My first Tamale

Hubby loves to bring me little things when he travels; his last trip was to Colorado for Disaster Recovery in October.  It’s called “Tamales 101 A Beginners Guide to Making Traditional Tamale”.  I’ve been talking about making them and this was kind of my nudge to give it a try.

I don’t have a large kitchen, but I can see where a well-laid out kitchen with lots of counter space would work great for this.  It’s also best to plan this as a several day project.  I was a bit overwhelmed in reading the book, but after a few days I decided to break it down into a few pieces and conquer it that way.  Our four-day Thanksgiving holiday was perfect for me – no kids (except my own), no travel plans, and no Black Friday sales to camp out for…

First you need a few supplies; some are easy to find, others not so much.  The most difficult for me was the corn husks, the rest of the items I got at my local grocery store.  I purchased my corn husks at a small Hispanic grocer in town; $5.95 for a bag of about 100 (no I didn’t count them; I’m guessing).  The grocer is one of two we have in our town; I want to explore a bit more next time that I’m not anxious about making my tamale.  This particular store had a small produce section with fresh cilantro, peppers, tomatillo, etc; a deli/butcher case with fresh meats, sausages, a dry goods section with tortilla, canned goods, stick cinnamon and then what I call the “tourist” section:  Soccer (futbol) jerseys, sodas and chips.  The woman behind the counter showed me the bags of corn husks, rang me up and off we went.

Bag of Masa Mix

You’ll also need masa flour; I found mine in a 4.5 lb. bag at QFC (our local grocer) in the ethnic aisle.  I would also recommend some time, some patience and a friend (or two) to help as the tamale filling goes faster with more than one person.

For my first day I just made the filling.  I chose a simple recipe that required just a few ingredients.  I stored the finished filling in the refrigerator until I was ready to complete the Tamale.

Machaca Beef Tamales (Machaca is Spanish for “shredded”)

¼ Cup olive oil

4-5 lb. boneless beef shoulder pot roast

7 large cloves garlic; sliced

2 (28-ounce) cans pureed tomato

4 cups chicken stock (I used canned, but there’s a recipe to make your own in the book)

1-1/2 tsp. salt

½ tsp. ground pepper

2 lbs. shredded Jack or cheddar cheese

In a large pot over medium-high heat, heat the olive oil.  Brown the meat on all sides.  Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until the garlic is slightly softened.  Add tomato puree, chicken stock, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil and the decrease heat to medium-low.  Simmer, covered for 2 hours; add more stock as necessary to keep from burning.  Simmer another 1-1/2 hours, until tender.  Taste and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Transfer the meat to a large plate to cool; reserving the tomato mixture in the pot.  When the meat is cool, pull apart in strips with a fork, discarding any fat.  You can also cut the meat into ½-inch cubes if you prefer.  Return beef to the pot and fold into the sauce.

A filled Tamale

To assemble the tamales, spread ½ cup masa on the smooth side of a corn husk.  Place 2 tablespoons of the beef mixture in the center of the masa and top with 1 heaping tablespoon of cheese.  Wrap and tie the tamale in your favorite wrapping method (the book has pictures of all of them).   Repeat for remaining tamales; steam for 1 hour.

Makes 3-4 dozen tamale (according to the recipe but I have A LOT of the beef mixture left after 3 dozen!)

Two steamed Tamale

 mmmmelted cheese

I steamed mine in a veggie steamer, covered and they came out wonderful!  The entire family LOVED them (including my picky son who eats next to nothing).  I froze one dozen; cooked a dozen for our family and gave a dozen away (so I could get some objective critiques)!

Basic Fresh Masa

1-2/3 C butter

6 tablespoon margarine (I substituted Crisco for this)

3-4 cups unprepared fresh masa

2-3 cups chicken stock

2 tablespoons salt

The original recipe calls for the entire 4.5 lb. bag of masa to be prepared with the above ingredients, but my mixer wouldn’t hold all that at one time (and I didn’t want to make 6 dozen tamale today) so I used 3-4 cups of the masa instead.

In the bowl of a heavy-duty mixer, combine the butter and margarine (or shortening).  With the paddle attachment on high speed, whip the butter for 2 minutes or until fluffy.  Lower the speed to medium and add the fresh masa alternatively with the chicken stock, then add salt.  Beat until well mixed.  Return mixer to high and ship for 3-5 minutes until masa resembles the consistency of spackle.  If necessary, add additional stock, ¼ cup at time until the correct consistency.

“The Drop Test” – Drop approximately ½ teaspoon of masa into a cup of cold water.  If the masa floats, it is ready; if it sinks, continue whipping for another minute.  Repeat the test until the sample floats.

I prepared this recipe twice (using 4 cups of masa each time) and made 36 tamale.  I have about half a bag of masa “flour” (dried) left for another usage.

So I sat at my dining table (the largest surface I have) with a bowl of the beef mixture, a bowl of shredded cheese, a bowl of prepared masa, the corn husks, a towel and a bowl to put the finished tamale in.  I also worked on a cutting board instead of directly on the table top.

It took me three hours (roughly, with breaks for Facebook, and distractions) to make the masa mixture, grate the cheese and fill 3-dozen tamale.  Blake helped with three; I’ll likely go faster my next round as I’m more practiced.

Storing/Re-heating

The completed tamale can be frozen in a freezer zip bag or air-tight container for up to 6 weeks.  They can be refrigerated for up to 5 days. 

One dozen Beef Tamale for freezing

A couple more notes:

I have a LOT (did I mention a LOT) of the meat left and I probably won’t get to making tamale for another couple of weeks again so I could freeze the leftover sauce; but I think I’m going to separate the meat from the sauce; freeze the sauce and use the meat to fill enchiladas (using my chicken enchilada recipe but with beef).  

Cooked tamale can be re-heated by steaming for 15 minutes on the stovetop; or by microwave by placing in an unsealed plastic bag with 1 tablespoon to ¼ cup of water (depending on # of tamale you’re re-heating).  Microwave on high for 1 minute per tamale.

It's difficult to tell which side is the "smooth" side of the corn husks; just do your best and guess.

I’m going to make my own chicken stock next using the recipe in the book; but that’s another post altogether.

Enjoy!