EASY delicious TAMALES - a recipe that works!

TAMALES

When Dan and I were on a cruise that spent a day in Cozumel, we took a wonderful cooking class, with a market visit, at Josefina's Cocina Con Alma:  https://www.cozumelchef.com/ After we returned to West Virginia (and added several of the dishes we learned to make to the Elkhorn Inn Dinner Menu), I bought a packet of Corn Husks with the intention of making tamales... and stored them in the pantry and forgot all about them! I found them the other day, and decided Now was the time to teach myself to make tamales! (NOTE: tamales take a LONG time to make- at least a day. Much more fun if you have a "tamale rolling party" like we did in Israel when we made Kubeh...) After lots of "Googling" for recipes and ideas, I used what turned out to be a GREAT recipe by Alton Brown:  https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/hot-tamales-recipe-2011883 
I used his recipe for the dough and cooking instructions (I made a 1/2 recipe), but my filling was made with chicken stewed with fire-roasted New Mexico Green Hatch Chilies and spices... HIS RECIPE HAS 5 STARS AND IT REALLY WORKS! 

The dried corn husks

The first step is putting your corn husks in a pot or bowl of hot to soak- for about 2 hours. They need to be really soft and pliable so you can roll and fold them.

Soaking corn husks...

The next step is to put the cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in a mixing bowl...

Corn meal, baking powder, salt

Add lard and knead it into a dough...

Then you add the lard, and mix it until it becomes a dough with the consistency of "thick mashed potatoes". Then you can cover the bowl with a damp cloth until you are ready to roll tamales...

the Chicken-Hatch Chili filling

I made the tamale filling by sauteing a chopped leek and garlic in olive oil, and then adding Fire-Roasted Green Hatch Chilies, several not-spicy  red    Peppers, Kosher salt, fresh, cracked black pepper, and cumin, and then 2 chicken breasts, and cooking it down, slowly, into deliciousness! I shredded the chicken, and made sure everything was cut up in tiny pieces for the stuffing.   
Then the fun started: rolling tamales!
Take one of the water-softened corn husks and blot it with a paper towel. Spoon the corn meal dough on the side of the corn husk as shown in the photo. I tried to make it as thin as possible. Put about a tablespoon of filling in a line down the center of the dough. Roll one side in, so the dough encases the filling. 

Dough on the corn husk

Filling on the dough....

Roll one side in...

Fold up the bottom of the corn husk...

Then roll it up snugly.

Tie the top with corn husk or kitchen twine

Then fold up the bottom of the corn husk, and roll the tamale up snugly. Then tie it at the top with a strip of corn husk or Kitchen Twine.

Voila! TAMALES!

Tamales in the pot...

I was So pleased with my tamales!

My pot of tamales, ready to steam!

As I didn't have enough tamales to fill the pot, I added 3 glass Mason Jars so the tamales would stand snugly & stay upright. I filled the Mason Jars with water so they wouldn't float, and then poured the chicken stock (from cooking the chicken) down in the pan until it was about 1" from the top  of the tamales.
Then I covered the pot, put it on high heat, and brought to to a boil- about 12 minutes. Then I turned it down to low, partially uncovered the pot, and let it simmer for 1.5 hours.
When we unrolled and tested the first tamale it was perfect! The corn husk pulled away from the cornmeal neatly, and the tortilla was perfect- firm, tender, hot, and delicious!

It's so great to find a recipe that Really works- Thank you Alton Brown!

Have you made tamales? Do you add spices to the corn meal? What fillings do you use? Let me know in the comments and we can share recipes!