Marthas Tamale Dressing Recipes

TAMALES

Steps:

• Make the filling: Heat a small heavy skillet or a comal over medium heat until hot. Add garlic, and cook until soft and well charred on all sides, 5 to 10 minutes. Peel, and transfer to the jar of a large heavy-duty blender. Add chile to pan, and toast for 1 minute per side. Tear chile into pieces, discarding stem; add to blender. Add avocado leaves to pan, a few at a time, and toast about 30 seconds per side; tear into pieces, discarding tough stems; add to blender.
• In a large deep skillet, heat lard over medium heat. Add onion, and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer onions to blender along with 1/2 cup water. Blend until smooth. Add beans, with their liquid, and blend until smooth. If necessary, work in batches.
• Reheat lard in skillet, adding a little more if necessary. Add the blended bean mixture, and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until you have a thick paste, about 10 minutes. Season with salt. Let stand at room temperature, covered, or set over an ice bath, until cool.
• Fill tamale steamer or a stockpot lined with a steamer with enough water to come just below the level of the rack. Place four light coins in the water. Discontinuation of their jiggling will let you know that the water is getting dangerously low and should be supplemented with more boiling water. Place a double layer of corn husks to cover the rack; set aside.
• Make the dough: In a medium bowl, work lard and salt into the masa until evenly distributed. Divide dough into 15 portions, and roll each into a smooth ball.
• Line a tortilla press with a piece of matte plastic wrap (such as a cut-open vegetable bag from the grocery store, not a shiny piece of plastic). Place one of the balls on the bottom plate of a tortilla press, and flatted slightly with your hand. Press the top plate down, but not too hard, to obtain a disk of dough about 5 1/2 inches in diameter.
• Remove disk from tortilla press. Peel back the top piece of plastic to release the dough, replace the plastic, and flip disk and plastic over. Peel back the second side. Spread a generous tablespoon of the bean paste over the center of the dough, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Use the bottom piece of plastic to fold the dough up and over the filling about two-thirds of the way. Repeat on second side, enclosing the filling. Fold in the two remaining sides, creating a rectangular tamale, about 3 1/2-by-2-inches.
• Carefully transfer tamale to a soaked corn husk. Top with a piece of hoja santa. Fold the corn husk over to completely cover dough. Set tamale on a tray, and repeat with remaining ingredients.
• By this time the water in the steamer should be boiling and the coins rattling. Place the tamales in the steamer, overlapping them slightly, but not stacking them. Cover with more husks, a thick kitchen towel, and a tightly fitting lid.
• Cook tamales for 40 minutes to 1 hour. To test for doneness, remove one of the tamales and check that, when it's opened up, the dough separates easily from the husk. Serve with salsa de chile pasilla de Oaxaca.

MARTHA'S TAMALE DRESSING

Steps:

• Heat over to 350. Coat a 9 x 13 in baking dish with non stick spray.
• Crumble or cut tamales and corn bread into small pieces, place in a large mixing bowl. Drain juices from tomatoes, set aside.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, Saute onion for 5 minutes.
• Add Mexican seasonings and drained tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes until heated and onion is tender.
• Toss mixture lightly with tamales, cornbread and cheese. Keep mixture loose; don't overmix or pack down.
• Transfer dressing to baking dish, bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until browned.
• If you can't find a Mexican blend seasoning, you can use 1 tsp each of Chili powder, garlic powder and ground cumin.

CLASSIC TAMALE BATTER

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the lard, baking powder, and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add 1 cup masa and 1/3 cup stock; beat until thoroughly combined. Add the remaining masa and 1/3 cup stock; beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. The batter should be soft but hold its shape in a spoon. If using fresh masa, test the batter to determine if it is adequately fluffy, ensuring light and tender tamales: Drop 1 teaspoon batter into a cup of cold water. If it floats to the surface, it is ready. Refrigerate at least 1 hour. Store batter in an airtight container, refrigerated, up to 2 days.

TAMALE STUFFING

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Halve the poblanos lengthwise and remove the stems and seeds. Place cut-side down on a baking sheet and broil until browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside 5 minutes. Peel off the skin, then roughly chop.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the lard, baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Whisk the masa harina, 2 cups hot water and the broth in a separate bowl; add to the lard mixture and mix until smooth.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallions, garlic, chipotles, cumin and orange zest and cook, stirring, until the scallions are soft, about 2 minutes. Add the plantains, roasted poblanos and capers and season with salt.
• Gently stir the scallion mixture into the masa mixture. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with the banana leaves, crossing one over the other, and add the filling. Fold the banana leaves over the filling, tucking them in to seal. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until the filling is set, about 1 hour, 15 minutes, uncovering halfway through.

TANGY TAMARI DRESSING

Steps:

• Blend olive oil, nutritional yeast, tamari, cider vinegar, lemon juice, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and thyme together in a food processor or blender until dressing is smooth.

AUNT MARTHA'S SALAD DRESSING RECIPE

Steps:

• Add in tomato, red pepper, toasted pine nuts, sliced red onion, dried cranberries or cherries. 1/2 hour to 1 hour before dinner, mince 1 clove garlic into olive oil. Let set. Assemble salad greens, and any other chosen ingredients. When ready to dress the salad, pour olive oil + minced garlic onto greens and toss. Juice lemon into oil bowl and pour over salad. Toss again. Add freshly grated pepper and salt and toss. Add freshly grated Parmesan or romano and toss.