Tamales!

Tamales are a huge part of Mexican culture and are always present during the holidays. Often, families and friends get together to prepare them as they really are time consuming, but you'll find they are totally worth it.

In places with a large Mexican population, buying prepared masa from a store is the easiest way to go. Here in Montana, however, the only option you really have is to buy dried prepared corn flour by a brand like Maseca. This corn flour is treated with lime and perfect for tamales. Lard or vegetable shortening can be used, but lard is more traditional.

I bought lard and hand-whipped it with a fork, which I don't suggest if you have access to an electric mixer! Once the lard is nice and fluffy and the consistency of frosting, you're ready to add the corn flour. Once the corn flour is completely mixed in, warm water or warm chicken broth is added and mixed until the a small ball of dough will float in a glass of water (if it doesn't quite float but almost does, it will be fine).

For the filling, I decided to make two types. Pork filling is probably the most common, aka carnitas. These are made by slow-cooking chunks of pork shoulder in various spices. I made a spicy red chile sauce to go into the tamales with them. For the second type, I made salsa verde (tomatillo and green chile sauce) and bought Muenster cheese to go in the tamales as well.

Dried corn husks soaked in warm water for at least thirty minutes are used to wrap the tamales. The masa is spread on the husk, then the filling is added and the edges and ends wrapped in. Next, steam the tamales for an hour to an hour and a half. If you don't have a steamer deep enough for the tamales to stand upright, a deep colander can be used in a large pot. Make sure the gently boiling water does not hit the bottom of the tamales. If a colander must be used, wrapping the top edge with foil is a good way to keep in the steam.