The Tastiest Tamales –EVER! (And they're gluten free, too!)

Have you ever been asked pondering questions such as, “If you were stranded on an island, what food would you want with you?” For me, I’ve always answered “eggs” without hesitation. Until now. Oh, I’m still knee deep in a love affair with eggs, but I think I may need to sneak some tamales along for my exile as well.

I’ve made tamales in the distant past, but have really had a hankering for them lately. I’m talking the real McCoy here ... masa dough, corn husks, steamer, lard, etc. Yep, lard. Oooh, now stop gagging. You see, my friendly blogsphere buds, I’ve been reading about nutrition again. As some of you may remember, my son has epilepsy, and in my desperation to help him, over the years I’ve gotten intimately familiar with nutrition and the pitfalls that so many of us have fallen into. For example, after listening to the doctors rant for years that I needed to give my youngest daughter more whole grains to alleviate her tummy aches , I finally listened to my mothers intuition and discovered she doesn’t tolerate gluten. DUH. Of course, now the doctors are all, “Oh yeah, she needs to stay away from that”. Ya think?

(MINI RANT - FEEL FREE TO SKIP!) The food pyramid that has been preached to us is actually not that good for us. The whole low-fat/high grain thing hasn’t proved to work out so well. Of course, we all know that eating fresh fruits and vegetables are good for us. I’m talking beyond that. Now, I don’t want to start a fuss here, and I’m certainly not endorsing eating a high fat diet. I am, though, finding myself more and more reverting to cooking methods from the past as well as from my Mediterranean ancestors. In an attempt to keep from monologue-ing about the benefits of eating “real, unadjusted” food such as olive oil, whole or 2% milk, and lard .... yes, I said lard, let’s just say that the past year has brought a BIG change to my families eating habits. And you know what? My son’s seizures are under control ... for a year now. His blood counts are textbook perfect, he’s lost weight, and looks terrific. My husband’s health is outstanding and has zip heartburn. My own bloodwork is wonderful. My gluten-free gal is growing and thriving. Both of my girls haven’t had blood tests, but their skin is glowing, are tummy ache free, and they are slim and trim. Now I’ll be the first to admit that I’m, um, shall we say “curvy”, but that’s mostly because I don’t exercise like I should. That will change this summer. Other than that, we have improved our health by going off the pyramid and eating what I call a “regular” fat diet that includes meat, fish, legumes, veggies, fruit, milk, eggs, cheese, nuts and carbs. I think perhaps we've confused the term "greasy" with fat. Babies and kids need some fat in their diet for brain development. Now, I'm not saying to go gnaw on a pork slab, but I am saying that used wisely, fat should be part of a healthy diet.(Whipped Lard)

This is the first time I’ve used lard, and I’ve got to say that I’m immensely pleased with the results. Many folks, I’ve found, use lard regularly, but don’t want to admit it. The author, Nina Planck, in her book REAL FOOD talks about how lard has been unjustly bad mouthed. I gave the white stuff a try in the masa dough for the tamales, and I couldn’t believe how light and fluffy they turned out. Plus, my hands were not greasy at all mixing up the dough, and the bowls and utensils I used washed up easily.Making these tamales took two days for me because I made the carnitas one day, and the tamales the next day. They are super easy to make, but involves some steps that do take a long time. The corn husks have to soak for at least an hour (2 is better) before you use them. There are some short cuts you can use to save lots of time. For instance, you can use a store bought rotisserie chicken and canned chicken broth in place of the carnitas. You could also use aluminum foil as your wrapper instead of the corn husks. Even a veggie filling or maybe a chili pepper/cheese filling would be awesome. Whatever filling you use, you’ll be sure to love the results. I'd love to put a little "heat" in my filling, but I've got picky kids. 'Nuff said.

Carnitas

3-4 pork butt, cut in ½ or thirds to fit in pan.
1 onion, quartered
2 garlic cloves, cut in half
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
Water to cover
Garlic Salt (I like Lawrey’s)In a large stock pot, place all of the ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 2 hours. Preheat oven to 350.(Talk about butt ugly!)

Remove meat from pan. SAVE broth, strained, for use in tamale dough. Place meat, fat side up, in a roasting pan. Sprinkle with garlic salt. Roast uncovered for 1 hour.(Yummm, that’s more like it!)
Remove from oven, and shred with 2 forks while still warm. Try to resist eating all of it right then and there.

