CWS4322
Chef Extraordinaire
I am wondering if DCers have favourite tamale filling recipes? I like TVP with black beans and chili, pulled pork, chicken. Planning on making a batch while Dad's away (easy lunch food for my Mom) next weekend.
One of my Mom's caregivers came out to make tamales again with me. She was away for the Christmas holidays when my dear Momma died, but because we had made tamales, and Momma gobbled them up when my Dad was away in August, I wanted to do this again with her. We both agreed the batch we made today were better than the first batch. She is in her last semester in the RN program at the local university. She is from North Pole, Alaska. Her Mom will be coming down for graduation and is envious that her daughter has learned to make tamales, kimchi, perogies, and other things while her daughter was caring for my Mom (she is the person who stayed at the house while I was back in Ontario). Now we are planning to make even a better batch of tamales when her Mom flies down for graduation in May. We might make a road trip to get banana leaves! You never know how special a person whose path crosses yours will be. Love this gal.Ended up making the vegan tamales since I had some TVP in my stash. They turned out darned good.
https://www.veganblueberry.com/vegan-tamales/
The caregiver (the daughter I would have always wanted--she is so much like me and like my dear Momma) did bring parchment paper (the roll in the pantry would have made six or eight), but we had enough corn husks. I was thinking of using aluminum foil...the text she sent me Saturday evening was that she was surprised at how easy tamales are to make...that is, of course, if you aren't making 300-400 hundred! We just do enough to fill the steamer pot once. Great suggestions for fillings! I like the TVP because it is "finely minced."Instead of using corn husks,, or banana skins, which aren't always readily available, I simple cut a suitable sized piece of parchment paper, spread the dough, put in the filling, and roll them up. I steam them until they are done, and they come out wonderful.
Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
I don't think of tamales as an easy food, but they are good! I have put many things in them, but the best ones, no matter what the filling is, have some lard added to the masa, along with some broth, as the liquid. Not sure if you can get it where you are, but in Mexican grocers they have a coarse masa harina made just for the tamales. And besides the corn husks, some taste even better in banana leaves, as they give some flavor to the masa.
I have used pulled pork and chicken, moistened with some moles - whatever I had in the freezer. I have also made one with squash blossoms, some with mushrooms, some with a chard filling - just about anything I could put in a taco or enchilada (as long as it's not too saucy), and a salsa, with some crema, to finish it.