TAMALES

If you want you can make the tamales from start to finish the same day but I usually make the meat filling the night before and then the next day make
the masa and roll/steam the tamales.

TOTAL INGREDIANTS

5 cups of broth after boiling the meat

THE NIGHT/DAY BEFORE:

PREPARING THE MEAT:

2 – bone in pork butts
4 – ancho chile peppers
2 – white onions
10 – garlic cloves
2 – TBS cumin seeds
¼ - cup salt

 
You could just boil the meat and shred it and add the sauce later but since your boiling it anyway why not add some flavor. I am still going to make a sauce
to add to the meat but adding a few things now adds some flavor to the meat as well as flavor to the broth which will be used later in the masa.

In a large pot add the salt and enough water that will cover all the meat once it is cubed and added and put it on the stove and start bringing it to a boil.

While the water is heating:
1 – Cut all the meat into cubes. (trim some of the fat off the butts). Before I start cubing I’ll trim the thick layer of fat off that’s on one side and while
I am cubing the meat I’ll cut any of the thick fat off. It doesn’t have to be completely trimmed off, just the big chunks of thick fat. The cubes don’t
have to be a precise size, about the size of a golf ball. I’ll put the 2 bones in the pot also and what meat is left on them will come off easily.

2- Peel the skin off all the garlic cloves but leave them whole. Peel the skin off the onions and rough chop them. Pull the stems off of the ancho peppers.

3 - Add everything to the pot of water and bring it back up to a boil. Once it boils turn the heat down to around medium or a real low boil and cover.
Let it cook for a couple of hours or until the meat will fall apart and the remaining fat has cooked away. Once the meat is done take it out of the
pot (I have a big broiler pan with sides about 3 or 4 inches tall I put the meat in). Put 2 ½ cups of the broth in a small pot for the sauce. If there are any
chunks of onion or garlic left spoon them out and put them with the meat.

This is 2 bone in pork butts. 1 is 10lbs the other is 7lbs.	The pork butts cut into chunks. 4-ancho peppers, 10 garlic cloves, 2 white onions chopped, 2 TBS cumin seeds
Pork, onions, garlic, salt, ancho peppers in the pot.	The dried ancho peppers are rehydrating and swelling back up.

4 - Now take a fork and shred all the meat. While I am shredding the meat if I find any skin left from the peppers I will pick it out and throw it
away (or sometimes I’ll chop it up and mix it back into the meat).  

Cooked pork chunks. Notice that the meat left on the bone has boiled off.	Shredding the pork with a fork.
The pork is shredded and ready for the sauce to be mixed in.

5 – Put 2 or 3 cups of the broth in a bowl or jar and put in the fridge. After it has been in the fridge a while all the fat will float to the top and get hard so
all you do it spoon it off and throw it away leaving just the broth.

PREPARE THE SAUCE:

6 – ancho chile peppers
10 – cloves of garlic
1 – 7 0z can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
3 – TBS cumin seeds
Salt to taste

***This time I added about 5 jalapenos I grew (letting them turn red) and roasted just because when I was roasting them the wife said “You’ll never
use them in anything”.***

1 - While meat is cooking put the 6 ancho peppers in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Once boiling turn it down to low and let the peppers simmer
for about 20 minutes or until they are soft again. Once the peppers are soft take them out of the water and chop them up into a paste. Throw the water away.

2 – pour the can of chipotle peppers (including the sauce) out on a cutting board and chop it up into a paste

3 – chop 10 garlic cloves up real fine.

4 – In the 2 ½ cups of broth add all the chopped peppers, chopped garlic, and cumin seeds. Bring to a boil then turn down to low and let simmer
about 20 minutes. It should be thick like a paste. Add salt to taste. When you taste this it will be a strong pepper taste but it will ok once you mix it into all the meat.

Ancho peppers (dried pablano peppers) before	Ancho peppers after simmering in water.
Ancho peppers, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, roasted red jalapenos, garlic cloves, cumin seeds	Anchos, jalapenos, chipotles, garlic all chopped and ready.

5 – Mix the sauce into the meat.

Meat with the sauce poured on.	Meat with sauce mixed in and ready to roll in masa.

I will now put foil over the pan of meat and put in the fridge. If you want to you can continue and roll and steam the tamales but I normally make the
meat filling the night before and roll and steam the tamales the next day.

THE NEXT DAY:

Fill a large pot or the sink with hot water and put the corn husks in it to soften up while you are making the masa.

Dry corn husks	Corn husks soaking in hot water in the sink

If you made the meat the day before:
Put the pan of meat in the oven with very low heat just long enough to warm it a little so it will “crumble” up again because it will be stuck together
from being in the fridge. As it’s warming stir it a few times and add some broth if it looks like it is drying out. This is also a good time to taste it and
add salt or any other spice you my like.  

