Tamales
Directions
- 1Season a 4-5 pound chuck roast with kosher salt and place it in a Dutch oven.
- 2Add two beef bouillon cubes, one quartered onion, and half a dozen peeled garlic cloves.
- 3Add one tablespoon of oregano and enough water to almost cover the roast.
- 4Braze in a 275°F oven for three to four hours, flipping once or twice.
- 5Meanwhile, make the chili paste: De-seed, de-vein, and tear four ancho, four pasilla, and six guajillo chiles into one-inch pieces.
- 6Dry roast the chiles over medium heat until fragrant (one to three minutes).
- 7Quench the chiles with just enough water to cover. Add four to five cloves of garlic and half a small onion roughly chopped.
- 8Bring to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes before pureeing in a high-powered blender with cooking liquid to make it thick but pourable.
- 9Once the beef is done (shows no resistance when stabbed with a paring knife), remove it from the braising liquid.
- 10Separate the fat and meat, shred the meat, and toss it with some chili paste. Season to taste with kosher salt and black pepper.
- 11Make the chicken: Butterfly two chicken breasts and poach them in boiling water until they reach 155°F at their thickest point (12–18 minutes).
- 12Shred the chicken and let it cool.
- 13Make the salsa verde: Broil nine tomatillos, two jalapeños, and one poblano pepper under a high-powered broiler for two to five minutes until nicely charred.
- 14Cover with aluminum foil and let them steam for 10 minutes.
- 15Remove the skins, stems, and seeds from the peppers.
- 16Puree them in a blender with half a small onion, two cloves of chopped garlic, a pinch of kosher salt, black pepper, and a bunch of cilantro.
- 17Once both the chicken and salsa verde have cooled, combine them.
- 18Make the masa: In a bowl, combine 24 ounces of masa harina with 24–26 ounces of very hot water (from the poached chicken) to form a crumbly but shapeable dough. Let it rest for 15 minutes.
- 19Whip 14 ounces of lard with two teaspoons each of kosher salt and baking powder in a stand mixer until light, fluffy, and pliable.
- 20Add the crumbly masa dough to the lard and mix until you have a smooth spreadable paste.
- 21For the sweet tamales, add five tablespoons of granulated sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla extract, one teaspoon of cinnamon, four ounces of finely chopped pineapple, and three ounces of black raisins to the dough.
- 22Mix well until a lovely shade of pink.
- 23Soak corn husks in hot water for three hours. Once soaked, dry them off a bit and sort them. The widest and most intact husks are ideal for tamales.
- 24To assemble, smear one-third to one-half cup of tamale dough onto the upper half of a corn husk (in a rectangle about six by four inches and a quarter-inch thick).
- 25Place a strip of filling on top of the dough, wrap the husk around the filling, and tie it using a length of torn husk.
- 26Stack tamales in a steamer basket over an inch of water in a large stockpot.
- 27Cover the tamales with a few corn husks and a moist clean kitchen towel.
- 28Steam for one and a half to two hours, then let them rest in the pot for another 30 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 beef bouillon cubes
- 1 large onion
- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 4 ancho chiles
- 4 pasilla chiles
- 6 guajillo chiles
- 1 cup water
- 4 garlic cloves
- 0.5 small onion
- 24 oz masa harina
- 24 oz hot water
- 14 oz lard
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 5 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 4 oz pineapple
- 3 oz black raisins
- 1 tsp red food coloring
- 9 tomatillos
- 2 jalapenos
- 1 poblano pepper
- 1 bunch cilantro
- 1 bunch corn husks
- 1 cup crema
- 1 cup salsa roja
Equipment
knifecutting boarddutch ovensaucepanblenderstand mixersteamer basketstock potkitchen towelscissors