Tamale Stew Recipes

REAL HOMEMADE TAMALES

Steps:

• Place pork into a Dutch oven with onion and garlic, and add water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the meat is cooked through, about 2 hours.
• Use rubber gloves to remove stems and seeds from the chile pods. Place chiles in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. Transfer the chiles and water to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture, stir in salt, and set aside. Shred the cooked meat and mix in one cup of the chile sauce.
• Soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water. In a large bowl, beat the lard with a tablespoon of the broth until fluffy. Combine the masa harina, baking powder and salt; stir into the lard mixture, adding more broth as necessary to form a spongy dough.
• Spread the dough out over the corn husks to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Place one tablespoon of the meat filling into the center. Fold the sides of the husks in toward the center and place in a steamer. Steam for 1 hour.
• Remove tamales from husks and drizzle remaining chile sauce over. Top with sour cream. For a creamy sauce, mix sour cream into the chile sauce.

TAMALE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat the oil in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef, onions, garlic and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring and breaking up any clumps with a wooden spoon, until the meat is brown and the onions are softened, about 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste, chili powder and cumin and cook, stirring, about 1 minute. Stir in the enchilada sauce, beans, corn and cilantro and season with salt. Bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with the cheese.
• Add the cornmeal to a mixing bowl. Mix in the buttermilk and oil. You want the mixture to be thick but pourable. Stir in the scallions. Pour on top of the meat mixture in the skillet and spread in an even layer. Bake until the meat is bubbling and the cornbread is golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

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.

TAMALE SOUP

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients except tamales and cheddar cheese in large crockpot. Cook on low for 4 to 5 hours.
• Meanwhile, allow tamales to thaw just enough to be able to cut them.
• About 30 minutes prior to serving, add still-mostly-frozen tamales to crockpot and cook on high for 30 minutes.
• Serve with cheese sprinkled on top.

TAMALE SOUP

Steps:

• Brown beef, onion, and green pepper and drain fat.
• Add everything else EXCEPT tamales and simmer for at least an hour.
• Add tamales 10 minutes before serving.

TAMALE STEW RECIPE

Steps:

• Add all ingredients, including the liquid, from all cans and heat together in saucepan until thoroughly heated. Pour over individual bowls half filled with fritos. Top with grated cheese, chopped onion, sour cream, etc.

HOT TAMALE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat heavy large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add first 4 ingredients and cook until beef is brown, breaking up meat with fork, about 4 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, cayenne and cinnamon and cook 1 minute. Add broth and tomatoes with juices. Cover and simmer 30 minutes. Meanwhile, heat tamales according to package instructions.
• Stir beans and corn into soup. Simmer until corn is just heated through, about 3 minutes. Season soup to taste with salt and pepper. Place 2 tamales into each of 6 bowls. Ladle soup into bowls. Sprinkle with cheese and serve.

SKILLET BEEF TAMALES

Steps:

• In a large skillet coated with cooking spray, cook beef and peppers over medium heat 6-8 minutes or until beef is no longer pink and vegetables are tender, breaking up beef into crumbles; drain. Stir in salsa, corn and water; bring to a boil., Stir in tortilla strips. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, 10-15 minutes or until tortillas are softened. Sprinkle with cheese; cook, covered, 2-3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Serve with sour cream. Freeze option: Freeze cooled meat mixture in freezer containers. To use, partially thaw in refrigerator overnight. Heat through in a saucepan, stirring occasionally and adding a little water if necessary. Serve with sour cream.