TAMALES

MASA TO SAVE TIME:

To cut out several steps, buy fresh, dry masa flour at Mexican markets. You also can find it in the Hispanic food aisle of most grocery stores. (MASECA) Follow the package instructions to create masa dough, then follow the remaining steps. For even more convenience, you can buy fresh, tamale-ready masa dough (masa preparada)  at specialty stores. ALWAYS ADD BAKING POWDER AND A BIT OF LARD TO MASA EVEN IF YOU BUY IT ALREADY MIXED FROM STORE.

 Once masa and filling of choice have been prepared drain the corn husks and select the largest ones. Use the masa as glue to combine two of the smaller husks. A husk at least 12 inches wide is needed for a 6-inch-tall tamale.

 Place the husks, smooth side up, on a flat surface. Use a tablespoon tilted at a 45-degree angle to spread the masa almost all the way to the sides of the husk and near the top. Leave most of the lower half of the husk uncovered.

 Spoon a tablespoon or two of the cooled meat or vegetable mixture in a narrow band across the masa. Leave at least a 11/2-inch border on the pointy end of the husk, and a three-fourths-inch border along the other sides.

 Begin by tucking one edge of the husk and rolling. Tuck and roll. Repeat tucking and rolling until there are no husks remaining. Fold the empty bottom half of the husk up against the rest of the roll.

Tie tamales with a string of corn husk, or use the masa to glue the tamale to prevent it from unraveling.

COOKING TAMALES:

 Place the tamale, flap side down, in the steamer basket of a pasta, vegetable or tamale cooker. Fill the bottom of the steamer; the water level should be below the rack. Then stack tamales on top of one another. If the tamales extend over the top of the pot, cover with a wet corn husk and damp rag.

Steam the tamales for 1 to 11/4 hours or until the masa seems fairly firm inside the husk. Replenish boiling water if necessary.

 The tamales are done when the husk peels away easily.

Red chile and pork tamale filling

Ingredients:
 6 ounces large, medium-hot whole dried red chiles, ancho or guajillo
 Boiling water to cover chiles
 2 teaspoons dried Mexican oregano
3 cloves garlic, peeled
 2 cups water
 2 tablespoons lard or vegetable oil
 11/2 tablespoons flour
 1 teaspoon salt
 Shredded pork 

Directions:Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles on contact. Meanwhile, remove stems and seeds from chiles while rinsing under cold running water. Place them on the griddle and toast, 3 or 4 at a time, just until the aroma is released, 30 to 60 seconds. Be careful not to burn them. Place the chiles in a bowl and cover with the boiling water. Let soak until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain the chiles and discard the liquid.

Place chiles, oregano, 2 garlic cloves and the water or stock in blender and process to a smooth puree. Add more water or stock if it is too thick. Work puree through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl. Discard any solids that remain. Pour in a little more liquid to help rinse the sauce through the sieve.

In heavy, medium-size saucepan, heat lard or oil over medium-high heat until rippling. Add remaining garlic and brown in the hot fat, pressing down with the back of a cooking spoon to release flavor. Remove and discard garlic. Add flour, stirring constantly until golden. Add strained CHILE puree and salt to the pan and reduce the heat to low. It will splatter, so be careful. Cook over low heat, stirring often, until the raw taste is gone and the flavor of the chiles has mellowed, about 10 minutes.

Reserve 1/2 cup of chile to mix with masa dough. Mix shredded pork into remaining mixture. Makes enough filling for 45 to 50 tamales.

SHREDDED PORK:
 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork butt in 1 piece, trimmed of all but a thin layer of fat 1 whole head of garlic, unpeeled, cut crosswise in half 1 teaspoon black peppercorns 4 large bay leaves 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Directions:Place pork butt in large Dutch oven or medium-size stockpot. Add garlic, peppercorns, bay leaves and salt. Add enough cold water to cover by at least 3 inches. Bring just to a boil on high heat, quickly reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer, partly covered, skimming any froth from the top during the first 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. A piece this size should be well-cooked but not dried out in 11/2 to 2 hours. Remove from stock and let cool to room temperature. When cool, pull meat into fine shreds and mix with red chile.

Strain and degrease the stock. It will be easier to remove fat if the stock is thoroughly chilled. Stock can be kept, tightly covered, for 2 days in the refrigerator if degreased at once, up to a week if you leave the top layer of fat on it until ready to use. The stock also freezes well.


tamales can be made of pork, chicken and green sauce, cheese you can also make sweet tamales, I will bring those recipes soon


Enjoy mis amores!!

AGUA DE TAMARINDO

Ingredients:
 6 tamarindo pods (available at Latino food markets) 1/2 cup sugar 8 cups water

Directions: Combine ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil, then turn off heat. Stir to break up the tamarind a little and steep for 10 minutes. Strain the mixture and refrigerate. Makes about 8 servings.

AGUA DE JAMAICA (iced hibiscus flower tea)

Agua de Jamaica

3 oz dried jamaica blossoms (about 2 large handfuls)
6 cups water
¾ cups water (or to taste)
water to make up 2 quarts

Place 6 cups of water in a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add jamaica blossoms.  Allow to boil for 1 minute, then cover and remove from heat.  Let blossoms steep for approximately 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, pour sugar into a 2 qt glass pitcher (jamaica can stain plastic).  Place a fine-meshed sieve over the top of the pitcher and pour in jamaica tea so that the blossoms are strained out and only the garnet red liquid is used.  It is a good idea to leave about 1/3 to ½ cup of liquid in the sauce pan when straining so that no small bits of grit or dirt accidentally get into the pitcher.  Stir warm tea and sugar well so that all the sugar dissolves. Dilute with water to make up 2 quarts.

