Tamales Recipe

by Brenda
(Montana)

Tamales

Elk, Deer Roast, or chicken (6-8lbs.) or mixture of .
Cooking oil
Salt, black pepper
Garlic Powder
Gr. Cumin
Chili Powder
Paprika
4 lb. Corn Masa (such as MaSeCa)
Real Corn shucks

Boil Meat for 2-3 hours until tender. Cool. Save broth. Shred meat in small pieces.
Combine meat in large bowl with:
½ cup canola, or olive oil
6 tbs.. chili powder
3 tbs. cumin
3 tbs. garlic powder
1 tbs bl. Pepper
2 tbs. salt
Add spices to oil and warm, mix. Add oil to meat, mixing thoroughly with clean
hands. About 10 min.
Cover and refrigerate until ready to make tamales.
Soak corn shucks in warm water for about two hours until soft.

Dough

In large bowl mix thoroughly about 2 lb. of Masa with following seasonings:
3 Tbs. paprika
2 Tbs. salt
3 Tbs. cumin
3 Tbs. chili powder
3 Tbs. garlic powder

Add 2 cups oil.
Then 2 cups of the warm broth one at a time. If you don’t save broth use bullion or canned broth. Mixture should be consistency of peanut butter. Add more broth, or more masa till right consistency. Use less spices according to individual taste.

Take out corn shucks and pat dry on towel. Pick up a shuck in palm of hand. Scoop ½ c. of dough, with spatula or hands smear on shuck covering about 2/3 of it, leaving 1/3 on outer side of shuck uncovered, and 1/3 on bottom. Spread about 1 Tbs. of meat mixture on the masa edge of dough. Roll up shuck to the outer edge. Then take the bottom 1/3 w/o masa and twist and fold upward to keep in place. Repeat until dough and meat are used up. Makes approximately 4 dozen.

To cook tamales, steam them in a steamer. (Or, create a steamer from something you have, like a turkey roaster. Or,steam them in a big turkey roasting pan in the oven.) Folded end of tamales on the bottom, open end on top. Cover steamer, and bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook for at least 2 hours. Do not let steamer boil dry. Add water as needed. At 2 hours take one out to test. Cook, unwrap and it should be firm with no raw dough.
Enjoy with guacamole or cheese dip (melted Velveeta with Rotel tomatoes)

Cool remaining tamales and freeze in zip lock bags. Can be stored in freezer.