Tamal or Tamale Pie?

I was struggling with the proper way to name this dish since "tamale" isn't a word in Spanish. However, this dish is nothing like tamales, so I guess "tamale" is appropriate since both are are not authentically Mexican :). Anyway, when I told my Mexican girlfriend that I was making this dish, she went crazy because it is nothing like a tamal. I've made tamales, and I've helped my girlfriend's mother make tamales as well. So, I'm aware of how much work, time, and ingredients are involved in making the real thing.

LOOK! As a reward to myself for completing my paper, I bought my first Le Creuset item at an outlet mall! It is a 3 1/2 quart casserole pot. I love it!

Nevertheless, I was curious about the combination of cornbread, cheese, and seasoned meat all in one dish and wanted to try out this dish. No matter how this dish should be called, I must say it is beyond tasty. I loved it so much that I immediately spooned out seconds after eating the portion you see on the plate below.Look at that crust!

I compared a few recipes online, but I preferred the one I used because of the layer of corn and the mix-in of cheese in the cornbread batter. The "originator" of this recipe used Jiffy cornbread mix, but I used my favorite cornbread recipe instead. Even though I'm a southerner, I prefer a little sugar in my cornbread, but feel free to reduce or eliminate the sugar. It was easy to put together the cornbread batter, so I really don't think you need go out and buy a pre-made box of cornmeal, flour, and baking soda. That is really all it is, you know haha.I know I almost always tell you all to try out whatever meal or dish I post, but this is really good. You can make it with ground turkey or a load of beans if you don't eat beef. Make sure you season the meat/bean section well. I added the other filling options in the recipe below. Enjoy!

Tamal/Tamale Pie
greatly adapted from FoodWishes

1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp veg oil
1/2 medium onion 1-2 cloves of garlic, chopped fine
1 lb ground beef, turkey, or canned beans (I actually used grass-fed beef for the first time)
1 cup diced peppers of your choice (optional; I didn't use)
1 16-oz jar salsa (I used Pomì chopped tomatoes)
1 tsp salt (I used Lawry's Seasoning Salt)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp chipotle pepper (I used 3 Tbsp homemade adobe chile sauce; recipe here)
1-2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano (I used 1-2 tsp Mexican Oregano)
4 oz cheddar cheese, divided (I used sharp)
4 oz monterey jack cheese, divided
2 cups frozen or fresh corn

In a skillet, melt butter and oil. Add onions and garlic, and cook until translucent. Add the beef, turkey, or beans and green peppers, and cook until brown (for beans, just move on to the next step).

Add salsa or chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper, chipotle pepper/adobe sauce, cumin, and oregano. Once the mixture is seasoned well, allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and prepare the cornbread batter.

Buttermilk aka Dixie Cornbread

greatly adapted by Southern Plate

1 3/4 cups enriched white cornmeal (I used yellow)
3 Tbsp AP flour
1 tsp salt (I used kosher)
1 tsp baking soda
1-3 Tbsp sugar (depends on how sweet you like your cornbread)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk (You could use milk + lemon juice, too)
1 egg
2-3 Tbsp melted butter
Stir together dry ingredients. Add buttermilk, egg, and add melted butter. Mix the ingredients until they are moistened; do not over-stir. Mix 3/4ths of the cheese to the cornbread batter.
Pour 1/4 of the mixture into the casserole pan.
Add 1/2-1 cup of the frozen or fresh corn on top of the batter.
Add all of the meat mixture. Then, add the rest of the corn (1/2-1 cup) (optional; I forgot to do this, so I had only one layer of corn, and it tasted more than fine.)
Add the rest of the cornbread batter.
Add additional cheese on top.
Bake uncovered in a preheated hot oven for 45-60 minutes. Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Tamales Part 3: Assembly & Finale!

Finally! We have reached the last step - assembly. Now, that the filling, corn husks, and masa are ready, we just need to put everything together and steam the tamales.

