Tempting Tucson Tamales

Neither Sarah nor Stacie grew up eating tamales and before arriving in Tucson, they had no idea that they were part of holiday tradition in the southwest. Sarah discovered how fantastic they were and they were the first dish we ever made together. The second time around, the tamales were just as delicious and worth all the effort of creation. We made corn and chicken tamales but you can make any flavor combination that suits you, even fruit!

To start, you need to pour boiling water over corn husks and then let them soak until they are soft and flexible, at least 2 hours, but it's fine if they soak longer.

Start with a couple cloves of garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper, oregano, and water in a skillet.

Poach chicken in the prepared pan.

Use a food processor to combine a jalapeno pepper (with the seeds removed), 1 cup of lightly packed cilantro (stems and leaves are okay), one raw onion, and 2 cloves of garlic for the sauce.

Heat the beautiful green sauce you just made in a skillet over low heat.

After shredding your poached chicken (two forks work fabulously), mix it with the sauce until thoroughly combined.

Time to mix the dough! Mix three cups of masa, six tablespoons of butter (softened), (yes, ours is melted...Sarah is not familiar with the power button on her microwave), 1/4 cup Crisco, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1.5 teaspoons baking powder, and 1.5 cups of warm water (add slowly, it may be the consistency you want before all of the water is used until you have a dough that mostly sticks together but isn't soupy).

You can add a cup of corn to the dough or your chicken mixture. We chose to put it directly in the dough.

Time to assemble! Spoon some dough into a corn husk and press it down into a relatively thin layer.

Scoop some filling on top of the dough (as much as will fit!).

Push the two sides together so the dough connects and the dough surrounds the filling.

Fold the bottom of the corn husk up, then the two sides over each other.

Use cooking twine to tie the corn husk around the tamale. This will keep everything together while they cook.

Tamales are a fair amount of work and freeze well, so if you're going to make them, make a lot! Once your tamales are wrapped, stand them up (open end to the ceiling) in a pot with a steamer basket. Start with 2 inches of water over medium heat and steam until the dough is set, covered, about 45 minutes.

 

Cut the string, peel off the corn husk and enjoy! Tamales are also great with a variety of sauces/salsa - tomato based, cream based, whatever your heart desires!