.chicken tomatillo tamales.

I get on these kicks where I read gourmet blogs and this one I happened across one night talked about these amazing chicken, corn, and tomatillo tamales they had at a restaurant somewhere in New York. This, of course, sent me on a mission to find a recipe for them! I wound up using two different recipes and adjusting them to my own personal wants. They turned out really good!





I've never made tamales before so if you are a seasoned vet, please do not make fun of me! LOL I was surprised at how easy they were to make. Having asked around, it seemed like it would be a more arduous task. I think if you use pork it would be. From start to finish, these took about 2 hours to do. I made extra and froze them so I can have more another night. Yessss. I love that!








Begin by putting cornhusks in a pan of water. Set something heavy on top to keep them submerged in the water.








Cut up one small onion. I had to use green onion because I was OUT of regular onion. Bummer.








Mince one clove garlic.



Cut up three tomatillo.

The recipe calls for Pasilla chilies. Pasilla are the name of the fresh pepper, which is a very dark green. Can't find them around here, sadly. Dried are called chile negro and work fine as a substitute for fresh. You will want to cut the stem off then cut into pieces.

Put all of the pepper pieces into a spice grinder and grind until you're content.

If for some strange reason you can't find fresh or dried, use chili powder.


Cook up some chicken breasts. Remove from the pan and let cool.





Once cool, shred with your fingers or with a fork.


Heat a little oil or butter in a skillet. Add the onion, garlic, and chili powder to the pan and saute for a minute.


Add the tomatillo and stir in. Cook for another minute or two.


Add 1/3 cup frozen corn.


Dump in one can drained and rinsed black beans.

Cook this down for about 5 minutes. Add a little water to the pan if needed to avoid burning.


Add the chicken in. Season the entire filling well with salt and pepper.


Squeeze in the juice of half of one lime.

Set the filling mixture aside.

Now to make the masa cake.

In a bowl put 3 cups masa harina, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 cup oil, and 3 cups chicken stock. You want almost a playdough type consistency.

Take some of the cornhusks and carefully pull them apart into thin strips. Tie two pieces together to create laces. You're going to need these to hold the tamales closed.

Take some of the masa (about 1/4 cup) and put it on one of the soaked cornhusks. Press it out using your hands.

Don't ask me what is going on with the lighting on this picture. Put a spoonful of filling on the masa.

Fold the husk over in half, and then fold the edges in.

Take another piece of cornhusk (one of the smaller, thinner pieces) and fold it over the top opening. To secure it, wrap and tie using one of the husk laces we made.

Keep repeating this process until you've used up all the masa and/or filling.

Now it's time to cook these babies. If you have one of these pasta pots, great! You want to steam the tamales - not bake. If you don't have one of these pots, put a colander in a pan upside down. This will keep the tamales from resting in the water on the bottom of the pot. Put a lid on the pot and bring the water to a boil (make sure you don't use too much water!! Just enough to steam these guys!).

Put the tamales into the steamer and cover with a lid. Steam for about 40 minutes, rotating them halfway through the cooking process. You'll know they're done when the masa pulls away from the husk easily.


Serve with rice and beans if you want. Top with sour cream and guacamole.

These weren't very spicy so we had salsa with them too. Perfect!

So you can see that homemade tamales CAN be achieved in your house and it won't take 3 days either!!! You'll definitely want to make a lot of these so you can enjoy them again and again. This recipe made 16 tamales. Enjoy!


Printable version:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_84c5dkrzhk

.hola amigos.

Yesterday we had company over for dinner and had a delicious fajita dinner with all the fixings. Rice and beans, sweet corn cake, flan... mmm. It was so good!


Since I adore dessert, I thought I'd start off this entry with the flan! This recipe came out of a magazine (remember my food magazine addiction?) I bought years ago. Don't know what flan is? It's a custard with a burnt sugar top. It's rich and yummy... a lot like creme brulee, spanish style. There are two things you can bake this in. A bundt pan, or ramekins. I like using ramekins when we have company because they make the perfect single serving size. I really suggest you get yourself some ramekins if you don't have any.




FLAN:

Use a paper towel and dip it in some oil. Lightly rub the inside of your ramekins or bundt pan.

Put 2/3 sugar in a saucepan and put on the stove over medium heat. Stir constantly until you get a nice amber brown syrup. The sugar goes through a couple stages before getting to the syrup. When it first begins to melt, it forms what I like to call crack. HA! Seriously.. it looks like rock cocaine or something. So if you get this and think you've messed up, no worries, my friend! You are doing things just right.

