I am thinking about making homemade tamales for the first time. Does anyone have a good tamale recipe they'd care to share?

I've used this one, and it works just fine. I made the pork ones, and a queso fresco and roasted serrano one. The cheese tamales were damn good.

http://www.rickbayless.com/recipe/view?recipeID=118


[This message has been edited by HTownAg98 (edited 11/4/2011 11:12a).]

I think TH has one. I've been meaning to ask him to repost it.

Tree Hugger tamales GB[/url]

[url=http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=34&topic_id=1751330&page=1&nomobile=1]Tree Hugger tamales OB

My suggestion if using dried masa is to take a can of drained, rinsed hominy and puree it with boiling water before adding it to the dried masa harina. The dough will taste much more like fresh.

My forum codes are fine. WTF?




[This message has been edited by drive on (edited 11/4/2011 12:05p).]

I think I found TH's tamale recipe keesha:

http://texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?forum_id=34&topic_id=1751330&page=1&nomobile=1

[This message has been edited by Agz_2003 (edited 11/4/2011 11:40a).]

thanks everyone

If you're going to use the dried masa, make sure it's the one marked for tamales. The grind of the corn is different. Also, when you have the wet masa, make a small ball of it, and put it in a glass of cold water. If it floats, there's enough air in the masa.

Htown:

In your experience, do you recommend the pre-made masa in the refrigerated section at the grocery store or the dry masa like maseca?

I want to make sure the tamale is moist and not dry.

I prefer going to a tortilleria and getting it fresh from there. I've never used the fresh stuff in the grocery store, because I don't know how long it's been sitting there.

Plus 100 for TreeHugger. Used it last holidays, easy and good.

Made 8 dozen today. Mixed and matched various recipes. Steaming now! Can't wait.

How'd they turn out?

I may be making more next weekend as the people at work are yapping about going through tamale withdrawls.

I have enought meat/masa in the freezer to make around 10-12 dozen.

oh TH...

People love us because of you.

For my first time, I was pleased. The meat filling was a little too dry for my liking. I'll have to figure out the trick to make the tamales more moist for next time.

The seasoning for the tamales overall hit the nail on the head.

Tree Hugger's technique and photos are very good.

Rick Bayless' recipe for masa is a good way to do that, but his fillings appears to be more Northern Mexico than Tex-Mex.

There is a special tool we use when we make them - it solves a lot of production issues and works very well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVAyPqYcxLA

For a quick 5 dozen, there is a tamale kit available containing shucks, meat seasoning and masa seasoning. You need to add the meat, lard and liquids.

We have used both the pre-moistened from the grocery store, fresh ground from the molino and dried masa with pretty good results either way. I think the seasonings have a lot to do with this.

We have never had really good results using anything other than lard.

2003 - we use fatty beef and or pork to help with keeping them moist.

Gig 'em Aggies!

The best beef tamales I've had use beef cheeks. I'm not much on cooking a whole pork head, but fatty pork butt would be good too.

I must have one of these masa spreaders!

Can you get it a La Michoachacalaca?

I'd like to get a masa spreader or two also.

hmm...I may have to try and make some tamales sometime soon. I've helped my grandma in the kitchen a long time ago and never even thought about doing it myself, but that damn spreader really seems to make things easy.

http://www.mex-sales.com/

quote:

---

Product Purchase and Contact Information

To purchase the Mas Tamales Mase Spreader at a cost of $12.00 (postage paid), call toll free: 1.800.315.3193. (MC/Visa/AMEX credit cards accepted.)

To contact Mex-Sales:

Email: info@mex-sales.com
Phone: 1.800.315.3193
FAX: 361.882.1833
Mail:

Mex-Sales Company
POB 3846
Corpus Christi, TX 78463

---

[This message has been edited by jetescamilla (edited 11/7/2011 4:23p).]

There also appears to be some good how make tamale videos on her site...

http://www.mex-sales.com/tamal1.html

I would think you could do the same thing with a $7 drywall trowel.

I will be seeing the tamale spreader maker Wednesday and will find out where they are available locally and report back.

Gig 'em Aggies!

Talked to Sandra this afternoon.

She says that all Fiesta stores in Austin and Houston have them as well as most lower end HEB stores around the state. Mas club has them also.

Her spreader differs from a spatula in that it has grooves lengthwise and an angled end that keeps the masa very uniform on the shuck.

Gig 'em Aggies!

There's a Fiesta in Arlington and a Michoachacalaca in Mansfield, I shall go look.

Any of you with local Fiesta's want to pick up an additional 2 of them and send them my way. I can paypal you whatever the price + shipping is.

Sandra gave me ten spreaders I can mail to the first takers free.


shipped today for those who responded.

Gig 'em Aggies!



[This message has been edited by mike073 (edited 11/11/2011 12:05p).]

email sent!

This totally revolutionizes tamales for me. I've been importing a short mexican woman to help me out. Don't get me wrong, she enjoys making tamales, but masa spreading is a pain in the butt.

e-mail sent also

I learned how to spread masa at the ripe age of 2 and have been doing so every December since. Our lives changed when we discovered masa spreaders a few years ago.

True story...Was visiting my grandparents one holiday season when I was about 9. Woke up one morning to a delicious smell coming from the kitchen. The adults were all outside, so I pulled a chair up to the stove to determine the source of the delicious smell. When I pulled off the lid from the pot there was this huge hog head staring up at me with these cloudy eyes and brown teeth. It scared the hell out of me...but he was pretty tasty once he was rolled in a corn husk along with some masa.

sent!

Got my masa spreader today. Look forward to using it soon. Thanks mike!

Mike thanks for sending it, it worked great. My recipe needs to be a little refined but the overall process was not bad at all. The spreading of the masa and rolling of the 60 tamales we made only took 45 minutes once everything else was prepared.

I used the recipe from the Mas Tamale masa spreader website and I think she uses too much peppercorn, it definitely took over the flavor of our tamales. Next time I will use about half of it and use black pepper instead because of a lot of the peppercorns didn't chop up and were left whole. Also, we used already prepared masa we got from our local Mexican grocery store. There was no flavor in it even though we added a some left over pork broth and cayenne to help bring some flavor out. Next time we are going to make it from scratch and see if it turns out better. All in all, I dont think they were hard to make at all, especially with the masa spreader.

Saturday evening the package arrive and I took photos with it around our kitchen...

masa spreader with the package of tamales



masa spreader with the masa



masa spreader with the pork filling



masa spreader with the dog who eagerly waited for any droppings



We let the pork marinate overnight in the fridge and then the action began sunday morning while the Texans played in the background...

Masa spreader getting its first action



masa on husks



Pork filling in tamale



Rolled tamales awaiting the pot



Finally, tamales ready for steaming!!!

Nice job, jetescamilla - they look tasty


[This message has been edited by Agz_2003 (edited 11/14/2011 4:14p).]

We put the whole comino and whole peppercorns in a blender until they are chopped up pretty well. From SA South, comino and black pepper is a very regional specialty and very extensively used.

We have learned to tie six at a time with string - they stand up better and are easier to remove after steaming.

BTW, those are good looking tamales.



Gig 'em Aggies!