The Fabulous Janell's Tamale Recipe

[centexsmoker]

Well, down here in central/SouthTX Tamale's on Christmas eve are a beloved tradition. I got all nostalgic tonight as I trimmed and cured a 14lb belly for Christmas day bacon and an 8 lb ham for lunch on Christmas day. We ended up with 4.5lbs of skin and fat to render into lard for the Christmas eve feast. Thought I would share the recipe for any and all of our displaced Texans who can't get good tamales and anyone else who wants something really cool to do with pulled pork. The great thing about tamales is that they are meant to be made and eaten with family and friends so they are the perfect holiday meal. Hope you guys all have a great Christmas!

Centex

(sorry no pics yet- I've only been a forum dweller for 9 months and I wasn't taking pictures of all my food last Christmas)

I'll get plenty this year though!




This recipe was adapted from Mexico One Plate at at Time by Rick Bayless

Mexico: One Plate At A Time: Rick Bayless: 9780684841861: Amazon.com: Books

Mexico: One Plate At A Time: Rick Bayless: 9780684841861: Amazon.com: Books

Smoked Pork Tamales

Filling:
4 cups finely shredded pork shoulder


Red Chili Sauce


2 1/2 oz Dried Ancho Chiles

3 cups Hot Water

1 Large Can Tomato Sauce

2 cloves Garlic

1/4 cup Sour Cream

1 1/2 tsp Salt

Stem & seed the chiles, then toast them in a dry skillet over medium heat
Place in a bowl and cover with 3 cups very hot water
Soak for 20 minutes
Puree re-hydrated peppers with 1 1/2 cups of the soaking liquid, tomato sauce & minced garlic
Add sour cream and adjust salt to taste

*This makes 3 cups of sauce, which is more than you need. Add this sauce to the pork until it is moist, but not too wet. Freeze the extra sauce for up to a year or use it to make enchiladas.

Batter:
1 ¼ cups (10 oz) Rendered Lard
2 lbs Pork Fat


Ask your butcher to save scraps trimmed from roasts and chops. Don’t use salt pork or bacon fat, as the flavors are too strong.
Preheat oven to 275 degrees.
Cut fat into 1 inch cubes and spread it out in a deep baking dish
Place fat in oven and stir every once in a while until the fat renders into a clear liquid (about 2 hours).
Let lard cool to lukewarm and strain.

1 ½ tsp Baking Powder
2 tsp salt
4 cups (2 lbs) fresh, coarse ground masa for tamales
*or* 3 ½ cups dried masa harina mixed with 2 ¼ cups hot water
1 ½ cup chicken broth


Beat Lard, baking powder, and salt with an electric mixer on medium-high until light in texture (1 minute)
Continue beating as you add masa (fresh or reconstituted) in three additions.
Reduce speed to medium-low and add broth. Continue beating another minute or so, until a ½ tsp dollop of the batter floats in a cup of cold water (if it floats, the tamales will be tender and light).
Beat in enough of the remaining broth to give the mixture the consistency of cake batter (it should hold its shape in a spoon).
Taste and add extra salt if you think it needs it.
You can make this ahead of time, refrigerate for several days, then re-beat with a little broth or water to bring the batter to the soft consistency it had before.


Corn Husks:
8 oz package Dried Corn Husks


soak in hot water for 3-5 hours until pliable
Choose 24 of the largest and most pliable husks and pat dry, then wrap in a damp dish cloth.


Making Tamales:


Lay out one of your chosen corn husks with the tapered end towards you
Spread ¼ cup batter into about a 4 inch SQUARE in the middle of your husk. Leave at least a 1 ½ inch border at the tapered end.
Spoon ⅛ cup (2 Tbsp) filling down the center of the batter.
Pick up the 2 long sides of the corn husk and bring them together (this will cause the batter to surround the filling).
Roll the excess corn husk around the tamal and fold the 1 ½ inch tapered portion over to close the end, leaving the top open.
Once you’ve made 6 tamales, stack them together and tie them loosely with a string.


Steaming Tamales:


Pour an inch or so of water in a steamer and heat to boiling
Stand your tamales on their folded ends in the steamer
Don’t pack the steamer too tightly, because they need room to expand
Steam at a constant medium heat for 1 ¼ hours, watching to make sure the water doesn’t evaporate. Add more water as needed.
Tamales are done when husks pull away from the masa easily.
For the best textured tamales, let them cool completely and re-steam for 15 minutes before serving. However, we usually make these with friends and are a couple beers in and pretty hungry by this point. They are delicious either way.

Enjoy!

[Hoss]

Do you ship overnite????

[centexsmoker]

Originally Posted by Hoss

Do you ship overnite????

They are a bit of an event but we love it. Sometimes I wonder why we don't just go to one of the hundreds of great TexMex joints in Austin, but like everything else we do at home, we like ours better. I don't do anything for these but smoke the pork and help roll. TFJ does the rest and the masa is what makes the tamale

[NickTheGreat]

Good stuff. My FIL makes tamales and everyone raves about them. But they're quite bland to me. I haven't said this out loud, of course.

I'm wanting to try to make some of my own

[code3rrt]

Thanks for sharing the family recipe, might have to give it a go some time.

[jacksedona]

thank you for recipe love mexican food here in Arizona go to sonora often to eat in mexico everymonth.

merry christmas to all

http://thebarbecuemaster.net

[Big George's BBQ]

That sounds awesome May have to try this- will definately put on my to do list

[Shooter1]

Thanks! Would love to see some pictures from this years celebration. I love tamales just never tried making them myself. Will definitely give this a try soon.

[centexsmoker]

Originally Posted by NickTheGreat

Good stuff. My FIL makes tamales and everyone raves about them. But they're quite bland to me. I haven't said this out loud, of course.

I'm wanting to try to make some of my own

do it with smoked pulled pork and that red chile sauce. They will not be bland. Try to keep the bark off your butt though. I smoke it until it's 160 internal then braise it in the chile sauce to soften it up. The masa is what's so good about these, you can do any of your favorite fillings

[centexsmoker]

Originally Posted by Big George's BBQ

That sounds awesome May have to try this- will definately put on my to do list

get your body guard from your avatar pic to help out. Our kids like to roll their own. I think they taste better when you get your hands dirty

[NickTheGreat]

Originally Posted by centexsmoker

do it with smoked pulled pork and that red chile sauce. They will not be bland. Try to keep the bark off your butt though. I smoke it until it's 160 internal then braise it in the chile sauce to soften it up. The masa is what's so good about these, you can do any of your favorite fillings

Thanks for the advice. I feel the smoked meat will add a lot of what is missing

[centexsmoker]

Originally Posted by NickTheGreat

Thanks for the advice. I feel the smoked meat will add a lot of what is missing

It makes a huge difference

[ManakooraMan]

The smoke meat is an excellent idea (course we would just use some kalua pig here; smoke meat is something else). The last time we made tamales, a bunch of them turned sour after a relatively short time at room temperature. The cheese and jalapeno filling is pretty tasty too.

[Pitmaster T]

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