Hot Tamale

I have been wanting to try my hand at making tamales for quite some time.  It always seems like quite a large project to take on by myself and to make it worth your time, you might as well make a large quantity.  Since tomorrow is the Super Bowl party we are hosting, I thought it would be a great time to make my first attempt.  Of course, Lamar gets really nervous when I try out a new food on unsuspecting guests.  I had faith in myself and got to work.

I searched on-line for a recipe and consulted several of my cookbooks.  I never found a recipe that I really liked so I just improvised.  I made up my dough with masa harina, butter, shortening, chicken stock, salt and baking powder.   For my filling I used chicken, onion, salsa and taco sauce.  All the recipes I was looking at were using a green salsa to mix with the chicken or pork, but I prefer red, so that is what I used.

I mixed the dough to a spreadable consistency and started slathering it on the corn husks.  I then added the filling and rolled it all together. The process was actually quite simple, just time consuming.  After I got a few done I got a feel of the process and it became quicker.  I can see why more prepared people usually do this in an assembly line with others.  Next time I will have friends over and be drinking margaritas during the process!

 

After they were all rolled, into the steamer they went.  I did not have an official steamer so I improvised by using my large canner and created an elevated surface.  I was actually quite proud of myself for this improvisation.  A little over an hour later, the tamales were done.

 

 

I barely had the tamales out of the steamer before Lamar was on quality control duty.  He was rather surprised by how well they turned out.  I am really happy with my first attempt.  I made about 100 tamales...I hope this is enough for the big game!