Tamale Dough

2 cups Masa mix
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups pork broth
2/3rds cup lard, whipped

In a large bowl, combine the Masa, baking powder, and salt.This is Masa mix.It’s soft, like a powder.And it’s gluten free, too! In a small bowl, whip the lard until fluffy (I used a fork and it whipped up fairly quickly).Pour the pork broth into the masa mixture, first stirring with a spoon and then switching and mixing with your hands. Spoon in the lard, and mix thoroughly with your hands. The fluffy texture will be like a stiff mashed potato or soft cookie dough. Makes 16 tamales

Assemble your Tamales:

20 corn husks (soaked for 1-2 hours in a huge bowl of hot water)
Tamale Dough
About 2 cups worth of shredded carnitas (or chicken)

Pat your husks dry. I used paper towels and then just assembled everything on top of the towels. Turn the husk so that the wide end is closest to you.Place about 2 tablespoons of the masa on the wide end, and using your fingers and heel of your palm, spread the dough out over the bottom 1/3 of the husk keeping the edges clear.Place a spoonful of meat vertically down the center of the dough.Carefully fold the left end over the meat, and then the right end. Patting through the husk, seal up the folded edge.I’ve peeled back the right side so you can see what I mean by sealing it up.Once the left and right sides are folded, simply fold the skinny top end down.The “wide” end remains open, although you can pinch it to seal up that end of the tamale filling. Repeat with the remaining husks. You should have a couple husks left over.Place all the bundles open side up in a steamer basket. I used the vegetable steamer that is part of my pan set.Use any left over husks to cover the bundles. Fill the bottom half of your pot with water taking care that the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the basket. Place the basket in the pan.Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and steam for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until the masa dough is cooked. Serve with cilantro cream or your favorite salsa.

Cilantro Cream

1 cup sour cream
1 green onion
1/3 cup fresh cilantro
4 teaspoons lime juice

Combine all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Combine until smooth.These are the best tamales you will ever eat. EVER! They are soooo light and the flavor just explodes on your tongue. They are not even a tiny bit greasy, and the only flavors that come through are the corn of the masa accented with the pork broth as well as the carnitas itself.My word, these are so good. The fillings can be altered to accommodate your tastes. In addition to the cilantro cream, I topped mine with a spicy green salsa (not pictured). Honestly, these are one of my most favorite things to eat. EVER. Yep, they’d have to come with me on the deserted island.So, what would you want to eat if you were on a deserted island?

Gold Medal Carnitas

I’ve been humming the theme song from the movie Rocky all night. You know the one I’m talking about. It’s mostly an instrumental song, and starts with trumpets sounding out as Rocky starts running up the proverbial stairs of triumph. I’m sure this song is stuck in my head because of the Olympics and the fact that this song played during some part of the Opening Ceremonies.

Do you like to watch the Olympics? As a kid, my sisters and I loved to cheer on the athletes. One of my sisters had a huge crush on Mark Spitz, and hung the poster of him with all his gold medals adorning his neck on the wall of the bedroom we shared. I still remember my nervous excitement when Olga Korbut successfully completed the first ever blind backwards flip off the top bar of the uneven bars. As she swung around and reached for that bar, the crowd went wild! Even though she wasn't from my country, I remember being so excited for her ... someone I never met, someone from a different country, and someone with different customs.

Even as a little kid, I have always been fascinated with other cultures. Their customs, their languages, their cultures, their foods … everything! Perhaps it’s because I’m the daughter of an immigrant; perhaps I’m just a curious cat. Whatever the reason, my interest in other cultures remains at a high level even today. Never is this more apparent to me than in this blogsphere. Through the wonders of the internet, my world has expanded by keystrokes, and I’m able to see images and “talk” with people that I never would have met otherwise. I’m able to “visit” other communities and cultures, and learn how to prepare their foods, enjoy their stories, and ultimately spread a little bit of peace and harmony across the globe. Yeah, it sounds hokey but I stand by my belief. The internet makes my world a little bit smaller, a bit more friendly, and a whole lot more interesting!

In honor of the Olympic games, my menu for the next several meals will tap into the cuisines of nations other than my own. Tonights culinary adventure celebrated the flavors of Mexico. I’ve never been to Mexico, but boy oh boy I’d sure love to go someday. Mexico boasts several different types of cuisine, and I love them all. For our meal this evening, we enjoyed taco’s filled with scrumptious carnitas. Oh my friends, let me tell you, this was soooo good. Served with a bright, festive Pico de Gallo, some freshly shredded snowy Cotija cheese, and some creamy guacamole, we gobbled every bit. As usual, my little carnivors ate theirs plain, but hubby man and I piled on the works. How do you like your tacos?

