Real Homemade Tamales

Recipe From: SADDIECAT (Allrecipes.com)

Tamale Filling:

1 1/4 pounds pork loin
1 large onion, halved
1 clove garlic
4 dried California chile pods
2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Tamale Dough:

2 cups masa harina
1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup lard
1 (8 ounce) package dried corn husks
1 cup sour cream

Directions:

- 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. I cooked mine for 1hr, and 15 min.
-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.

*My Tweeks, I used a pork roast, and trimmed the layer of fat off. I then browned the meat on all sides. Then I cooked mine for 5 hours on high in the crock pot, with the onion and garlic and water coming half way up the roast.

I then used the juice from the roast, after it was done cooking, instead of the beef broth.


Green Chile Version:

1 can of whole green chilies, cut into strips
Shredded Mexican cheese
1 can of corn

-Prepare masa as directed above. Fold in can of corn.
-Spread masa on husks as directed above, then place as many green chili strips as you like down the middle of the masa. Top with shredded cheese, to liking, and roll as directed above. Steam as also directed above.