Tomatillo-Chicken Tamales

I've been meaning to make tamales for a while, ever since I got my cookie scoops for Chanukah.  The three-tablespoon scoop is the perfect size for scooping masa.

This ended up being almost entirely a pantry meal.  I had to buy broth, since I promised myself I wouldn't buy any unless it was for something specific.  Ta-da.  It used the last jar of tomatillo salsa, so I'll have to decide if I want to can more this year.  I love it, but it took ten months to use six jars.  I'm not one of those people who makes the same dish at least once a month; I have blog posts to write.

The big takeaway here is not to be intimidated by the word Tamales.  I've made the filling super easy.  Mixing masa is a lot like making cookie dough.  Once you get a rhythm going, wrapping the tamales doesn't take as long as you think it will.  And then you have 90 minutes to clean up the kitchen while they're steaming.

Yes, these take about 2-1/2 hours total to make.  90 minutes of that is passive.  The other hour doesn't have to be all at once.  It doesn't even have to be all in the same day.  Don't overwhelm yourself, and you'll do fine.

*18-20 dried corn husks
*2 C masa harina
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
2 C chicken broth
1/2 C (1 stick) butter
*1 C tomatillo salsa (salsa verde)
1 10 oz can chicken (or 1-1/2 C shredded chicken)
1 C shredded mozarella or cotija cheese

1.  If going "zero to tamale", start soaking the husks in boiling water.  Set up your steamer pot with 2" of water and a basket.  If prepping the masa and filling in advance, start soaking the husks about 45 minutes before you start wrapping.

2.  For the masa, beat the butter until creamy.  Stir together the masa flour, baking powder, cumin, and chili powder.  Stir in chicken broth.  Add that to the butter and beat again until uniform.  You'll have to scrape down the sides a couple of times if using a stand mixer.

3.  For the filling, drain the chicken.  I like to rinse it as well, to remove some of the salt.  Stir together with the salsa.

4.  To assemble, lay out a corn husk with the pointy end down.  Spread 3 Tb of masa in the center of the top half of the husk.  Spoon 1 Tb of filling on top and sprinkle with some of the cheese.  Bring in the sides of the husk, then fold up the pointy end.  If it won't stay put, tie with a strip of husk.  Set in steamer basket.

5.  Repeat the process until the masa and filling are used up.  Arrange tamales in steamer basket with the open ends up.  Set in the pot over lightly boiling water and put on the lid.  Steam for 90 minutes, until the masa batter has set.

Makes 16-18 tamales

Difficulty rating :-0