Here's how I did it: Open the corn husk with the smooth side facing up,

Smooth side on top, and rough side on the bottom.

and place the masa on the bottom 2/3rds of it with the back of a spoon, leaving a 2-inch space to the left of the husk. Try not to add too much masa (I added a bit too much in the photo below, and this masa ended up looking different because I had added more masa harina to it).

Spread the masa over the husk (don't forget to leave space to the left of the husk, so it should be off-center) and then add the filling. You'll only need 1-2 Tbsp of filling for a large husk and 1/2-1 Tbsp for a smaller one. Make sure you center the filling in the middle of the MASA filling, NOT the center of the corn husk.

Fold or roll the husk around the filling starting from the right side or the side with the filling. Ensuring that the flap of the husk is facing up, fold the skinny tip of the husk over the base of the tamal.

Tie the tip to the base with a slivered section of a random husk (I picked out the small, torn husks out of the big batch and reserved them for this purpose). Tying the tamales is not mandatory, but it helps keep everything together while they sit in the steamer, and they look prettier, too.

Place the tamal in the steamer pot, and continue making the other tamales.

To add the rajas y queso filling, just do the same thing:

Once all the tamales are in the steamer, fill the bottom of the pot with about 2-4 cups of water. Place a few pennies at the bottom of the pot so that you know there is enough water down there (I found out that my pot makes its own noises when the water level is low; it was scary!). Once the water starts boiling, place the steamer pot in the main pot.

Cover the tamales with additional corn husks (this is when I use the husks that didn't fully hydrate during the soak) or aluminum foil, and cover. Steam the tamales on medium heat for 1-2 hours (it took 2 hours for me).

The filling should be pretty firm and dry, but not too dry. Also, when you unroll the tamal, most of the filling should no longer stick to the husk when fully unrolled.

Add leftover salsa verde to the undressed tamal...

...and enjoy!! YUM! ¡Buen provecho!

ALL GONE! Oh, there are more in the freezer!

Tamales Part 2: Masa (RECIPE REVISED!) and Corn Husks

Okay, let's move on to part 2 of the series. Yesterday, I posted about the filling I used: salsa verde con pollo. Today, I will share with you all how I soaked the corn husks and made the masa.

Corn Husks: (printable version)
You can buy these husks at most stores, especially around the holidays. I've seen them at Wal-mart and at some regular grocery stores. They come in a large bag. Here is a photo of them fresh out of the bag. Aren't they photogenic?
Place the husks in a large pot of boiling water. They will not all fit without a bit of coaxing. So, try to submerge all of them in the water.

While they're soaking, work on the masa:

Masa for tamales REVISED!!:
2 cups of masa harina (Maseca is a popular brand and is the one I used)
1 tsp salt (I used kosher)
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups of reserved chicken broth (remember that broth from yesterday?)
2/3 cups of manteca or lard (you can render your own or get freshly-rendered lard from a grocery specializing in Latin-American products. They have less fat than butter.)

Place and mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl or mixer.


Pour in the broth until the mixture starts to look clumpy...like pie dough with too much water, or like the photo below. The mixture should not be watery at this point!


With another mixer or by hand, beat the lard (or manteca) until it reaches a lighter consistency. This step is optional, but I tried it out to see what would happen.

Pour the manteca (that word sounds better in Spanish, doesn't it?) into the masa mixture until the it looks like thick cake batter.


I had to later adjust the below mixture by adding more masa harina (I started with 2 1/2 cups of masa instead of what I posted above), so the batter or masa should look a bit thicker than this.

Now you're done with the masa!

Back to the corn husks:

After 1 to 2 hours, take the husks out with tongs. Then, place them in a large open container for easy assembly. If some of them are not completely soaked (i.e., there are dry spots), use those later for when you steam the tamales). (Can you tell I live in graduate-student housing? :D)

Now that the filling, masa, and corn husks are ready, we can move on to the assembly process....tomorrow. Then, we can eat them gleefully! :)

Tamales Part 1: Pollo con salsa verde

Whew! I returned home a week ago only to find out that my internet connection is not working again. So, I was unable to update and wish you all a Happy New Year. I also haven't been able to post the chocolate peanut butter tart I made, and I want to show you all the kitchen-related loot I got for Xmas thanks to my generous, loving mom.

