Grammy’s Tamales Recipe

Corn Husks
4 or 5 bags of corn husks. Maybe more.

Clean while still dry. Remove all the dry corn silk and debris from them while they are still dry.   An easy way to do it is to shuffle them outdoors in front of a fan pointing away from you. Pour enough hot water in the cooler till they are covered. You may have to place something heavy on the husks initially to keep them below the water.

Soak them in a hot water in an ice chest over night.  By morning they should be pliable.

Masa:
18 cups Masa dry Maseca (1 bag – 4.4lbs.)
13 C. very warm water
3 lbs. softened (room temperature) Armour Star Lard
6 Tbs… Salt
2 Tbs. Paprika (or more for color)
3 Tbs. Baking Powder

Prepare the masa according to the directions on the bag.  Once you’ve reconstituted the dry masa into moist masa ready to use, add the rest of the ingredients.  Work the masa until it is so light that a small piece of it will float in a glass of water. This requires quite a bit of kneading, and beating.  Taste the masa mixture for salt. Allow it to rest for 15 or 20 minutes.

Meat Filling:
24 lbs. of pork roast (raw pork butt roast)
6 heaping Tbs. spoons of minced garlic
8 Tbls. salt
4 Tbs. of whole cominos freshly ground
4 Tbls of peppercorns freshly ground
1 entire bottle of Gebhardt chili powder or more to taste. (3oz. bottle)

You should cover your table with several layers of newspaper to protect it.  You will also need a bowl of warm water  to rinse you hands and a roll of paper towels.

While you are preparing the filling you should have your helpers smearing the masa over the corn husks so as to save time.

Roast the pork roasts in a turkey roasting bag (less of a clean up job) in the oven 2 or 3 days before making the tamales.   When meat is cool to the touch remove all chunks of fat from the meat and shred the meat.  Refrigerate the meat till the day of the tamalada. Strain the juice from the pot so you can use it to prepare the filling. If you refrigerate the juice the fat will rise to the top and you can discard it and use only the juice. Pour about 1/2 a cup of olive oil or  fat from the roast in a large pot and add the garlic, salt and ground up cominos, peppercorns and the chili powder to release the flavor and aroma.

Add the shredded meat to the spices and enough juices from the meat, warm water or chicken bouillon to moisten the meat and mix the spices.  Cook the filling until all ingredients are well blended and you have a filling that resembles chili.  It should be very thick. Any of the spices may be increased or decreased to suit your taste.

At this point you will want to arrange your helpers so you have an assembly line.

You’ll need some spreading the masa on the husks and one or two putting the filling. Then someone packs them in baggies.  This same person can take care of bringing fresh husks to the table as needed.

Spread the masa mixture to about 1/8 inch thick with the back of a tablespoon to the bottom two thirds of the husk.  The bottom being the straight edge or that which had been attached to the cob. Another way to smear the masa on the husk is to hold the husk with both hands leaving your thumbs on top and your fingers underneath. Place about 1/2 a cup (approx.) on the lower part of the husk and smooth it 2/3 of the way up using both thumbs to smooth the masa on it.  To each masa smeared husk add a tablespoon of the filling or more depending on the size of the husk. Place the meat vertically on the center of the husk leaving about 1/2 an inch on both the bottom and top of the masa to seal the meat in. Fold the sides toward the center snuggly then fold he pointed end down.

You may want to freeze your tamales.  To freeze them use 1 gallon freezer bags and place six across at the bottom and 6 more on top of that row. Make another similar stack so you can put away 2 dozens per bag.

Cook

Steam the tamales in a large steamer pot.  If you don’t have one, place a steaming rack on the bottom of a large pot. A canning pot (Navy blue with white speckles) will do.  You should have about 3 inches of space between the bottom of the pot and the steaming rack.  Make and place a 3" wadded up ball of foil in the center of the pot to lean the tamales on to form a teepee.  Place tamales all around the foil with folded sides down facing the center of the pot, and the open end up so the masa and filling won’t leak out as they steam. The first tamales will rest on the ball of foil to form a teepee.  All the others will rest on that first row of tamales.  Fill the pot with tamales going around and around till you get to the top making sure you can put the lid on it. Place pot on stove top and CAREFULLY pour boiling water in the pot on the edge so as not to pour it on an open ended tamale. Pour only enough water to fill the bottom of the steaming rack.  You don’t want your tamales to float in the water. Continue to cook on stove top with heat at med-high; they will cook with the steam. Check them after 15 minutes.  You don’t want the pot to dry up. Add more water as needed. For freshly made tamales steam for 30 minutes more or less.  For frozen tamales steam at least one hour. Check them after an hour, they may need more time.  The masa should be separated from the husk on the ends before they are ready.

Tamales are done when the masa no longer sticks to the husk. They may be served with a salad, refried beans and guacamole. I find that they taste very good with cranberry sauce also.

Makes approximately 32 dozen tamales.