Kyanabelles Mexican Meat Filling Recipes

MOM'S TRADITIONAL MEXICAN TAMALES RECIPE

Steps:

• Tamale Meat
• Cook meat, garlic and salt in a slow cooker for 6 to 8 hours on high. Place in refrigerator and chill. Remove meat from refrigerator and remove solidified fat from top. Drain off liquid, reserving one cup to use in masa. Shred meat with a fork.
• Tamale Sauce
• Lightly brown the flour in the oil in a stockpot over medium high heat. Stir in tomato sauce, red chile sauce and salt, cook until thickened. Cool to room temperature before using. Stir sauce into meat.
• Tamale Masa
• Beat lard with a stand mixer to the consistency of whipped cream (takes about 15 minutes on highest setting). Add masa a little at a time in small, golfball sized pieces. Sprinkle salt and baking powder over the masa and mix well while adding more masa. Slowly add the beef broth into whipped lard and masa mixture. Continue whipping the mixture until a small spoonful of masa floats in cold water.
• Tamale Assembly and Cooking
• Spread ¼ to ⅓ cup masa on corn husks, a little thicker than ¼ inch thick. Spread a rectangle that covers husks except 2 inches at bottom and 1 inch at top. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling in center and add one ripe black olive. Roll together so that masa completely encircles filling. Fold bottom end up and place upright in a steamer, folded side down. Steam for about 40 minutes when fresh, or 90 minutes when frozen.

HOT TAMALES USING CORN FLOUR

Steps:

• In a medium-size pot, combine the pork meat, garlic, onion, Bay Leaf and 1 teaspoon of salt. Cover with the water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer partly covered, occasionally skimming and discarding fat from surface, about 1 hour or until meat is tender enough to shred. Remove onion, garlic, Bay leaf, and discard. Skim the broth and when the meat is cool enough to handle shred into bite-size pieces and set aside.
• While the meat is cooking. Soak the dry peppers in a medium size pot with warm water for about 20 minutes. Drain the peppers and place in the blender with the garlic cloves, cumin and 1/3 cup of soaking water. Process until you have a smooth sauce. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium-size skillet over medium heat, add the dry peppers sauce, 1 cup of the meat broth and cook for 8 minutes. Add shredded pork and season with salt and ground black pepper. Add more broth if needed. Simmer until heated through, about 5 more minutes.
• Place corn husks into a large bowl or pot. Pour enough boiling water over the husks to cover. Place a metal lid or heatproof dish on the husks to keep them submerged. Soak for about 45 minutes. Remove, drain and set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the lard by hand or with an electric mixer until it is light. Add baking powder and the masa-harina and gradually the stock until dough is very light. If your dough looks dry add more broth or water. Taste and add salt if needed.
• Continue to beat until dough is well combined, light and smooth. To make sure your dough is light enough place a small amount in a glass with water. It will float when it's ready.
• Now comes the fun part. Assembling the Tamales. Place a small amount of the dough in the center of a corn husk. Using the back of a spoon spread the dough and top it with 1 1/2 tablespoon of the meat filling. Fold the sides of the husks. Fold bottom toward the center. And place tamales standing up in your already prepared tamal steamer cover with a layer of corn husks and a dish towel, cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Add more water to the steamer if needed during that time. For more pictures and instructions to assemble and cooking the tamales check this post "Chicken in green sauce Tamales"
• To check for doneness remove one of the tamales and if the husk can easily be removed from the dough they are ready. But if the dough sticks to the husk place back into the pot and cooks for 15 more minutes.

MEAT EMPANADA FILLING

Steps:

• Boil meat until tender, cool, grind fine.
• To 2 cups of the minced meat, add the spices, nuts, brown sugar.
• The filling must be moist.
• If the filling is too dry, add more apple jelly or corn syrup.
• (Cooking time includes preparation time).

BEST AUTHENTIC MEXICAN TAMALES EVER!

Steps:

