Christmas Tamale’s Like Elsie Use to Make

Vicky Cruz Perez 2015 Tamales 

This year I said "I'm making Tamale’s for Christmas, the ones like Elsie use to make. Elsie Cruz was our next-door neighbor, their family moved to the house next door to our family's home on West Lemon ave, in Fresno California. 

I was twelve years old when I and my sister Diana were invited to the “Tamale Making Christmas Party.” Where we helped spread, wrap, tuck, and tie tamales for Christmas. We'd eat chips, drink soda and other munchies, play music, and laugh out loud at everything because Elsie was always saying funny things.

We had olive trees in the front of our houses, they lined the street on both sides, so of course, olives were our favorite, we would stuff olives in the tamales. That is a key in the tamales I make whenever I take on the task of making tamales.

Pork Chipotle Tamales 

2015, this year I made several variations using chicken, green Verde sauce, red chili sauce, and Mexican cheese with jalapeno. I made a batch of pork tamales with roasted chipotle pepper sauce.  I made my masa for the first time from scratch, since I couldn’t find any pre-made masa in the stores here in Valdosta nor Lakeland Georgia.

Katie in the UP image copyright

This really took a few days of planning, to make, grocery shop, to prep the meats, making the chili sauce, spreading the tamales, and steaming them. This is more fun when there are more cooks in the kitchen, but I wanted to make them for my family for Christmas Eve.

CHICKEN TAMALE:

Prep chicken, wash and clean off the skin, add onions, seasoning, Verde sauce, put in the crockpot, cover with water, and let cook   7-8 hours. Pour off broth sit aside for later use. Shred chicken, removing bones, and fat, add chili spices set to the side.

SPICES:

1 tsp.     salt

¼ cup chili powder

1 tbsp   Paprika

1 tbsp   garlic powder

1 tbsp   onion powder

2 ½ tsp cayenne pepper

2 tsp      black pepper

2 tsp      black pepper

Cumin (optional)

Mix- use ½ of seasoning in masa meal, set aside ½ for later use.

Chili Sauce-

In a sauce pan over medium heat adds vegetable oil, onion, garlic, a jalapeno pepper (de-seeded). Cook until translucent, add the remaining ½ of the spice mixture. 2-3 mins

Add 1 cup of smoked chipotle pepper sauce, into red mild chili sauce, blend.

Leave remaining Chipotle smoked pepper as a paste to add to tamale centers, and to coat outside as garnish.

MASA MIX

2 cups masa meal (for this recipe I used Tamal Gluten Free)

1 ½ cups chicken or stock from pork

1 tsp baking powder (Rumford Aluminum Free)

1 tsp Kosher salt

2/3 cups vegetable oil in the chicken tamale

Mix masa, baking powder, 1 or 2 tbsp spice mix, and stock.

In another small bowl mix 2/3 cup of shortening until fluffy. Mix masa into shortening with hands until smooth, (sticky not dry). Add stock a little at a time to get a smooth spreadable consistency.

CORN HUSK:

1. In the meantime, soak corn husks in warm water for at least 20 minutes; rinse to remove any corn silk and drain well.

MEAT:

CHICKEN:

Wash and clean chicken removes the skin, salt bath, then rinse, add to crockpot, add onions, garlic, green chili-Verde sauce. Let cook overnight, or 8-10 hrs, remove meat from the pot, strain stock, set aside for use later, in the masa. Cool stock in refrigerator skims off any grease from the top. Add remaining ½ of seasoning to taste to the meat.

PORK:

Wash and clean pork, cut the fat off, cut into ¼ size cubes, place in crockpot, season with spice mix, add onions, garlic, bay leaves, peppercorn, Mexican oregano. Cook overnight in Crockpot, skim off fuzz from water, strain stock off meat. Place both in the refrigerator to cool. After the stock has cooled skim off the layer of fat, use stock in masa.

SPREADING:

Husk, spread masa, roll, tuck ends, tie, add to steam pot.

The rhythm of the spreading works better if you have friends over, its takes a minute to get it, but once you get started have some music on to help you with this part, make it a party.

 

Use a cutting board, with a towel under to keep counters clean. Make sure you have enough towels, paper towels on hand this part gets messy. 

 Spreading. Use hands to spread the masa onto the corn husk, about ¼ cup, small ball (less is better) use a butter knife or a rubber spatula to spread masa on to the husk evenly, apply thin, if to thick once the masa is steamed is too much to masa to eat). Add meat in the middle, 2-olives, slice jalapeno, and tbsp or two of chili sauce or green chili Verde sauce.  ( the more meat the better)

 Roll, tuck, tie.Roll, tuck end, tie ends with husk tie.

Using the larger husks, place each husk waxy side up (ribbed side down). Spread masa onto each husk out to the wide edge.

STEAMING

Use a deep pot, with a lid, if you don’t own a tamale steamer. I put a pie or cake pan on the bottom of the pot upside down, add water 2-3 inches. I place a wet kitchen towel in the pot, then line it with corn husk. I lean the tamales in the basket, open side up. I add more corn husk on the top, cover them with the towel, add foil, then the lid tightly. Steam for at least 40 minutes to 1 hour.

Check water levels so that it doesn’t boil dry, and add more water as needed.

1. You will need from the kitchen:

Crockpot

Strainer

Wooden spoons

1-c. measuring

½ c. measuring

1/3 c.  measuring

Tbsp

Tsp

Wooden Cutting board

Pairing knives

Rubber spatula

2-Glass bowls

2-Large bowls with lids

Saucepans

Tupperware containers (for olives, jalapenos, cheese)

Kitchen towels

Large pot with lid for steaming tamales

Jars with lids for extra sauces

Shopping List:

Chicken thighs

Pork shoulder

Queso Mexican Crumbling cheese

Lard

Vegetable shortening

Baking powder

Masa Tamal Gluten-free

Corn Husk

Canned jalapeno

Black Olives

Smoked Chipotle Peppers in sauce

Can red mild chili sauce

Green Verde salsa

Cilantro