HELLLLLLLLLLLLLP!!!
I live in the UK (it get's worse...) I am feeding 6 hungry guys on Tuesday
night and I have promised them Tamales. There is 1 (one...count 'em!)
supermarket in the area which stocked masa harina up until the last time I
shopped there, when I bought (and used) their last packets. I have a mail
order supplier, but there's no way they can get it to me in time....can you
see how much trouble I'm in???
I have half a pound of the stuff left and what I was wondering is, can I mix
the masa harina with fine yellow cornmeal and get an acceptable result?
Has anyone ever tried this?
I am reluctant to experiment on my own as don't want to waste the real nice
batch of shredded pork I just cooked up for a filling!!!

Any help appreciated!!!
--
Gareth Rowan
www.toocountry.co.uk
{ o}===:::/TOO COUNTRY\:::==={o }

Gareth Evans wrote:
> HELLLLLLLLLLLLLP!!!
> I live in the UK (it get's worse...) I am feeding 6 hungry guys on Tuesday
> night and I have promised them Tamales. There is 1 (one...count 'em!)
> supermarket in the area which stocked masa harina up until the last time I
> shopped there, when I bought (and used) their last packets. I have a mail
> order supplier, but there's no way they can get it to me in time....can you
> see how much trouble I'm in???
> I have half a pound of the stuff left and what I was wondering is, can I mix
> the masa harina with fine yellow cornmeal and get an acceptable result?
> Has anyone ever tried this?
> I am reluctant to experiment on my own as don't want to waste the real nice
> batch of shredded pork I just cooked up for a filling!!!
>
> Any help appreciated!!!

Here's a link to a tamale page included in my collection of food
related web pages...

http://home.pacbell.net/macknet/tamales.html

I don't usually add cornmeal to my masa for tamales, but have on
occasion. I've included two recipes that use a combination of masa
harina and cornmeal at one-half cup cornmeal to one plus one-quarter
cups masa harina. Also included in the dough is pureed whole kernel
corn. You could probably leave that out if you choose, provided you
compensate for the extra moisture the pureed corn provides. The
filling is vegetarian, but I see no reason a shredded pork filling
couldn't be used.

Hopefully, you'll receive some more input from others on the list to
allow you to choose what looks like it will work best for you.

Rich

Thanks Rich, you've given me hope!!!

People in the UK really don't know about tamales...I "discovered" them on a
trip to Austin and I've been hooked ever since. Supplies of corn husks and
Masa can be erratic though.
I'm growing my own jalapenos this your in the hope of smoking them into
Chipotles so I'm hoping for a warm summer!
Cheers,

--
Gareth Rowan
www.toocountry.co.uk
{ o}===:::/TOO COUNTRY\:::==={o }


"Rich McCormack" > wrote in message
om...
>
> Gareth Evans wrote:
> > HELLLLLLLLLLLLLP!!!
> > I live in the UK (it get's worse...) I am feeding 6 hungry guys on
Tuesday
> > night and I have promised them Tamales. There is 1 (one...count 'em!)
> > supermarket in the area which stocked masa harina up until the last time
I
> > shopped there, when I bought (and used) their last packets. I have a
mail
> > order supplier, but there's no way they can get it to me in time....can
you
> > see how much trouble I'm in???
> > I have half a pound of the stuff left and what I was wondering is, can I
mix
> > the masa harina with fine yellow cornmeal and get an acceptable result?
> > Has anyone ever tried this?
> > I am reluctant to experiment on my own as don't want to waste the real
nice
> > batch of shredded pork I just cooked up for a filling!!!
> >
> > Any help appreciated!!!
>
> Here's a link to a tamale page included in my collection of food
> related web pages...
>
> http://home.pacbell.net/macknet/tamales.html
>
> I don't usually add cornmeal to my masa for tamales, but have on
> occasion. I've included two recipes that use a combination of masa
> harina and cornmeal at one-half cup cornmeal to one plus one-quarter
> cups masa harina. Also included in the dough is pureed whole kernel
> corn. You could probably leave that out if you choose, provided you
> compensate for the extra moisture the pureed corn provides. The
> filling is vegetarian, but I see no reason a shredded pork filling
> couldn't be used.
>
> Hopefully, you'll receive some more input from others on the list to
> allow you to choose what looks like it will work best for you.
>
> Rich
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

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.

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.
>

Exactly right. When Robet Johnson was talking about hot tamales, he was very
aware of the street vendors. Tamales were a product that one could make in
small batches for minimum investment and as your business grew, you could make
more. He recorded in San Antonio so he would have known the tamales of the
Mexicano vendors. But in other songs from the deep South, the tamales referred
to were probably cornmeal mush tamales.

I actually like them and they don't have as high a fat content.

But stick with a traditional pork filling.