I used the Carnitas recipe posted by Homesick Texan. I’ve made carnitas many times over the years, and her recipe was intriguing in that it was so simple to do. My old recipe, which is also very good, requires both on the stove and baking time. This recipe, was done on the stove and finished in less than two hours. The results were … well let’s put it this way, there was absolutely zero left. None. Nada. Not even a teeny weeny speck left. As I was dishing it out, my daughter kept saying to me, "Pile it on, Mom. Just keep piling it on!"

4 lbs pork shoulder/butt, cut into large chunks
2 cups water
1 cup orange juice (I used Orange Tangerine)
1 teaspoon salt
Sprinkle Garlic Powder

Isn't this a lovely hunk of meat? Check out that marbling. This is what a pork butt/shoulder looks like. So, start out with a gorgeous hunk of pork. Then get out your best knife, and slice it into large chunks ... approx. 4 x 2. In a large dutch oven, place all of the above ingredients. Turn the heat to high, and bring to a boil, uncovered.

Eweuuu! Doesn’t this look like it should contain eye of newt or something? Trust me it gets better. Once it boils, turn the heat down to a decent simmer, and simmer for 1 ½ - 2 hours, uncovered. I didn’t skim the “foam” that forms.The liquid will boil off, and the rendered fat will be left in the pan (lots of it). Once the liquid has boiled off, brown the meat in its own fat until all sides are browned. Once browned, remove from the pot. Shred or cut into bite sized pieces.

See? I told you it gets better. Here’s the end result after shredding. We're talking Gold Medal Carnitas. Mmmm .... the aroma is fantastic.

Look at that! No, no, no … don’t look at my finger print pattern. Check out that lovely little morsel held in my fingers. See all that browned goodness on the outside, and soft, tender heaven on the inside? That, my friends, spells flavor. Oh yeah, this is gold medal stuff for sure. 'Scuse me for a second while I devour this bite ... uh, I touched it ... it can't go back in the serving dish after I touched it. Oops, touched another piece. Oh man, Yuuummm!

These lovely veggies and fruits, transform into a bright Pico De Gallo – Veracruz style. This is the first time I made this, and the results were very good. The inclusion of both cucumber and radishes added a “crunchy” component to the Pico party, and actually complimented the carnitas quite nicely. In fact, this type of veggie salsa is designed to compliment meat. Don’t you just love these colors?

Here’s the recipe, adapted from the cookbook titled Mexican Cookery, by Barbara Hansen. It’s an old book, but I reference it often.

2 red tomatoes (I used heirloom varieties)
1 yellow tomato
1 small cucumber – diced
1-1/2 Tablespoons onion – diced
2 radishes - sliced
1 teaspoon chopped fresh cilantro
Juice from ½ lime
1/4 Jalepeno pepper

Combine all the ingredients. Season with sea salt to taste. Notice there is no garlic in this? The flavors stand up just fine without it. Try not to eat it by the spoonful.

How do you like your guacamole? Chunky? Creamy? A little of both, perhaps? This is just a basic recipe that I got from a lovely gal I used to work with. Her husband was from Mexico City, and this is how he likes his guac. My hubby likes to have bits of avocado in his guacamole, so I prepare this both creamy style with some chunks left.

Guacamole

2-3 ripe Haas avocados, peeled, pitted, and cubed
1 Tablespoon of chopped tomatoes
Dash of garlic powder
1 teaspoon diced onion
Juice from ½ lime

In a bowl, combine all the ingredients with a fork. I also added about a 1/4 teaspoon of minced jalepeno. Mash with a fork to your desired “chunkiness”.

For another awesome pork taco recipe, check out For The Love Of Cooking's blog entry dated 08/08/08. (Don't you just love number anomalies? I'm into that kind of thing. Yeah, I like math.) Be prepared to drool on your screen because her recipe is killer.

So what “country” or “culture” should be represented next at my table? Tune in next time to see what gold medal performance will be making its way onto the blog!

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Olympic Heart of Gold

Speaking of Gold Medal performances, my girl has a heart of gold. As gorgeous on the outside as she is on the inside, for the second time in two years, my daughter donated some of her stunningly beautiful long hair to “Locks of Love”. Locks of Love is a great organization that makes and donates wigs to children who’ve lost their hair due to illness.

Today my girl had 15” cut off her hair, and is now sporting a darling, sassy hairstyle. She told the stylist that her only criteria was that she still be able to put her hair up for when she plays sports. I think the stylist did a great job, and my girl did a good thing. She’s a true champ all the way.