I came across a recipe in the free magazine
edibleSEATTLE while waiting for a ferry during our last
visit to Bainbridge Island. I try to be careful with the amount of literature I bring into the house and hold onto because I have a problem with making piles of things that 'I'm going to read someday'.. but I don't know when 'someday' will ever come.
I decided to hold onto this magazine because of the cover photo and the recipe that went with it:
Cheater Pork Chipotle Tamales. Making tamales has been on my list of foods to try making someday (there's that someday again). The thought of easing into the typically all-day process made me pretty happy.
So last night I gave them a shot. The author claimed these tamales to be so simple that you could make them on a week night and I decided to put it to the test. I will say that they didn't take all day, but they weren't a quick fix meal either. However, if you check "white - not of Hispanic origin" on a race/culture survey.. this is the tamale recipe for you!
The original recipe is in the link above, here is my version:
Makes 8 tamales (I doubled this)
Weeknight Beef Tamales
For the dough
16 dried corn husks
2 cups masa harina
1 1/4 cups boiling water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 to 1 cup beef broth (use the liquid from the roast beef as part of this)
For the filling
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 12oz can roast beef
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 TBSP chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, pureed or minced (more or less to heat preference)*
Steps to do ahead:
Place the corn husks in a large pot, add water to cover, and bring to a boil over high heat. When the water boils, remove the pot from the heat, submerge the husks (a couple of ramekins or jars filled with water), and let sit for at least 1 hour (or longer if you're doing this in the morning). Drain before use.
In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the masa harina and boiling water on low speed until blended. Set the mixture aside in the bowl until cool, about 1 hour, if longer - cover.
Make the filling:
Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil, then the onion and garlic, and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, or until the onion begins to brown. While that cooks, drain the canned beef, reserving the liquid. Stir in the roast beef chucks and pureed peppers and adobo sauce, breaking the meat chucks up as you go so that it begins to shred. Taste the filling, and add more seasonings or adobo sauce, if desired. Set aside to cool. **you can also use ground meat instead of the canned roast beef, which is what the original recipe calls for**
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We bought this at Costco to see what it was like.
It is perfect for things like this. |
Make the dough:
Add the butter, baking powder, and salt to the mixing bowl, and beat the dough until crumbly. On low speed, add 3/4 cup of the broth in a slow, steady stream—it should become smooth, like a thin cookie dough. If the dough cleans the sides of the bowl, add a bit more liquid, a tablespoon or two at a time, until the masa looks more like batter than like bread dough. {I don't have a photo for this because I did it wrong. I forgot I had doubled the recipe and only added one cup of liquid at first, then had to add more later because it just didn't seem anything like a batter. Moral of this story - it's hard to screw it up}
Make the tamales:
Choose the 8 biggest corn husks, and spread them out on dish towels, drying them a bit on the towels. Rip a few of the remaining long husks into 1/2”-thick strips. (You’ll use these to tie the tamales closed.) Divide the masa dough into 8 roughly equal sections, and dump one section onto the fat part of each husk. Using wet hands, spread the dough into a roughly 5” square, leaving at least 1/2” of empty space on the top and sides of each husk.
{I'm not going to lie here, and I'm probably not going to surprise any of you either... I weighed out the entire dough ball and divided the total grams by 16 (I made a double batch) so that I wouldn't have to roughly guess how much was supposed to go on each tamale. However, I only did this for the first eight when I had lots of dough. After that I did as directed.}
Spread 1/3 cup of the meat filling over the masa dough, in a strip parallel to the husk.
Working with one tamal at a time, fold the long sides of the husk together, so they touch, and tuck one side of the husk under the other, like you’re wrapping a present.
Next, fold the skinny end of the husk up and over the tamal, and tie it closed with one of the reserved husk strips. (Leave the remaining end open; this is the top.)
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Pretty little packages, tied up with string corn husk |
Pour about 2” of water into a pot large enough to fit the tamales upright. Add a steamer basket, a vegetable steamer, or a few small bowls and a small plate to the bottom of a pan—anything that will allow the tamales to steam without touching the water. Place the tamales in, tops up. (If needed, fill any extra space with crumpled aluminum foil.).
Steam for 75 minutes, or until the husks peel away from the dough neatly, adding a bit more boiling water if it gets low. Remove the tamales and let them sit, covered with a towel, for 20 minutes before serving.
Peel off the husk wrapper and enjoy with a side of mashed black beans and a healthy drizzle of hot sauce: my preference - Franks Red Hot; Blake's preference - Tapatio.
*Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce come in a can with whole smoked jalapeno peppers in a deliciously spicy and smokey adobo sauce. They are pretty hot and best used when you dump the whole can in a blender/food processor and strain the puree through a fine mesh sieve to get out all of the chucks and seeds. Use sparingly until you know how much you can handle. It's a bit of work but the flavor this strained paste provides is unmatched.
