It was a cold, winter night out in the great desert. The winds were howling, the crescent moon rested high in the sky. Out in the dark and desolate desert, a new life had been born into the world. Resting near the light of a fire, a woman sat, holdi...
Time: 2.5 - 3 hours Yield: approximately 37 tamales
INGREDIENTS:
6 cups Masa Harina (corn flour) 6 cups of beef broth (or 6 cups of water blended with 2 beef bouillon cubes) 2.5 lbs of boneless beef 8 cups of cheese (cheddar and mozzarella mixed) 30 peppers (20 habaneros, 10 serranos) 6 ounces of cream cheese 12 tablespoons of vegetable shortening 5 tablespoons of cayenne pepper Salt Black pepper Parsley flakes 2 tablespoons of onion powder 2 tablespoons of garlic powder 1 tablespoon paprika Cumin 1 package of corn husks 1/4 of a diced onion
DIRECTIONS:
Step 1: Soak your corn husks in a pan of hot/warm water (they will float so you'll need to put something heavy over them to hold them down). Soak for one hour.
Step 2: While the corn husks soak, prepare your fillings. Cook the beef in a pressure cooker for 1 hour and fifteen minutes on high. To do so, sautee the onions in a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle in your cumin. Add 16 habaneros and 8 serranos. Add your beef. Sprinkle salt, black pepper, and parsely flakes. Seal and cook. When when it's done, the meat should be easy to shred with a spoon and there shouldn't be a ton of liquid. (If you don't have a pressure cooker or crockpot, you'll have to boil for hours and hours until it's shredding, not just tender but shredding).
Step 3: Add the paprika, cayenne, onion powder, and garlic powder. Sprinkle salt, black pepper, and parsely. Season til it meets your taste. (WORKS EASIER IF YOU BUY TACO SEASONING, THEN YOU JUST NEED 2 PACKS OF THAT and can ignore most of this except for the cayenne).
Step 4: Your cream cheese should be softened after sitting out a bit. Mix your cream cheese and vegetable shortening together in a large bowl. Add in a cup of the masa harina and a cup of the broth. Mix. Continue adding cup by cup and stirring until everything is mixed. Season with a sprinkle of salt, pepper, and parsley flakes. Beat it until everything is like a thick cake batter. You CAN refrigerate for like 10 minutes but it's not necessary.
Step 5: Dice up your remaining habaneros and serranos.
Step 6: Drain the water from your corn husks. Take two and shred them lengthwise to make strings. You'll need those for later.
Step 7: Place one corn husk on a plate or cutting board. Make sure the skinny end is pointing towards you. Using a spoon or your fingers, put about 1/4 a cup of your masa mix in a rectangular shape on the corn husk. Not at the bottom (skinny end) exactly but closer towards that than the top (wide flat end). Spread it flat.
Sprinkle some diced peppers over that (I try to cover the general area of the masa rectangle). Add 1-2 tablespoons of your shredded beef in the center. Sprinkle cheese over it.
Fold the bottom of the corn husk over until the fillings are covered by the other end of the masa. Fold the sides in to make a burrito shape (except for the top). Pack it tight if you can; it doesn't hurt if your fillings get flattened some more. Now, take one of the strings you made from corn husk and wrap it around the corn husk. Tie it (double knot) and make sure it holds everything together.
Repeat until you're out of masa. If you run out of meat but still have masa mix, cheese tamales are delicious, make some of those with your peppers and more than a sprinkle of cheese.
Step 8: When you're finished wrapping all of your tamales, put them in a steamer. If you don't have a steamer, a pot of water and a colander/strainer will work. Make sure you have enough water to boil for 45 mins BUT it shouldn't reach the bottom of the colander. You need to steam the tamales, not boil them.
Put a lid over the pot (if it doesn't fit, you can cut part of the tips off as long as the strings still keep the lower part together). Steam tamales for 45 mins.
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Step 9: Serve hot with sour cream (and salsa if you desire).
10: Unwrap and enjoy.
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Note: Tamales can be frozen and reheated for up to two weeks. To reheat, you can microwave or resteam if you have time for that.
Note: You can also make these with shredded chicken or refried pinto beans (flavored with taco seasonings) and many other fillings.
