I grew up knowing that Christmas dinner was always tamales, rice and beans-- tradition. After my grandma Emma died in 2003, I realized that tamales for dinner at her house died too. I decided to continue the tradition in my family. I interviewed several family members to get her recipe but that too died with her. Emma used to make her tamales with pork fat and lard. I remember getting a tamale full of fat, no meat. I took it back to her for better one and she looked at it and said, "ooh, you got a good one!" Times were different. After my dad's heart attack she started making them with chicken. As she aged, I think she started buying them .
I have developed my own recipe using a combination of the memory of grandma's and recipe research. I like roast beef the best, but Jim likes chicken and my daughter insists on vegetarian ones as well. I start out cooking the meat the night before in a slow cooker. I add onion, garlic, a can of El Pato and a can of water. I leave the meat to cook all day. The next morning I separate the broth, shred the meat, add another can of El Pato and two cans of tomato sauce.
I have a pot just for steaming tamales that is very large. My grandmother told me to add a large bowl in the middle to help cook the tamales evenly. Fill the bottom with water.
For the corn mix I use 4 cups of fresh masa, 1T baking powder, 1C of vegetable shortening instead of lard and 4C of the broth from the slow cooker. The mix will be fluffy and easy to spread on corn husks. I try to be generous with the meat or else Jim will complain.
For vegetarian tamales I use beans and cheese for the filling. I like fresh pinto beans, but Monika likes black beans; a can is easiest with pre-grated Monterrey cheese, but soaking and simmering beans while the meat is cooking the day before works. For the corn mixture, I use the same recipe except I boil 4 cups of water with a vegan bullion and onion instead of using broth. Monika makes sure that all the vegetarian ones are made on clean counters (no meat residue) and cooked separated from the meat ones.
I LOVE sweet tamales! Pineapple is my favorite, sometimes I make them with raisins, coconut, walnuts, etc. For today's sweet tamales I used a 1/2c butter, 2 1/2C masa, 1 1/2 c corn meal, 1/4c sugar, 1T cinnamon, 1C pineapple juice, 1C water (heated), a can of sweet milk, 2t vanilla, 1C chopped pineapple chunks, and 1/2C pecans. Every year I make them a little different!
