Chicken Tamales With Salsa Roja Recipes

Steps:

• Place corn husks in a bowl, cover with boiling water, and soak for a few hours. Drain, place on a work surface, and cover with a clean, damp towel.
• Place chicken in a pot, season with salt, and cover with water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Drain chicken and shred with 2 forks.
• Heat a griddle over medium heat and toast ancho and mulato chiles until fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Place in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Soak until soft, about 25 minutes. Combine ancho and mulato chiles, garlic, cumin seeds, and about 1/2 cup of the soaking water in a blender; blend until a thick, smooth, mole-like sauce forms, adding more water if necessary.
• Heat 1 tablespoon lard in a saucepan over medium heat and add the sauce; cook for 3 to 5 minutes. Add shredded chicken and cook until flavors are combined and chicken is heated through, about 5 minutes.
• Place remaining lard in a large bowl; beat with an electric mixer until creamy. Add masa harina, chicken broth, baking powder, and 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, and beat until all ingredients are well combined. Test if the masa is ready by dropping a small ball of masa into a glass of cold water; if it floats, it's ready, if not, keep working the dough a little longer.
• Select 1 wide corn husk. Spread about 2 tablespoons masa mixture onto the the corn husk, filling it up to 2 inches from the bottom and 1/4 inch from the top. Add 1 tablespoon of the chicken filling in the center of the masa mixture. Fold sides of husk together, one over the other. Fold the bottom of the husk over the seam of the 2 folded sides. Repeat with remaining husks.
• Place a steamer insert into a saucepan and fill with water to just below the bottom of the steamer. Bring water to a boil. Add tamales with the open side up and cook until filling is heated through and separates from the husk, about 1 hour. Let tamales rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Soak the corn husks in a bowl of hot water, using a plate to keep them submerged, until pliable, 1 hour.
• Meanwhile, make the filling: Bring the bouillon powder and 4 cups water to a simmer in a medium pot over medium heat. Add the chicken and simmer until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the chicken and let cool; cut into small pieces. Reserve the broth.
• Puree the cilantro and 1 1/4 cups of the reserved broth in a food processor until smooth (save the remaining broth for another use). Transfer to a medium pot. Add the garlic, cumin and salsa and bring to a simmer over medium heat; cook until slightly reduced, about 12 minutes. Stir in the chicken and season with salt. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Make the dough: Soak the ancho chile in hot water until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain the chile, then mince to make a paste. Combine the chile paste, masa harina, lard, 2 2/3 cups warm water and 2 teaspoons salt
• in a bowl. Mix with your hands (or use a mixer with the paddle attachment) 10 to 15 minutes, or until a marble-size ball of dough floats in water.
• Drain the husks and pat dry. Starting 1/2 inch from the wide end, spread about 3 tablespoons of the dough down a husk, leaving a 1-inch border on the sides. Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the chicken filling down the center of the dough, then fold in the sides of the husk, wrapping the dough around the filling. Fold up the narrow end of the husk. Repeat with the remaining husks, dough and filling.
• Set a steamer basket in a large pot filled with 1 to 2 inches of water. Arrange the tamales standing up in the steamer, folded-side down. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover and steam until the tamales pull away from the husks, about 1 hour. Remove from the steamer and let cool slightly before unwrapping.

Steps:

• Put 12 corn husks in a large bowl, cover with hot water, and weight down with a plate to keep them submerged. Soak until soft and pliable, about 2 hours; drain.
• Simmer chicken in broth 12 to 15 minutes. When cool enough to handle, shred into small pieces.
• Dough:Combine masa harina, lard, and salt in a food processor and pulse until the consistency of coarse cornmeal. Transfer to a large bowl. Add 2 cups corn to processor and puree; transfer to bowl with masa mixture. Stir in remaining cup corn and warm broth. Knead mixture with your hands until a dough forms. Cover with a damp towel until ready to use.
• Tear remaining 3 corn husks into 24 thin strips. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place 1 soaked corn husk on your flattened palm. Pinch off 1/3 cup dough with your other hand and press it into center of husk to form a 4-by-3-inch rectangle. Press 1/4 cup chicken into center of dough. Close your palm so sides of husk cover filling, and place on a work surface with a long side of the husk facing you. Roll up husk into a tight log, fold over the wider end of the husk, and tie with a strip of corn husk. Twist thinner end of husk and tie with another corn-husk strip. Repeat process to form remaining 11 tamales.
• Insert a steamer basket inside a large pot filled with 1 inch of water and bring to a boil. Place tamales in basket, cover, and steam 1 hour, checking pot occasionally and adding hot water as needed to prevent scorching. Serve tamales with salsa.

