INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare Husks: Trim smaller end square and remove silks. Soak in boiling
water for 1 hr. Husks should be 6 or 7 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide or
larger.
Prepare Meat: Boil meat, onion, garlic and salt in enough water to cover
meat until very tender. Drain broth and save. Run meat through chopper and
season with chile powder and additional salt to taste. (We prefer meat to
have slightly more consistency so we simply finely shred meat instead of
running through chopper) Melt fat in pan and add flour. Heat until flour
browns, stirring constantly. Add meat mixture and enough broth to make meat
mixture like very thick gravy. Cook for 15 minutes.
Prepare Dough: Scald masa with remaining meat broth. If you don't have
enough broth, you can use water or additional canned broth. Add salt and
add chile powder until masa turns slightly pink. Mix thoroughly.
Prepare tamales: Spread masa onto shuck beginning at the top and enough to
bend over. Spread as thick as you like. After smoothing masa on the shuck,
put some of the meat mixture down the middle and roll like a cigarette.
Steam tamales for 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. in a large pot with elevated rack high
enough to keep tamales out of the water. Tamales are done when the shuck
peels easily away from the masa without sticking. Yield: 30 tamales
Finished transcribing this recipe handed down from my grandmother. It's
been in use, possibly with slight enhancements, for 40 or 50 years at
least. Add a Q twist to it by wrapping about a dozen cooked tamales (2x6)
and tying with strips of corn shuck and then putting them in the smoker for
an hour or so. Also use smoked meat instead of plain. Would be a great way
to use up odds and ends from smoked leftovers.
Posted to the BBQ list on July 19, 1998 by Rodney Leist
Posted to bbq-digest by Lloyd <lloyd2@mindspring.com> on Jan 02, 1999

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