MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

Title: Mexican Red Pork Tamales
Categories: Mexican
Yield: 24 Tamales

2 lb Pork shoulder Boston butt
-boneless; cut into large
-pieces
2 tb Oil
1/4 md White onion; cut into 3
-wedges
10 c Water; up to 12 c
1/2 md White onion
4 cl Garlic
2 Bay leaf
2 ts Kosher salt
1/2 ts Dry oregano
1/2 ts Black peppercorns
8 lg Guajillos
2 Ancho chiles
4 Chiles de arbol
Onion; sautéed
2 cl Garlic
1/2 ts Kosher salt
1/2 ts Whole cumin seeds
2 tb Water
2 c Broth; to rehydrate chilis
1 c Broth
1 tb Oil; to fry the sauce
3/4 ts Kosher salt; to taste
6 c Masa harina
1 ts Baking powder
1 c Lard; packed
1/2 c Vegetable shortening; packed
1 1/2 ts Kosher salt
3 2/3 c Broth
36 Husk leafs

Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours 15 minutes

When authentic Mexican food comes to mind, tamales are definitely
among the top contenders. Red pork tamales are as delicious as you
can imagine them. The color, texture and flavor in this authentic
recipe makes it one to remember. Now you can make them at home and
show them off to everyone you know.

Cook the meat until tender:

Place a large pot over medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is
hot, add the onion wedges and sauté until slightly softened. Remove
the onions and adjust the heat to medium high. Next, brown the meat
on all sides. Brown in batches if needed to avoid overcrowding the
pot. Pour the water into the pot with the meat and place the pork
back into the pot if you cooked it in batches. Add all the aromatics
plus the salt. Let it reach a boil then lower to medium low heat.
Cook on a gentle simmer and covered for roughly 2 to 2:30 hours or
until the meat if fork tender. When ready remove the meat and shred
apart. Strain the broth and reserve.

Prep the dry peppers:

Remove the seeds from the dried peppers, except for the arbol chilis.
Then toast them on a comal on very low heat just until they become
fragrant. Turn continuously to avoid burning them. Rinse, drain and
transfer them into a container. Next, pour 2 cups of the hot broth
over the chilis to rehydrate them, it will take about 5 minutes. Set
aside until we need them.

Molcajete (Optional):

If you have a molcajete I recommend this step 100%. If you don't have
one, omit this step for now. Grind and mash the garlic, cumin, and
salt to create a paste. Loosen it up with the water and transfer to a
separate container with a spoon, set aside until needed.

Blend:

Transfer the rehydrated peppers into a blender together with the
broth, sautéed onions (the ones we did before browning the meat.) If
you don't have a molcajete, this is the time to add the garlic,
cumin, salt, but not the water. Blend until completely broken down
and smooth. You can strain if needed to get rid of large pieces of
chili skin.

Fry the sauce:

Heat the oil in a large pot over medium low heat, carefully pour in
the sauce and stir. Pour in the additional 1 cup of broth into the
blender, swirl it in to get the last bit of sauce and transfer into
the pot. If you used the molcajete to grind the garlic paste, this is
the time to stir in the paste into the sauce. Allow everything to
gently simmer for about 5 minutes.

Add the meat:

Add the shredded meat, salt to taste and mix to combine. Allow the
meat to reheat and remove from the heat.

continued in part 2

MMMMM
--- SBBSecho 3.20-Linux
* Origin: End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com (1:124/5016)