• Cook and Shred Pork Roast:.
• Start with 1 pork roast. Cut the roast into fist size chunks. Put the chunks into a Pan, and cover with water. Boil for about 2 1/2 hours or until it becomes really tender. After the meat is really tender, take it out of the broth to cool (Save the Broth, you will need it for the Masa!).
• After the roast chunks are cool enough to handle easily, shred them with your fingers. Try to remove and discard the fat as you go. There is no need to throw a lot of fat into the tamales. If you have cooked the roast chunks thoroughly, it will be easy to shred into small pieces with your fingers.
• Cook and Shred Chicken:.
• Cover the chicken with water in a large pot, and boil for 2 hours, or until the chicken is done and tender. Take the chicken out of the broth and allow the chicken to cool. (Save the Chicken Broth as well!) Remove and discard the skin. Take the chicken meat off the bones and shred the it into very small filaments. Discard any large chunks of fat.
• Combine Pork and Chicken:.
• Combine both meats in very large pan, and mix together. Make sure that the meats are thoroughly combined and mixed well. You are now ready to add the seasoning:.
• Add the Spices and Seasonings:.
• Mix the oil and seasonings listed below in a small pan and warm on the stove. Do not cook the oil and seasonings mix, but just gently warm on the stove.
• Meat Spices and Seasonings:.
• 1/2 c corn oil.
• 6 Tablespoon Gibhartds chili powder (Other Chile Powders will work).
• 3 Tablespoon garlic powder.
• 3 Tablespoon ground cumin (comino).
• 1 Tablespoon (or less) black pepper.
• 2 Tablespoon salt.
• When the oil and seasonings mix is warm, then pour over the meat and mix with your hands until it is completely distributed through the meat. It takes a good 10 minutes to get the mixture completely uniform.
• The meat is now finished. You should put the meat in the refrigerator covered until ready to make the tamales. Put both the chicken broth and roast broth into the refrigerator as well. You will need the broth when you make the Masa.
• Prepare the Corn Husks:.
• Soak the husks in a sink full of warm water for about 2 hours. You will need to carefully separate them when they get soft. Try to not tear or damage the corn shucks. It is easier to make the tamales if the shucks are in one piece.
• Make The Masa Dough Mix:.
• Start with 4 lbs. of the Masa flour. Now, skim the fat off the broth that you saved from the Pork and Chicken you made earlier. Throw the fat away, and save the broth. Warm the broth from the pork and chicken up. Don't get it hot, just nice and warm.
• Now put the 4 lbs. of Masa in a large bowl. Add the following dry spices to the Masa:.
• 3 Tablespoons paprika.
• 3 Tablespoons salt.
• 1 Tablespoon cumin seeds.
• 3 Tablespoons Gibhardts Chili Powder.
• 3 Tablespoons garlic powder.
• Mix the spices above with your hands into the Masa until it is completely incorporated. Mix well, as you don't want a clump of spices in a tamale.
• Now add:.
• 4 cups of Corn Oil to the Masa and Spice mixture. After adding the oil, begin to slowly work in 4 quarts of the warm chicken/pork broth, about a cup at a time. Work the mixture with your hands to make dough. Slowly add the warm broth one cup at a time as you continue to work the mixture with your hands. If it is too dry, add enough warm water to get it right for spreading. It should be about like thick peanut butter. If it is too thin add more Masa, if it is too thick, add more broth or warm water. Thick peanut butter is the consistency you are trying for.
• Build the Tamales:.
• After the corn shucks are soft, take some of them out of the water, shake the water off, lay them on the counter on a towel.
• Pick up a shuck, lay it across the palm of your hand with the small end toward your fingers. scoop up about 1/2 c of the Masa dough with a spatula, and then smear it on the shuck.
• Cover about left 2/3 of the shuck with Masa, leave 1/3 on the right uncovered. Similarly, cover the bottom 2/3 of the shuck, and leave the top 1/3 uncovered.
• Take about 1 tablespoon of meat, and lay it on the masa about 1 inches from the left edge.
• Starting on the left side (the side where the Masa dough goes all the way to the edge), roll the tamale all the way to the right edge. Now, fold the top of the shuck over like an envelope and lay tamale on the counter with the fold on the under side.
• Repeat until all the masa dough mix and meat mix are gone.
• You should have about 4 dozen or more tamales.
• Cooking The Tamales:.
• To cook the tamales, You need a very large pot that has something in the bottom to keep the tamales out of the water while they steam. Add about 3 pints of water to the pot, then start stacking the tamales upright until full. The envelope end of the tamale will be on the bottom, the open end of the tamale should be on top, as pictured at left. Continue to fill the pot. The tamales need to pack tight enough that they do not fall over and begin to unfold. Cover the pot, and bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat to medium low and cook for at least 2 hours. Check water several times and add more if it is getting low, you DON'T want to boil it dry. Add more water as you need to. When done, take one tamale out and leave it on the counter for about 5 minutes to test. Unwrap it and it should be firm, with no raw masa. When done, remove all the tamales and let them cool on the counter, then put in bags for the freezer, 6 to a bag. If you have one of those Vacuum sealers, those are ideal. You can save the tamales in the freezer indefinitely if they are vacuum sealed. If you use zip lock bags, they will stay for up to a year in the freezer.

MACHACA (AUTHENTIC MEXICAN SHREDDED BEEF)

Steps:

• Place meat in large saucepan. Add water, peppercorns, 1/4 onion and salt to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Cover and simmer until meat is very tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Cool meat in broth. Drain, reserving 1/3 cup broth. Mash garlic with 1/4 teaspoon salt to make a paste. Heat oil in a large skillet. Add chopped onion and garlic paste. Cook until onion is tender. Cut chili into short strips. Add chili strips and tomatoes to cooked onion.
• Cook 3 to 4 minutes. Add meat, cumin and freshly ground pepper to taste. Cook until meat is heated through. Stir in reserved broth. Taste and add salt if needed. Keep warm.
• NOTE: Can be served as a main dish or in tacos or other tortilla dishes.