On Tuesday, April 19, 2016 at 1:49:13 PM UTC-5, Jill McQuown wrote:
>
> I made beef tamales back in the 1990's. (I realize pork and chicken are
> the most common of the meat tamales, but the roast was on sale. Heh.)
> Oh, they were delicious! but very labor-intensive. Nice to be able to
> say I've made homemade tamales. Not something I want to do again.
>
These were made with 85/15 hamburger. The roast would probably
be fantastic but I followed their recipe.
>
> For me it was a two-day process. On a Friday night when I got home from
> work, I started it. I simmered the meat on the stove-top, low and slow
> in a deep pot. I do not remember what spices and herbs I added to the
> water. I do know I let it cook down quite a bit, simmered the roast for
> at least 6 hours. Then into the fridge it went for the night.
>
> Very early the next morning I strained the fat off the top of what was
> left of the now very spicy broth. It had congealed, which was a good
> thing.
>
> I shredded the meat. I mixed it with the spicy broth in a large mixing
> bowl.
>
Yes, this had several different spices; I'd have to look at
the recipe again to see which ones were used.
>
> Meanwhile, I soaked the corn husks in cold water. (I still have a
> package of dried corn husks in my pantry... when I made these tamales I
> had NO idea how many I'd need.) Then I mixed the masa dough, using some
> of the broth for the liquid. Then I went through the process of
> spreading the masa on the soaked, pliable corn husks, adding some of the
> meat mixture and rolling them. As I said, tedious.
>
The package of corn husks I bought had LOTS in it, more than enough
for me to make another batch.
>
> I cooked them standing up in a deep pot with the remaining spicy broth
> in the pan with them. I added a collapsible steamer basket so they
> wouldn't "boil" in the broth.
>
The ones I made were also made standing up and were tied in bundles
of six with kitchen twine. I used the remaining spice mixture and
water to make the broth. If I remember correctly I took the tamales
out when cooked and made a light slurry to slightly thicken the s
sauce.
>
> As I said, they were delicious! But I really didn't need approximately
> 50 tamales. LOL
>
Oh gosh, I think these made about 2 dozen or so tamales. Once
again I'd have to look at the recipe.
>
> Here in South Carolina, the tamales I find are wrapped in banana leaves.
>
> Jill
>
Banana leaves? That sounds strange but the wrappers aren't eaten
so I guess it wouldn't matter what they are cooked in.