This dish is not to hard to make, but you really need a lot of time and patience. Of which I have neither . But, anyway, crack another beer and we'll get through this. Here is a list of ingredients that we will need.
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| I like big butts |
2 Bay leaves
2 Teaspoons of salt
1 chicken bouillon cube
1/2 teaspoon of pepper
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon of cumin
5 lbs of pork shoulder or boston butt
1 pound bag of corn husks
Cutting the skin off the pig gave me a new found respect for anyone who has ever had to skin an animal. It took me a good 10 minutes to clean the carcass. Poor little piggy. Once that's done, I put the pork and the spices in the crock pot on high for 5 hours. I like my meat done well.
Take the pork and put it in a bowl. Now drain the juice. You are going to need that for later.
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| you like a the juice? |
Ok now to make the puree. You will need the following:
1 onion
3 cloves of garlic
3 casabelle peppers
4 ancho peppers.
3 pasilla peppers
Bring 8 cups of water to a boil and add ingredients. Lets boil for 15 minutes. Shut off heat and let cool. Strain the juice and put items in the blender and blend smooth until it looks like something from a horror movie.
Add a little of the broth we saved.
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| stir vigorously |
Mix in the puree, saving a couple of spoonfuls for the masa.
For the Masa, you're going to need a cup of lard, 2 cups of instant masa, 1 and 1/3 cup of broth we saved and 1 teaspoon of baking powder. Mix by hand until fluffy and creamy enough to spread on your corn husks. These corn husks were very small. which made it a little difficult. Your corn husk has a smooth side and a rough side (don't we all). Put the masa on the smooth side like you're putting peanut butter on a piece of bread. When that's done, take a good pinch of your tamale meat and fill it in. Don't skimp on the meat.
Okay, now after about 60 of these I think we are ready to cook. We have this giant steamer (a tamalera we picked up at a local Spanish grocery) we filled the bottom with water and put a bowl at the bottom so the tamales don't get soggy. We steam for one hour and then its time to eat.
Tony's Rating: 3.0.
The meat and everything was fine, but I had a problem with the tiny husks and some tamales did not get enough masa. Also, the masa got a little to much puree making the tamales a dark red, I prefer the yellow cornish looking tamales, But, the taste was good; it was the execution that was lacking.
Sandy's Rating: 3.5
The flavor was excellent, but some of the masa was a little dark. Some of the husks were too small and that made for some less than pleasing appearing tamales, but not much you can do about it.
The flavor was excellent, but some of the masa was a little dark. Some of the husks were too small and that made for some less than pleasing appearing tamales, but not much you can do about it.
'Til next time, all men must dine!
~Tony
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