I guess these must be the hot tamales Robert Johnson was talking
about...they look delicious!
Cornbread is another thing we don't really have in the UK, but I'm honing my
skills and converting people gradually!
Thanks for the recipe - this is a cool newsgroup!


"Jay P Francis" > wrote in message
...
> Ignore the fact that this is a vegetarian recipe. I just needed to get
you the
> basic recipe for making cornbread tamales. In the South, as African
Americans
> started selling hot tamales in the 20's and 30's, and didn't have access
to
> traditional masa, cornbread started to be substituted. These are actually
> quite good.
>
> Vegetarian Tamales
>
> Makes 18 tamales
>
> Ingredients:
>
> For the Cornbread
> 2 cups yellow cornmeal
> 2/3 cup flour
> 4 teaspoons baking powder
> 1 teaspoon salt
> 1 1/3 cup of milk
> 2 eggs beaten
> 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
> 1 teaspoon sugar
> 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
> 1 pickled jalapeno, chopped, or fresh jalapeno
>
> Plus, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper, and two chopped
> jalapenos to prepared masa
>
> Or, two packets cornbread mix prepared per package instructions
>
> To yield: 6 cups of finely crumbled cornbread, processed in a food
processor
>
> For the Filling:
>
> Fantastic brand soy taco filling (4.4 ounce package) prepared per package
> instructions, or your favorite brand, to make 2 cups of filling
>
>
> Instructions for the Cornbread Masa:
>
> Preheat the oven to 400 F. Grease a 9" x 13" cake pan. Combine the dry
> ingredients in a bowl. Add the milk, eggs, and oil and stir, mixing
thoroughly.
> Pour into the prepared pan and bake 20 to 25 minutes or until golden
brown.
>
> Remove and allow to cool.
>
> Crumble the cornbread mixture and add to a food processor. Process for 30
> seconds, pulsing or processing as needed. The consistency will be that of
> cornmeal.
>
> Put the processed cornbread in a mixing bowl and add 1/2 to 1 cup of water
> (start with 1/2 and add more as needed), 1 teaspoon of salt,1/2 teaspoon
black
> pepper, and two chopped jalapenos. Mix with your fingers until a cornmeal
masa
> is formed. The masa should be moldable, so that you can shape it around
the
> filling but not mushy. The masa will reduce down to 4 cups.
>
> Prepare the tamales by spreading 2 tablespoons of prepared masa on a 5" x
5"
> piece of waxed paper or parchment paper. Fill with 1 tablespoon of
prepared
> filling mixture and roll.
>
> Steam in a tamale steamer or other pot designed for steaming, for one
hour.
>