PREPARE THE MASA:

2 TBS – baking powder
2 to 3 cups of the reserved broth
2 pounds lard
10 pounds prepared masa
Salt to taste

***This time I sprinkled crushed red pepper flakes into the masa while I was mixing it.***

Due to the size of our mixer I will make the masa in 4 batches.

1 – The masa comes in 5 pound blocks so I will crumble ½ of a block into the mixer.

2 – In a small pot put ½ of a 1 pound block of lard with just enough heat to melt it.

3 – Start the mixer (with the paddle attachment) on low and very slowly add the melted lard.

4 – Add ½ tablespoon of the baking powder.

5 – Start adding some of the broth a little at a time until the masa becomes the consistency of peanut butter.

6 – Taste the masa and salt to taste.

            ***I also added some crushed red pepper flakes. Maybe a tablespoon. I just sprinkled some in while it was mixing.***

7 – Gradually turn the mixer up to high and let it whip the masa for about 5 to 10 minutes.

I will do the “drop test” to tell when the masa is ready. Get a cup of cold water and drop about a teaspoon size of the masa in it. If it sinks it needs
to mix longer. If it floats it is ready.

8 – Repeat this 3 more times.

5 lbs masa, 1 lb lard, 1 tablespoon baking powder, broth saved from boiling meat, salt	1/2 of the masa in the mixer
Mixing 1/2 of the masa with 1/2 of the block of lard. Add broth, 1/2 TBS baking powder and salt to taste.	Masa mixed
The drop test. Masa floats so it is ready.	10 pounds of masa mixed and ready.

ROLLING THE TAMALES:

1 – Take a softened corn husk and spread a thin layer of masa on one side. Make sure you put the masa on the slick side of the husk. You can
tell by feeling each side. One feels smooth and slick and the other is rough.

2 – Take some of the meat filling lay a strip of it along the middle of the masa.

3 – Grab one side of the tamale and roll it over the meat so that the masa completely covers the meat making sure the masa on that edge come in
contact with the masa on the other side of the meat strip completely encasing the meat inside the masa.

4 – You can now either continue rolling the tamale in the same direction and then fold the pointy end of the corn husk up or what I’ve been doing is
after the first roll I’ll fold the point end up over the tamale and the finish rolling it trapping the point inside the corn husk. This may not be the correct
way but it keeps the point from unfolding.

All the stuff ready to start rolling. If you use a spoon for the masa you can leave it in the bowl. The masa spreader I have works great.	Put some masa on the table and grab some with the spreader.
Masa on the spreader. The raised edges on the spreader make a nice even layer of masa on the corn husk.	Pinch the pointy end of the corn husk helps it to lay flat.
Spread a thin coat of masa. Masa spreader--- http://www.mex-sales.com/	Put some meat
Roll over once making sure masa on edge makes contact with masa on other side of meat. I usually fold the point up now but forgot to take a picture. I was going to show both ways to roll it.	Roll over one more time.
Fold the point up.	The pile is started
And it's growing.	110 tamales ready for steaming.

STEAMING THE TAMALES:

There are several types of steamer pots. I have one that has a wire rack you put in the bottom and it keeps things about 3 inches from the bottom
of the pot. The other one I use is a pot with a basket insert. I’ll put a small stainless steel bowl under the basket to keep it off the bottom and out of the water.

1 – Once all the tamales are rolled put them in the steamer pot by standing them up with the folded end down and the open end up. I’ll tilt the pot and
start filling it. This will help keep them from falling over until there is enough in the pot so they don’t fall over.

2 – Once  the pots are full I will then take a couple tamales out that are along the edge and pour the water in but make sure the bottom of the tamales
are not in the water. Put the tamales you removed back in.

3 – Cover the top of the tamales with a damp dish towel. This keeps the water that builds up on the bottom of the lid from dripping into the open end
of the tamales and preventing the masa from setting up. Put the lid on the pot and turn the heat up around medium or hot enough for it so start steaming.

2 – Steam for about 2 hours. Make sure the water doesn’t all boil away. If it gets low take a couple tamales out and pour some more water in the pot.
After 2 hours take a tamale out and let it rest on a plate for 5 minutes. Unwrap it. If the masa sticks to the corn husk they are not ready. I’ll let them
steam 30 more minutes and check again. If it falls away from the husk cleanly they are ready.

3 – When they are ready I will let them cool and put 6 tamales in a quart sized zip log bag and freeze.

Tamales standing open end up in the pot.	Damp dish towels covering the open ends so water that forms on the underside of the lid doesn't drip onto the tamales
Tamale pulls away cleanly from the husk. They're done.	Ready to package and freeze

When I reheat tamales I will just unzip the bag and microwave it on 70 % power for 1 minute. I’ll feel the tamales and keep microwaving at 70% power
for 1 minute until they are hot but not cooked too long to dry them out.