Last night I couldn’t sleep, so I did some heavy-duty cleaning around the house. By two o’clock, I was still wide awake so I started making homemade flour tortillas. Awhile back I purchased the Quaker Oats brand of Harina Preparada, a flour tortilla mix that only needs water and a bit of kneading. Since I know homemade tortillas are one of my husband’s favorite foods, I cooked a double batch; but by the time it rolled around to three o’clock this morning - and I was feeling the effects of no slumber – the tortillas began to take on odd shapes. I lost patience with the rolling pin and my limited counter space, so rather than nicely round tortillas some of them looked like Christmas trees with little indents on one end, or long diamonds and fan-shapes. However, they all tasted divine. The pre-mixed Harina Preparada is perhaps the easiest way to make “homemade” tortillas and retain the original flavor they’re supposed to have.

 

Quaker Oats also has a variety called Masa Harina de Maíz, which is corn flour mix mainly used for tamales. My husband’s mother has made homemade tamales her entire life (as evidenced in my article Tamales at the Alviso’s), but she typically uses the Maseca brand of prepared corn flour. I browsed through the special web site Quaker has set up for their Mexican mixes, and I found a recipe for tamales that is not unlike my mother-in-law’s:

 

Tamales

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 3 hours

Stand Time: overnight

 

Overnight Preparation

½ LB dried corn husks

2½ LBS pork butt or shoulder or beef chuck, boneless and lean

2½ quarts of water

 

Pork Filling

4 dried ancho chiles, roasted or dried

2 dried guarillo or puya chiles, roasted or dried

½ tsp. dried oregano

¼ tsp. dried cumin

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1 C reserved pork or beef broth

2 TBS solid shortening or lard

1 C onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp. salt

 

Masa Batter

2/3 cup solid shortening or lard

4 cups Quaker® Masa Harina de Maíz

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups reserved pork or beef broth

1/3 cup shortening or lard, melted

• Overnight preparation: Place cornhusks in large pan; cover husks with hot water. Set aside and allow to soften overnight at room temperature, or for 6 to 12 hours. Do not drain until just before assembly of the tamales. Combine pork and the 2½ quarts water; simmer 35 to 45 minutes or until tender. Drain, reserving broth. Refrigerate pork and broth in covered containers.

• Pork Filling: Cover roasted chiles with boiling water; soak 20 minutes. While chiles are soaking, skim fat off top of reserved pork broth; set aside. Break meat into fine shreds. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons shortening and cook onions and garlic until tender. Add meat and 1 teaspoon salt, mixing well. Drain chiles; place in blender container along with oregano, cumin, cloves and 1 cup defatted pork broth. Blend until smooth. Stir in blended chile mixture into meat; simmer 15 minutes.

• Masa Batter: In large bowl, beat 2/3 cup shortening until fluffy. In medium bowl, combine Masa and 1 teaspoon salt. Alternately add Masa and broth to shortening, mixing well after each addition. Gradually beat in 1/3 cup melted shortening, mixing to consistency of thick cake batter.

• To assemble: Spread 2 tablespoons Masa batter in center of each husk. Spoon 1 tablespoon meat filling lengthwise down center of Masa; fold husk over filling, allowing plain part of husk to wrap around tamale. Fold bottom end up over enclosed filling.

• To Steam: In steamer or 4-quart Dutch oven, place rack two inches above gently boiling water. Arrange tamales upright in steamer basket. Do not pack tightly as tamales will expand during steaming. Fill in spaces with extra corn husks to keep upright. Cover top of tamales with additional husks; cover, steam 2½ to 3 hours or until tamales are firm and fall away from husk.

• To Serve: Unwrap tamales from husks and discard the husk. Serve plain, with mole sauce or your favorite Mexican sauce.

• Yield: Three dozen.

If you have ever made homemade tamales before, then you realize what a long process it is. My mother-in-law traditionally prepares large batches during the Christmas holidays (using beef, pork, leftover turkey and chicken) and makes enough to freeze plenty of servings. However, if you do not own a Dutch oven, the following will also work (as quoted from my article):

After the husks are filled and rolled, they need to be steamed. If you have a steamer, this would work well, but might not hold a lot of husks at one time. Wilbert and Elva used a large pot, filled about halfway with water. Wilbert had purchased a collapsible steamer basket to set down in the water, but it was not submerged. Arrange the husks with the folded-side up, and fit them snugly together so they stay upright better. Once you have the basket filled, cover and start boiling. Depending on the thickness of the Masa, the tamales can take anywhere from an hour to an hour-and-a-half to cook. To test doneness, remove one of the tamales from the pot and try taking off the corn husk. If the husk removes easily, the tamales are done. If the Masa is still sticking to the husks, you need to cook them a little longer.

Very good eats!