However, since the year has already started and this will be my first post of the year, I wanted to start it off with these tamales I made because they were a major (yet delightful) project for me. I had never made tamales by myself before. The first and only time I made them, I assisted my ex-girlfriend's mother, and all I really did was help her fill the corn husks. I remember putting too much masa in them (what a great help I was! haha).

Three days ago I made tamales for the second time, and I made them all by myself with the assistance of various recipes, blogs, and Youtube videos. Since the making of tamales is a tedious, yet doable project, I have decided to break up the process into three parts:

1) the filling,
2) the masa and corn husks,
3) and the assembly of tamales.

So, today I will be posting about one of the fillings I made - salsa verde with shredded chicken. I also made a filling of cheese and jalapeños, but I will talk about that later.

Before we start, just a little factoid: The singular form of "tamales" is "tamal" without the lone "e" hanging on at the end.

Let's move on to what I did for these yummy tamales...

Pollo con salsa verde (printable version)

First, I placed the chicken breasts (you could also use whole chicken cut up into pieces) in a big pot, along with chopped carrots, onions, black peppercorns, and 2 cloves of garlic. I then covered the chicken with water and boiled it for about 50 minutes. (The photos for the raw chicken just looked too gross to post, so you'll just have to picture it in your minds.) Instead, you can look at the pot I bought in Mexico a long time ago. I love it, especially when I make "trying-to-be-as-authentic-as-possible", Mexican dishes.

After it was done, I reserved the resulting broth by pouring it through a strainer into a 1 liter measuring cup. Big mistake! I forgot that I had added more than 4 cups of liquid to the chicken, so some of the broth overflowed to the floor. I then transferred everything quickly to a big bowl.

While the chicken was boiling, I worked on the salsa verde:

Whenever I made a traditional, Mexican dish, I go to a popular, Latin American grocery store in the South, called "Fiesta". Well, almost everyone there must have had the same plans as I because all the good, pretty tomatillos (green tomatoes) were gone. So, these weren't the best looking tomatillos, but they resulted in some delicious salsa verde. That's all that matters in my opinion.

Anyway, I peeled the cáscara (papery skin) off of the tomatillos by starting from the back. (I love this photo for some reason...)

Then I placed the peeled tomatillos in the bowl. See the dirt? Make sure you wash them after you've peeled them.

Ahhh! Bathed and ready to be boiled!

Next, boil the tomatillos, 2-3 jalapeños, 1-2 cloves of garlic (not pictured), and 1/2 of an onion (not pictured) for about 10 minutes.

(I boiled mine a little too long...) Then drain them... You can reserve the liquid for the blender, if the salsa is too thick. I didn't need it, though.

Place the boiled mixture in a blender, and add a few sprigs of cilantro and salt (Look! My first bokeh...of an olive oil bottle!).

Blend the mixture for a few seconds, and now you have salsa verde! Make sure you taste the salsa to make sure you've added enough salt. I always forget to do that.

Back to the chicken:

Once the chicken is ready, shred it, and then pour in one capsful of vegetable oil in a skillet. Add the chicken and cook the chicken for about 2 minutes. Then add most of the salsa verde, reserving the rest for the tamales once they're done. If you forget and use up all the salsa, then you'll have to make more later. Cook the salsa and shredded chicken mixture for about 2-3 minutes, then add about 1/4-1/2 cup of chicken broth. Just don't make it too "liquidy". Then, you're done! NOTE: Reserve the rest of the chicken broth for the masa. You will need about 2-3 cups of it.

Now, you can just refrigerate this mixture and make the rest of the tamales the next day, or you can keep chugging along the same day. I'm going to assume you want to take a break at this point. So, I'll be back tomorrow with the rest...

P.S. Here is the rajas y queso (jalapeños and cheese) filling cut and ready to be placed in the tamales! I used Monterey Jack.