Subj : Red Pork Tamales, part 1
To   : All
From : Ben Collver
Date : Thu Sep 19 2024 10:11:20

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06

      Title: Mexican Red Pork Tamales
 Categories: Mexican
      Yield: 24 Tamales

      2 lb Pork shoulder Boston butt
           -boneless; cut into large
           -pieces
      2 tb Oil
    1/4 md White onion; cut into 3
           -wedges
     10 c  Water; up to 12 c
    1/2 md White onion
      4 cl Garlic
      2    Bay leaf
      2 ts Kosher salt
    1/2 ts Dry oregano
    1/2 ts Black peppercorns
      8 lg Guajillos
      2    Ancho chiles
      4    Chiles de arbol
           Onion; sautéed
      2 cl Garlic
    1/2 ts Kosher salt
    1/2 ts Whole cumin seeds
      2 tb Water
      2 c  Broth; to rehydrate chilis
      1 c  Broth
      1 tb Oil; to fry the sauce
    3/4 ts Kosher salt; to taste
      6 c  Masa harina
      1 ts Baking powder
      1 c  Lard; packed
    1/2 c  Vegetable shortening; packed
  1 1/2 ts Kosher salt
  3 2/3 c  Broth
     36    Husk leafs

  Preparation time: 25 minutes
  Cooking time: 3 hours 15 minutes

  When authentic Mexican food comes to mind, tamales are definitely
  among the top contenders. Red pork tamales are as delicious as you
  can imagine them. The color, texture and flavor in this authentic
  recipe makes it one to remember. Now you can make them at home and
  show them off to everyone you know.

  Cook the meat until tender:

  Place a large pot over medium heat and add the oil. When the oil is
  hot, add the onion wedges and sauté until slightly softened. Remove
  the onions and adjust the heat to medium high. Next, brown the meat
  on all sides. Brown in batches if needed to avoid overcrowding the
  pot. Pour the water into the pot with the meat and place the pork
  back into the pot if you cooked it in batches. Add all the aromatics
  plus the salt. Let it reach a boil then lower to medium low heat.
  Cook on a gentle simmer and covered for roughly 2 to 2:30 hours or
  until the meat if fork tender. When ready remove the meat and shred
  apart. Strain the broth and reserve.

  Prep the dry peppers:

  Remove the seeds from the dried peppers, except for the arbol chilis.
  Then toast them on a comal on very low heat just until they become
  fragrant. Turn continuously to avoid burning them. Rinse, drain and
  transfer them into a container. Next, pour 2 cups of the hot broth
  over the chilis to rehydrate them, it will take about 5 minutes. Set
  aside until we need them.

  Molcajete (Optional):

  If you have a molcajete I recommend this step 100%. If you don't have
  one, omit this step for now. Grind and mash the garlic, cumin, and
  salt to create a paste. Loosen it up with the water and transfer to a
  separate container with a spoon, set aside until needed.

  Blend:

  Transfer the rehydrated peppers into a blender together with the
  broth, sautéed onions (the ones we did before browning the meat.) If
  you don't have a molcajete, this is the time to add the garlic,
  cumin, salt, but not the water. Blend until completely broken down
  and smooth. You can strain if needed to get rid of large pieces of
  chili skin.

  Fry the sauce:

  Heat the oil in a large pot over medium low heat, carefully pour in
  the sauce and stir. Pour in the additional 1 cup of broth into the
  blender, swirl it in to get the last bit of sauce and transfer into
  the pot. If you used the molcajete to grind the garlic paste, this is
  the time to stir in the paste into the sauce. Allow everything to
  gently simmer for about 5 minutes.

  Add the meat:

  Add the shredded meat, salt to taste and mix to combine. Allow the
  meat to reheat and remove from the heat.

  continued in part 2

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