Mamas Red Tamales Recipes

MARIGOLD TAMALES

Steps:

• For the chicken: Put the chicken in a Dutch oven or large saucepan. Add the onion, garlic cloves, carrots, celery, bay leaf, oregano, marigolds and salt. Add enough water to cover the chicken and bring to a boil over high heat. Once the chicken comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
• Once the chicken is cooked, allow it to cool in the broth for up to 30 minutes. Remove from the broth and shred with two forks. Strain the broth through a fine-mesh sieve discarding the vegetables and herbs and reserve. The chicken can be made a day ahead. Store the shredded chicken and broth separately, covered in the refrigerator.
• For the masa: Warm the reserved chicken broth. Beat the lard until light and fluffy in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the masa harina, baking powder and salt and continue beating until combined, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to incorporate all the masa harina. Slowly add the warm chicken broth 1 cup at a time until the masa is smooth and spreadable (you may not need all the broth). To test if the masa is ready to use, add a spoonful to a glass of water. If it floats it is ready. If it sinks, add additional lard 1 tablespoon at a time and continue to mix until it floats.
• For assembly and serving: Remove the husks from the soaking water, drain and keep moist with a damp kitchen towel or damp paper towels. Moisten the chicken with some reserved chicken broth if needed.
• Using a spoon, spread a spoonful of masa onto center of a corn husk and spread about 1/2 inch thick with the back of the spoon leaving a 1/2-inch border along the side and a 2-inch border from the top. Put about 2 tablespoons shredded chicken in the center of the masa. Fold the sides until they overlap, fold the narrow end under using the husk to press the masa dough over the filling. Place the prepared tamale on a baking sheet, cover with a damp kitchen towel and repeat until all the tamales are assembled.
• Put the tamales upright in a tamale steamer, nestled together to prevent them from falling over. Fill the tamale steamer with about 2 inches of water-the water should not touch the tamales. Cover with the lid, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 40 minutes, adding more water if needed. To check the tamales, carefully remove 1 tamale from the steamer. Tamales are ready when they can easily be removed from the husk. If the tamale does not easily remove from the husk, cook for an additional 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the tamales to stand in the steamer for 10 to 15 minutes.
• Carefully remove the tamales from the steamer and serve warm, garnished with diced onions and dried marigolds if using.

MAMA'S RED TAMALES

Steps:

• Prepare pork roasts by boiling the meat with about 2 tablespoons of garlic salt per roast. Use as many pots as you need to accommodate the roast. Cook the meat until fork tender and comes apart with no resistance. This usually takes about 2 hours. Reserve pork broth. Pull meat apart into chunks and refrigerate until ready to use.
• While the meat is cooking, clean dried chilies by removing the tops and discarding the seeds. Place pods into a bath of water and soak for a few minutes. While pods are soaking, fill a large pot halfway with water. Place your clean chili pods in the water and push them down until the water covers all. Bring to a boil and then simmer 34 to 45 minutes. When done, remove from heat.
• Transfer small bunches of the tender chili pods to a blender and blend on high until the pods turn to a liquid mixture. (The seed and skins will make the mixture seem a little chunky but that will be removed in a food mill.) Pour the chili sauce into a food mill which should be attached to a bowl or saucepan. Run the sauce through the mill until no more liquid is left in the top of the mill. Discard the leftover seeds and skin. Repeat this process for the remaining chili sauce until all of it has been run through the food mill. Next, add the ground cumin to the chili sauce. This sauce uses quite a bit of salt; add small amounts at a time, to taste.
• Once chili sauce is properly seasoned, add pork to the chili sauce. Stir until thoroughly mixed. No need to heat, just put the mixture in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Open packages of cornhusks and remove the silk from each husk. Place cornhusks into a sink filled with warm water. Let the husks soak for about 3 minutes. Remove the husks from the water and place on a cookie sheet and cover with damp towel to keep moist.
• Prepare masa according to the directions on the package, or buy pre-made masa, available at specialty ethnic food stores. Also try calling a Mexican restaurant, they may make it for you. To soften up the masa before you work with it, add approximately 2 cups of the reserved pork broth.
• Once softened, divide masa into deep bowls amongst the people helping. Press masa flat, down into the bowl, creating a flat surface. Take 1 cornhusk and lay it flat, add a large dollop of the masa onto the husk. Spread the masa out onto the leaf with the back of a spoon to create a thin paste like coverage, being sure to leave no holes. Place 2 tablespoons of the chili sauce/pork mixture onto the masa. (It?s best to keep a bowl of the sauce next to you at all times.) Fold the tamale bringing two sides together so that they slightly overlap, then fold the bottom up over the folded sides. Press down slightly on top of tamale while holding everything in place and the masa will act as a glue to seal the filling.
• Place tamales standing upright into a large double steamer. Steam for 2 hours. Remove tamales from steamer and let stand about 5 minutes. Pull off husk and eat. If desired, tamales may be frozen in plastic storage bags. To steam frozen tamales, just add 1 hour to the cooking time.

TAMALES DE PUERCO (RED PORK TAMALES)

Steps:

• Cut pork into 3 chunks and place in a large saucepan. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, and salt and cover with water. Bring to a boil; skim foam from surface. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 1 hour. Remove pork and let cool. Strain broth and reserve.
• Bring a pot of water to a boil while pork is cooking. Add tomatoes, arbol chiles, and guajillo chiles, and boil until chiles are soft, about 5 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon, reserving cooking water, and allow to cool.
• Place corn husks in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and soak for 30 to 60 minutes. Drain, place on a work surface, and cover with a clean, damp towel.
• Combine tomatoes, 1/2 cup cooking water, chiles de arbol, guajillo chiles, and cornstarch in a blender; blend until smooth. Strain tomato sauce through a fine-mesh sieve.
• Beat lard with an electric mixer in a large bowl until fluffy. Combine masa, 1 cup reserved pork broth, 1 tablespoon salt, and baking powder in a separate bowl and mix until smooth. Add masa mixture to lard and mix until it has a smooth cookie dough consistency. Test if the masa is ready by dropping a small ball of masa into a glass of cold water; if it floats, it's ready, if not, keep beating for a little longer.
• Shred cooled pork with 2 forks.
• Select 1 wide corn husk or 2 small ones. Spread about 2 tablespoons masa mixture onto the the corn husk, filling it up to 2 inches from the bottom and 1/4 inch from the top. Add 1 tablespoon of the tomato sauce and pork down the center of the masa mixture. Fold sides of husk together, 1 over the other. Fold the bottom of the husk over the seam of the 2 folded sides. Repeat with remaining husks.
• Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add tamales with the open side up and cook until filling is heated through and separates from the husk, about 1 hour. Let tamales rest for 15 minutes before serving.

REAL HOMEMADE TAMALES

Steps:

• Place pork into a Dutch oven with onion and garlic, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the meat is cooked through, about 2 hours.
• Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from the chile pods. Place chiles in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. Transfer the chiles and water to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture, stir in salt, and set aside. Shred the cooked meat and mix in one cup of the chile sauce.
• Soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water. In a large bowl, beat the lard with a tablespoon of the broth until fluffy. Combine the masa harina, baking powder and salt; stir into the lard mixture, adding more broth as necessary to form a spongy dough.
• Spread the dough out over the corn husks to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Place one tablespoon of the meat filling into the center. Fold the sides of the husks in toward the center and place in a steamer. Steam for 1 hour.
• Remove tamales from husks and drizzle remaining chile sauce over. Top with sour cream. For a creamy sauce, mix sour cream into the chile sauce.