New Mexico Pork Tamales

Meat filling

1 cup shredded cooked pork
1 cup shredded cooked chicken
1 (15 ounce) can beanless chili con carne
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Wrappers

1 (8 ounce) package of corn husks (contains about 100 husks)

Masa mixture

2 pounds Masa flour
3 tablespoons paprika
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons salt
2 cups solid vegetable shortening
8 cups warm chicken broth (or 8 cups water and 8 chicken bouillon cubes)

Meat filling

Stir ingredients together and refrigerate until needed.

Wrappers

Soak corn husks in warm water for at least two hours. A dinner plate may
have to be used to hold corn husks under water.

Masa mixture

Mix dry Masa flour with paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin and
salt. Mix well for even distribution of spices. Cut shortening into the
Masa mixture with a pastry cutter. Mix until mixture resembles the texture
of tiny peas. lowy add chicken broth one cup at a time. Mix well with
electric mixer. Mixture should resemble consistency of peanut butter.
Continue mixing with electric mixer to incorporate air into batter.
Mixture is ready to use when 1 teaspoon of batter floats on water.

Filling and cooking tamales

Use one corn husk per tamale. Lay flat on table. The corn husk is roughly
rectangle shaped. Spread 1/2 cup of Masa mixture on entire upward facing
corn husk, leaving a 1 inch gap along the long edge and narrow end of the
corn husk. Spread 1 tablespoon of meat mixture, in a narrow band in the
middle, down the length of the masa spread corn husk. Roll/fold the husk
along the wide edge, touching the edges of the masa together, with the
meat mixture ending up in the middle of the masa. The part of the husk
with the 1 inch gap with no masa should be rolled around the outside of
the husk. Fold about 1 inch of end of rolled husk, upward along the body
ofthe husk. (The narrow end with 1 inch masa gap). You should end up
with something resembling a cornucopia, with one end folded over and one
endopen. Stand all of the rolled tamales on end in a steaming collander
with the open end of the tamale facing upward. Steam the tamales over
boiling water for 2 hours. Place a lid over the steaming collander. Keep
the tamales above the boiling water, don't allow them to stand in it. At
the end of the cooking period, open one tamale and make sure the masa is
cooked and not doughy. Allow tamales to rest 30 minutes after cooking,
before serving. This will help to keep the masa from sticking to the corn
husk.
Notes, tips, and variations: Makes about 50 to 75 tamales. Left over
tamales may be frozen in zip lock bags. Reheat frozen tamales in a
microwave. If you reheat by steaming, they may become soggy.

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