Scratch Cooking November 19th

Tonight I made sweet corn tamales. I have never even attempted to make tamales before, but I was in the mood to try something new. I made a variation on an Emerile Lagasse recipe that I found online.

4 ears sweet corn

1 1/2 cups masa harina

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cumin

3 tablespoons butter

1/3 cup shortening

water

1/2 poblano pepper, chopped

1/2 jalapeno, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

10 Dried Corn Husks

Soak dried corn husks in warm water. Take husks off fresh corn, clean and set aside. Cut kernels off corn and saute over medium heat until starting to turn brown. Mix masa harina, baking powder, salt and cumin and set aside. Beat butter and shortening until creamy. Add cooked corn and beat for a minute. Add 3 tablespoons masa mixture and 3 tablespoons water and beat for several minutes. Add remaining masa mixture and 3/4 cup water and beat for several minutes. Add in chopped peppers and cilantro and mix.

Put one dried husk on a piece of tin foil. Put a fresh corn husk inside of it and fill with tamale dough and press into a cylinder. Fold dried husk over until it covers dough and put seam side down on tin foil. Repeat with remaining husks and dough.

Loosely close tinfoil packets, leaving them open on the sides. Place packets in a pan with about an inch of water in it. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

They were super good! Not as sweet as some I have had, but very flavorful. We each ate 2 standing up in the kitchen. 

Afterwards I watched Top Chef and was humbled by the mock Bocuse D'Or competition they staged. These people have some mad cooking skills!