales! That sauce sounds divine Mara. It reminds me of the movie Chocolat (with Johnny Depp) where the woman puts all kinds of interesting things in her chocolates and they taste like no other chocolate.

 

[iheartscience]

I''m soooo hungry right now and this tamale talk is killing me! Yum. I wish I was a good cook and/or I liked cooking! I''d love to see pictures of what real tamales look like, too, if you feel like posting them.

I took an anthropology class last semester and for one class we were supposed to bring in our idea of "home-cooked" food. So I was having this delicious red soup called menudo, and when I asked the girl who made it what was in it, she told me it was tripe. After that I pretty much couldn''t eat it, but it was tasty until I knew what it was!