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I was looking for a flourless chocolate cake recipe to make for
tonight and ran across this site (I like to look at the web sites that
have pictures of food with links to their recipes)
http://insearchofbees.wordpress.com/...ndmas-tamales/
Thought someone might be interested in the "how to" part.

Enjoy!

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"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:39:38 -0800, sf wrote:
>
>> I was looking for a flourless chocolate cake recipe to make for
>> tonight and ran across this site (I like to look at the web sites that
>> have pictures of food with links to their recipes)
>> http://insearchofbees.wordpress.com/...ndmas-tamales/
>> Thought someone might be interested in the "how to" part.

>
> Masa made with corn oil? No thanks.
>
> -sw

That whole website is strange, people are asking if you eat the corn husks
too....

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On Feb 4, 10:37*am, "kliserup" > wrote:

> That whole website is strange, people are asking if you eat the corn husks
> too....


I never even *saw* a tamale wrapped in an hoja until I was 24 years
old and bought a greasy tamale off a loncheria truck.

Whenever I was served a tamale in a sit down taqueria, it was already
unwrapped and drizzled with mole before and the plate was heated in an
oven before being served.

Hojas are superfluous anyway.

I never use hojas to make tamales, because I don't plan to sell them
to strangers in parking lots.

I make my instant masa, grease a microwave safe bowl, line it with
masa, pour my prepared meat and chile into the bowl and cover it with
masa.

Then I nuke the covered bowl for 20 minutes on high and let it steam
itself for another 30~49 minutes and there's my tamale.

I scoop out some of it out onto a plate and it tastes *exactly* like a
tamale made with hojas.
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On Feb 5, 7:50*pm, Sqwertz > wrote:

> That's not a tamale.


Sure it is. It's a tamal de olla or tamal de cazuela.

Don't confuse the cooking method with the ingredients, which taste
exactly the same, regardless of whether they are cooked in a corn
husk, a banana leaf, casserole, or pot.

In Yucatan, they make a tamal gigante which is so large it could never
be cooked in a single corn husk, so they use multiple banana leaves
and steam it in hole in the ground which is called a "pib."

But it's not necessary to use natural leaves at all, a tamal gigante
could be steamed in a plastic bag.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamal_de_olla

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamale

> Even if you don't sell them in parking lots but
> rather eat them at home with your family - like 95% of all the other
> tamales made by humans.


Among assimilated Mexicans, tamales have acquired the same status as
Christmas fruitcake, according to a journalist who writes a column for
the Orange County Register called "Ask a Mexican."

He says that Mexicans make more tamales than they would ever want to
eat at Christmas time and then they try to give them to other members
of the family who really don't want them.

And I get approached by Mexican women in supermarket parking lots
every year when there's a bad freeze that prevents the citrus harvest
along the western slopes of the Sierras.

The women will try to make extra money by selling corn husk wrapped
tamales.

I always tell them that I make my own.


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On Feb 6, 4:58*pm, Sqwertz > wrote:

> Don't confuse the name of the food/recipe, most of all (duh). *


There are several generally used terms in Mexican cuisine which cause
the uninformed to expect a certain dish to be served in a certain way.

For instance, Americans expect that an "enchilada" will be rolled up
tortillas stuffed with meat or cheese, smothered in enchilada sauce
and sprinkled with cheese before being placed in an oven to melt the
cheese.

That's actually known as a "gringa enchilada," because American women
have never had them any other way...

American's don't know what to make of an "enchilada estilo
Guadalajara," with unmelted cheese, they think it's a *tostada*.

Actually, *anything* in a chile sauce is "enchilada," because it's *in
chile*.

"Carne asada" is a misnomer for thin strips of tough beef which have
been *fried* on a grille.

But "carne asada" means "roast meat."

It could be *any kind of meat*, it could be beef or pork or lamb.
Unfortunately, Americans have come to believe that it's overcooked
tough beef strips.

"Fritatta" simply means "fried," but Mexicans think of fried *fish*
when they hear the term.

> And yes, they do taste different. *Plantain, banana, and corn husks
> (fresh or dired) all add flavor, especially when steamed.


I don't eat leaves, unless they are lgrape leaves, lettuce, cabbage,
or spinach. I don't *want* my tamales to taste like leaves.*

> And you
> can't steam tamales properly in the microwave (at least not how you
> describe).


Try it. It works just fine.

You can also steam tamales in a tightly covered pot in an oven, you
don't need a tamale steamer that you only use once a year.




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Run the lid under hot water and it will expand and make it easy to open.There are several generally used terms in Mexican cuisine which cause the uninformed to expect a certain dish to be served in a certain way.
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I like steaming the tamales in corn husks. I think they impart a
subtle corn flavor and leave a nice texture on the tamale that the
mole' channels up in the ribs imprinted on the corn husk. I enjoy the
process as well as the tamales. I would think if you did not like the
process of filling the husks that you would make them a different
way.

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On Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:03:26 -0800 (PST), pamjd >
wrote:

> I like steaming the tamales in corn husks. I think they impart a
> subtle corn flavor and leave a nice texture on the tamale that the
> mole' channels up in the ribs imprinted on the corn husk. I enjoy the
> process as well as the tamales. I would think if you did not like the
> process of filling the husks that you would make them a different
> way.


They used to sell triangular shaped papers that I used instead of corn
husks and I thought they tasted just the same. Now the paper is
rectangular, but I just couldn't get the hang of filling them so I'm
on the lookout (but not too hard) for the triangles.

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