Spoon a little of the sauce into each ramekin, or bundt pan. Set aside. (Soak your saucepan immediately with hot water otherwise you will have permanent sugar on your pan.)


In a large mixing bowl, put: 4 large eggs, 1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk, 1 3/4 cups milk, 2 tsp vanilla, and a dash of nutmeg. Whisk everything together until the egg is mixed in well. Ladle into your prepared dishes over the burnt sugar. Put the ramekins (or bundt pan) in a baking dish and fill the baking dish up 1" with water. Don't let water get into the ramekins. Loosely cover the entire thing with foil. Put into a preheated 350* oven and bake for an hour. When they're done, remove the ramekins from the water. Let cool a little and then put in the fridge (cover with saran first) to chill completely.


To serve: Run a butter knife along the inside of the ramekin to loosen it from the sides. Put a plate on top and then flip it over. Shake gently to release the flan from the dish.

I top this with some fresh whipped whip cream and a marashino cherry. Absolutely delicious! I know you'll enjoy this and while it's super easy and quick to make, it is a SHOW STOPPER dessert! Don't you agree?

Printable version: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dg2vfjqm_5fxwv28db

Now onto the fajitas. This is a mock recipe of Chili's fajitas. YUM! YUM! I use flank steak and chicken because we like a combo. You can use shrimp too if you want. You'll want to marinate your steak and chicken overnight. Here's the recipe:

1/4 c. fresh lime juice
1/3 c. water
2 Tbsp oil
2 clove garlic, minced
3 tsp vinegar
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
dash cayenne pepper
dash black pepper
dash onion powder

The following day, (when you're actually going to cook these) prep your veggies -- onion, green bell pepper, red bell pepper. I was in such a hurry to get things done, I didn't get very good pictures. I apologize! But hey.. here's a picture of them in a baggie right before I put them into the cast iron skillet to sautee.

I prepped my things early in the day so I wouldn't be stressed out before my company got here. This is a huge time saver. Trust me.

Grill up your steak and chicken on the bbq until nice and done. Remember: Sear the meat on high on both sides, then lower the heat and the lid and let cook all the way through. The centers will be firm and non-spongy. Don't cut into the meat to check for doneness. That will cause the juices to leak out and you'll be left with a dry piece of shoe leather.

About 10 minutes before they're finished, put your veggies on to sautee in a hot skillet (I use cast iron). Slice the steak and chicken on the diagonal and then mix together with your cooked veggies.

For presentation, I like using these plastic faux terra cotta dishes. Secret. These came from Lowe's. In the garden section. They sell those fake terra cotta pots and they have the bottoms. Clean it really well and you've got a great dish to use that looks real and only cost a fraction the cost of something say at... bed, bath and beyond!














Serve with warmed tortillas, shredded lettuce, cheese, and pico de gallo. Oh and don't forget the sour cream and fresh guacamole (I make my guac with nothing but a little fresh lime juice and seasoning salt).









PICO DE GALLO:
2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 small onion, diced
1 jalapeno, seeded and pithed (that's the ribbing on the inside), diced
Cilantro, chopped
1/2 a lime, squeezed
dash salt, pepper, and sugar

Mix all of this together. I make this early in the day too so the flavors have a chance to marry.




Okay.. on to the very last dish in our little fiesta night! Sweet corn cake. You don't want to skip this. It's like very very moist corn bread.





The ingredients you'll need are: Cornmeal, masa harina (which is a mexican corn flour used to make tortillas.), cream, butter, and frozen corn.

Preheat your oven to 375*.
In a blender, cream 1 stick butter until there aren't any lumps. Add 1/3 c. masa harina and 1/4 c. water. Mix. Add 1/4 c. cornmeal, 1/3 c. sugar, 2 Tbsp cream, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp baking powder. Mix well.

Thaw 1 1/2 c. frozen corn. Use a food processor and pulse the corn a little. I personally don't have a food processor anymore. So I used my handy dandy Pampered Chef food chopper to break down the corn. Mix in the frozen corn by hand.



Spoon the entire batter into a baking dish and smooth out. Put your baking dish into an even larger one. We're going to steam this much like we did the flan. Fill the baking dish 1/2 way up with water and then cover the entire thing with foil. Put in the oven and bake for an hour.