hot tamales!

posted by jennifer:

so one of the things on my to do list over the holidays was making tamales.  i finally crossed it off on christmas evc.  it took most of the day, and 2 days of prep work on prior days.  but i must say it was an enjoyable day.  

wrapping tamales while listening to the chieftans christmas album,  i couldn't help but think how grateful i am to live in a part of the world where we are exposed to so many cultures and all the wonderful things that go along with those cultures.... especially the food for me.

i made three types of tamales:
  -pork with red sauce
  -chili cheese
  -chicken with roasted salsa verde

for the pork i cooked a pork shoulder in the slow cooker, shredded it, and added a homemade red sauce.  i used this cookbook for the recipe:  muy bueno.   it was written by Yvette marquez-sharpnack, veronica gonzalez-smith, and evangelina soza.  it is a beautiful written and photographed book. 

for the chili cheese tamales i roasted poblano (from the garden) and anaheim chilies (from the store).   after the chilies were roasted/blistered, peeled, and chopped; i mixed them with diced cheddar and monterey jack cheese. 

to go with the chicken tamales i made the following:

    roasted salsa verde
  

3 pounds tomatillos (peeled and quartered)
2 medium onions (peeled and sliced)
6 cloves garlic (peeled and cut in half)
4 T. olive oil
2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1/2 c. chopped roasted peppers (i used poblano and anaheim)

*in large baking dish toss the tomatillos, onion, and garlic with the olive oil, salt and pepper.

*roast in a 425 degree oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the onion and garlic are browning and the tomatillos are breaking down.

*allow to cool (save the juices)

*when cool, add half to a blender or food processor along with half of the roasted chilies
  and some of the juice in the roasting pan.  pulse until somewhat smooth.  you want a bit of
  texture, but not huge chunks.  transfer to another container, and repeat the with the
  remaining vegetables.

*add more salt to taste


i added this to cooked, shredded chicken  (enough from two 4 pound birds) and had enough filling to make about 5 dozen tamales.

we had tamales for christmas eve dinner, i froze several dozen, and took a few dozen to our annual  boxing day gathering in fullerton. 

oh, and good news!  my auntie joyce, who was visiting from texas, was telling us about a store in her town where this time of year they sell tamales from a vending cart in the store.  you will be shopping and all of a sudden your ears will be assaulted (my word not hers) with a loud hhhhhhhoooooooooottttttttt
tamales!  of course, i had to give it a go.  and i must say i think i had a pretty loud and sustained tamale shout.  good enough that my aunt told me i could be hired by the store. so, if i ever need part time seasonal work and i am in texas, i have potential work!  yeehaw!!

man!  i have totally got this down. 

cheers!