Note: This recipe makes a sweet strong tea that goes very well when served over crushed ice.  This recipe will also make an agua de jamaica that is slightly stronger (and I think much tastier) than what is normally served in the local Mexican restaurants.

AGUA DE MELON

1 cantaloupe*
sugar to taste (start with 1/3 cup – amount will vary based on ripeness of cantaloupe)
water to make up 2 quarts

*This recipe works best with a cantaloupe that is ripe, but not overly so. 

Cut melon in half length-wise. Scrape out all of the seeds and place them in the blender jar. Remove the rind from one half of the melon and cut into cubes (reserve other half for another use). Place cubes into blender jar.  Blend very well until seeds have been ground.  In batches, strain the melon mixture through a fine-meshed sieve and into a 2 quart pitcher.  Make sure to press the mixture thoroughly through the sieve with a large spoon so as to not waste any juice.  Discard solids left in sieve. Add cold water to make up remaining 2 quarts of water.  Add sugar to taste, beginning with less and adding in small increments to avoid over sweetening.  Chill well until serving. 

Note: Agua de melón is a perfect fit for an end of the summer .  One suggestion would be to separate a portion and freeze it into ice cubes (especially in fun shapes) the return it to the pitcher or to individual cups to keep the remaining agua chilled. 

AGUA DE SANDIA (WATERMELON)

Ingredients:

• 1½ cups diced watermelon, without rind
• 5 cups water
• 1/4 cup sugar

Preparation:

Put the diced watermelon in the blender with 2 cups of the water.

Blend until the black seeds break up (about 1-2 minutes.)

Let the ground seeds settle to the bottom, then pour the liquid into a pitcher, leaving the seeds in the blender to be discarded.

You will not need to use a strainer.

Add the rest of the water and the sweetener.

HORCHATA (Andrew's favorite)

Ingredients

• 1 cup long grain rice, rinsed
• 2 quarts water
• 1 cinnamon stick, broken into pieces
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (optional)
• 1/2 cup white sugar

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, combine rice, water and cinnamon stick. Set aside for 3 hours.
2. After 3 hours, bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Allow to cool.
3. Puree rice mixture in a blender until smooth. Strain through cheesecloth or a fine sieve. Flavor with vanilla and sugar to taste. Chill, and serve over ice.

HURACHES (MMM QUE RICOS)

Ingredients

• Masa Dough:
• 2 cups masa flour (corn tortilla flour)
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• Cooking oil
• 1 3/4 cups of chicken broth
• Cooking ingredients:
• 1 can (15 oz.) refried beans (you can use any type of beans you want even freshly cooked, just mash them up).
• Optional, meat topping: chicken, beef, pork 
• 2 cups shredded lettuce.
• 1/2 cup green or red salsa
• 1/4 cup crumbled cotija or feta cheese or Mexican crumbling cheese
• 1/4 cup nonfat or reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 Onion
• Optional guacamole
• Optional shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 large red tomato
• Wax paper or plastic bag
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• Chicken topping:
• 2 cups of shredded cooked chicken breast
• 1/3 cup of thinly sliced green onion
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt and pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
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 PREPARATION
• Dice vegetables including the cilantro. Dice up the onion, tomato, and shred the lettuce. Set the vegetables to the side  
  Chicken topping:
  *Boil the chicken for about 10 minutes or until it is well done. Once cooked remove the chicken and let it cool.
  *Take the cooled chicken and shred it using your hands. Place the shredded chicken in a bowl.
  * Mix 1/3 cup of thinly chopped green onion, 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro, and two diced garlic cloves.
  *Salt and pepper the mixture to taste.
  *Set the chicken mix to the side.
  
  Making Masa Dough:
  * Mix the masa flour, baking powder, salt, and broth in a large mixing bowl until the dough holds together well. It should look like cookie dough when its ready.
• Take a hand full of dough out, enough to make a 3 inch ball. Roll the dough into a ball. Lay about 9 inches of wax paper on a clean table with the wax side face up. Place the dough ball on the wax paper and use your hand to smash the dough into a flat circle. The dough should be about 1/2 an inch thick after smashing.
  Use a rolling pin or two flat boards to flatten the rolled up dough sandwiched in between the two pieces of wax paper wrap. Flatten until the dough is about 1/4 inch thick. The dough should be an oval shape.
  
  Place a small bit of cooking oil in a frying pan big enough to fit the oval shaped dough or onto a griddle. Remove the dough carefully from the wax paper and place the oval piece in the cooking oil. Fry the dough on medium heat until one side is brown then flip it to brown up the other side. This should take 2-3 minutes per side. Remove the bread from the frying pan, pat each piece dry using a paper towel to remove the grease and place them in the serving plate. Make as many huarache bread pieces as you can with the masa dough you made.
  his is the creative part. You have a wide choice of toppings you can put on the huaraches. You can use beef, chicken,  or even eat the huaraches with out meat. 
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• Spread some  beans sour cream on each of the huarache bread pieces and then spoon some of the shredded chicken mixture onto the huaraches. Sprinkle some crumbled cheese and some of the diced onion on top of the chicken. Place as much shredded lettuce and tomatoes you want on the huaraches.

• Top it off with a bit of guacamole and some shredded mozzarella. 
  
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