Tamale Recipe Using Parchment Paper

HOMEMADE BEEF TAMALES

Steps:

• Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium heat. Add beef, green chiles, hot sauce, salt, 3 cloves garlic, onion, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir until beef is thoroughly browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and reserve the drippings.
• Combine reserved drippings, masa, lard, and baking powder in a large bowl. Mix well. Add up to 1 cup water, 1 teaspoon at a time, until mixture is as thick as biscuit dough. Divide into 50 equal balls. Place dough balls between 2 cutting boards each lined with a sheet of waxed paper; flatten into circles.
• Place each dough circle into a corn husk. Spoon about 3 tablespoons beef mixture in a line across the middle of each husk. Top with a small amount of cheese. Fold opposing sides of the tortilla to overlap the filling. Roll the husk around the tamale and fold in one end.
• Combine the remaining 1 clove garlic, 1 cup water, and chili powder in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring chili sauce to a boil. Remove from heat.
• Stand a batch of the tamales, folded ends-down, in a steamer basket on top of a double boiler over simmering water. Bring water to a boil; cover and steam for 20 minutes. Remove tamales from heat; remove husks and top tamales with the chili sauce. Repeat with remaining tamales.

BEAN AND CHEESE TAMALES

Steps:

• Put the oil into a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds. Remove half and reserve it for the tamale dough.
• To the pan with the remaining onions add the beans, hot sauce, chili powder and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir to combine and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool slightly. (Reserve 1 cup for the Round 2 Recipe, Bean and Cheese Chalupas.)
• In a large bowl combine the cornmeal, 1 teaspoon of salt and the baking powder. Cut the butter into the cornmeal using a fork or a pastry blender. Add the broth, a little at a time, until the dough comes together. Mix in the reserved cooked onions and garlic
• Cut parchment paper into 8 (8 by 8-inch) squares. Spread 1/3 cup of the tamale dough onto the center of the paper and lightly press it into a circle. Put a heaping tablespoon of the beans on top with a tablespoon of cheese. Bring the 2 corners of the paper at the ends of the rectangle up to encase the beans and cheese with the tamale dough. Fold the corners together a couple of times. Fold the other sides over to cover the seam and turn right side up. Continue this process with the remaining dough and filling.
• Put a steamer basket into a large pot and add enough water to come just below the basket. Cover the pot and put it over medium-low heat to bring the water to a simmer. Put the tamales in the steamer basket. Cover and steam the tamales until the dough is cooked through, about 1 hour, Check after 30 minutes, you may need to add more water to the pot. Remove the tamales from paper wrapping and serve warm.

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.

CORNMEAL TAMALES

Steps:

• Combine the ground beef, seasonings, yellow cornmeal, and tomato sauce in a large bowl and mix well. Make 36 balls of approximately 2 tablespoons of the mixture, or 1 1/2 ounces per ball. Roll each ball into a cigar shape about 5 inches long. Fill a 9 by 12-inch casserole or cake pan with the dredging mixture. Dredge the individual meat "cigars" in the cornmeal until well coated. Place each cornmeal-coated "cigar" in a piece of paper and roll up the paper around the filling. In a large steamer pot, lay two layers of tamales and steam for 1 hour, covered. Serve hot.
• Variation - Mississippi Corn Bread Tamales:
• Add 1/2 cup water and a teaspoon of salt to 10 cups corn bread crumbs and work into a paste. Cover the meat "cigars" with the paste individually instead of dredging. Proceed as directed

HOT TAMALES (LOUISIANA STYLE)

Steps:

• Run onions, celery, garlic, and bell pepper through your food processor until they are finely minced.
• In a very large bowl, combine ground meat, minced veggies, chili powder, cayenne pepper, and salt. Mix together thoroughly using your hands. Add in the rotel, 1 cup of corn meal, and 1 can of tomato sauce; mix again. (You need to mix the wet ingredients in separately from the spices so that the spices don't all clump together in one spot.)
• Lay out your papers beside two baking sheets or trays. Add 1 cup of cornmeal to one baking sheet, to roll the tamales in (the other one is to stack completed tamales on.)
• Pinch off some of the meat mixture, and form into a ping pong sized ball. Roll it in the cornmeal, coating it as thick as you can. Place in the center of a tamale paper on one side, and roll. The ball should squish into a log, leaving an inch of the wrapper empty on either end. Press down the top of both empty ends, and fold the two sides of the ends in before folding them under the tamale.
• Repeat with the remainder of the meat mixture. After a few, you get the feel of how much meat it will take to fill the wrapper up enough. We got 75 tamales out of one batch, it depends on how big you make them.
• In a large dutch oven, pour in the 1/2 cup oil and 1 can tomato sauce. Cover with a layer of tamales, then a can of sauce, and a sprinkle of chili powder, repeating until you run out of tamales. Fill the pan with water until the tamales are just covered.
• Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer 2 - 2 1/2 hours till done, adding water if necessary.

TAMALES

Steps:

• Place the first eight ingredients in a Dutch oven. Cover and bake at 325° for 3-4 hours or until meat is very tender., Meanwhile, place corn husks in a large kettle; cover with cold water and soak for at least 2 hours., Remove roast and shred meat with two forks; set aside and keep warm. Skim fat from pan juices; discard chilies. Bring to a boil; cook until liquid is reduced to 4 cups. , For filling, in a large bowl, combine the cornmeal, baking powder and salt; beat in water, 2 cups pan juices and shortening just until combined (bowl will be full). Refrigerate remaining pan juices., Drain corn husks and pat dry. (Until ready to use, keep husks covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel to prevent them from drying out.) Spread 3 tablespoons filling over each husk to within 1/4 in. of edges. Top each with 1/4 cup pork and 3 tablespoons filling. Using the husk to lift one long side, roll up filling. Enclose filling with husk; fold bottom end of husk over the top. , In a large steamer basket, position tamales upright with folded bottoms down. Place basket in a Dutch oven over 1 in. of water. Bring to a boil; cover and steam for 25-30 minutes or until cornmeal peels away from husk, adding water to pan as needed. Warm reserved pan juices; serve with tamales. Remove husks before eating.