Steps:

• To make the tamales: Place the corn husks in a large bowl and add enough boiling water to cover. Submerge in the water by weighting down with another bowl. Let stand until the husks soften, about 1 hour. Drain well and pat dry.
• Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
• Add the onion to the fat in the skillet and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the cilantro, chili powder, cumin, salt, and cayenne. Return the chicken to the skillet and add enough cold water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes.
• Transfer the chicken to a plate. Cool until easy to handle. Discard the skin and bones and coarsely chop the meat. Transfer to a medium bowl.
• Meanwhile, let the cooking liquid stand off the heat for 5 minutes. Skim off and discard the fat on the surface. Return the skillet to the stove and bring to a boil over high heat. Cook until the liquid is reduced to a thick glaze, about 20 minutes. Scrape the glaze onto the chicken, then add the cheese.
• To make the tamales, place a corn husk on the work surface. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the Classic Cornbread batter in a 2 to 3-inch square area in the center of the husk. Place 1 heaping tablespoon of the chicken in the center of the batter and top with about 1 tablespoon of the batter. Fold the sides of the husk to enclose the batter (the tamale is now about 2 1/2 inches wide). Fold over the ends of the husk so the tamale is about 3 inches long. Place the tamale, smooth side up, on the work surface. Using kitchen twine, tie up the tamale with kitchen string, gift-box fashion. Repeat with the remaining husks, batter and chicken. (You may have some husks left over since you soaked more than you needed, in case some got torn.) Stand the tamales up, side by side, in a steamer inserted in a large pot. Add enough water to the pot to barely reach the bottom of the steamer. Cover tightly and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low. Steam the tamales until the batter is firm (open a tamale to check), about 1 hour. (The tamales can be made up to 8 hours ahead, cooled, and refrigerated. Steam over boiling water for 15 minutes to reheat.)
• Serve hot, with the Salsa Roja passed on the side.
• Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add the tomatillos and cook just until softened, about 10 minutes. Drain.
• Heat a heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over high heat until very hot. Cook the chiles, turning frequently, until they turn a darker shade, about 3 minutes. Do not burn them. Transfer to a plate and cool. Cut open and discard the seeds and stems. (Wear plastic gloves if your hands are sensitive, and do not touch your eyes or other delicate parts of your body until you wash your hands well.)
• Puree the tomatillos, chiles, tomato sauce, onion, and garlic in a blender or food processor. Season, to taste, with salt. Cool completely. (The salsa can be prepared up to 3 days ahead, covered, and refrigerated.)
• Whisk the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large bowl to combine. Make a well in the center. Whisk the buttermilk, eggs, and oil in another bowl until the eggs are well combined. Pour into the well and stir just until the batter is moistened ? do not overbeat.

Steps:

• For filling:
• Place husks in large pot or large bowl; add water to cover. Place heavy plate on husks to keep submerged. Let stand until husks soften, turning occasionally, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.
• Preheat broiler. Line heavy baking sheet with foil. Arrange tomatillos on prepared sheet. Broil until tomatillos blacken in spots, turning once, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer tomatillos and any juices on sheet to processor and cool. Add chiles and garlic to processor and blend until smooth puree forms. Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add tomatillo puree and boil 5 minutes, stirring often. Add broth. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until sauce coats spoon thickly and is reduced to 1 cup, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes. Season with salt. Mix in chicken and cilantro. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.)
• For dough:
• Using electric mixer, beat lard (with salt and baking powder, if using) in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in fresh masa or masa harina mixture in 4 additions. Reduce speed to low and gradually beat in 1 1/2 cups broth, forming tender dough. If dough seems firm, beat in enough broth, 2 tablespoons at a time, to soften.
• Fill bottom of pot with steamer insert with enough water (about 2 inches) to reach bottom of insert. Line bottom of insert with some softened corn husks. Tear 3 large husks into 1/4-inch-wide strips to use as ties and set aside. Open 2 large husks on work surface. Spread 1/4 cup dough in 4-inch square in center of each, leaving 2- to 3-inch plain border at narrow end of husk. Spoon heaping tablespoon filling in strip down center of each dough square. Fold long sides of husk and dough over filling to cover. Fold up narrow end of husk. Tie folded portion with strip of husk to secure, leaving wide end of tamale open. Stand tamales in steamer basket. Repeat with more husks, dough, and filling until all filling has been used. If necessary to keep tamales upright in steamer, insert pieces of crumpled foil between them.
• Bring water in pot to boil. Cover pot and steam tamales until dough is firm to touch and separates easily from husk, adding more water to pot as necessary, about 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cool 1 hour. Cover and chill. Before serving, re-steam tamales until hot, about 35 minutes.)