Green Chile Chicken Tamales

These are tasty tamales. A little bit of work, but oh, so worth it. Delicious! And it makes a ton. I froze half of the tamales, and we take them out and steam them or nuke them in the microwave, wrapped in a wet paper towel for 2 min, or until hot.

Don't be afraid of the Serrano chilies, I took out the seeds of two because I thought they would be too spicy, but the sauce turned out really mild, so next time I will leave in all the chili seeds. Also, I needed two batches of masa to use up all the chicken filling. One batch I used lard, 'cause I'm sure that is what the little Mexican lady that sells them at the farmers market uses. The second batch I used half shortening and half unsalted butter, and cut down the amount of fat by about 3 tablespoons. We really liked the shortening/butter version better. they were much less greasy and had a better flavor. I also just cooked a few chicken breasts in the crock pot with about 1/2 cup salsa instead of using rotisserie chicken. Enjoy!

Green Chile Chicken Tamales

Filling 1 8-ounce package dried corn husks
1 pound tomatillos, husked, rinsed 4 3-inch-long Serrano chiles, stemmed, chopped 4 large garlic cloves, chopped 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 2 cups low-salt chicken broth 4 cups (packed) coarsely shredded cooked chicken (about 1 pound; from purchased rotisserie chicken) 2/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Dough 1 1/3 cups lard or solid vegetable shortening 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (omit if masa mixture contains salt) 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (omit if masa mixture contains baking powder) 4 cups freshly ground masa dough for tamales (34 to 36 ounces), or make masa dough with 31/2cups masa harina (corn tortilla mix; about 17 ounces) mixed with 2 1/4 cups warm water 2 cups (about) low-salt chicken broth

Preparation 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.)

Tomato week: Part one

Holy tomatoes, Batman!

I have literally been pulling pounds of tomatoes out of my garden several times a week. They are taking over! So, I have been trying every tomato recipe I can find. Every meal I have made for the last 8 days has featured tomatoes. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. About 2 days into this and my 7 year old said, "Let me guess,mom, this week is tomato week and everything we eat has to have tomatoes in it."

I gave her peanut butter and jelly in her lunch box today.

Here is a new recipe we tried early on in "Tomato week"before baking

Tomato Onion Phyllo Pizza

5 tablespoons butter, melted
14 sheets phyllo dough (14 inches x 9 inches)
7 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 pound plum tomatoes, sliced
1-1/2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Brush a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan with some of the melted butter. Unroll phyllo dough; cut stack into a 10-1/2-in. x 9-in. rectangle. Discard scraps. Line bottom of prepared pan with two sheets of phyllo dough (sheets will overlap slightly). Brush with butter and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers 5 times. (Keep dough covered with plastic wrap and a damp towel until ready to use to prevent it from drying out.) Top with layers of remaining phyllo dough; brush with remaining butter. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese; arrange onion and tomatoes over cheese. Sprinkle with oregano, thyme, salt, pepper and remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Yield: 28 slices.

We liked this pizza, but were not crazy about the crust. That might be because I found some phyllo dough in the back of my freezer and used that (I can't remember the last time I purchased phyllo...)and so it tasted a little...dusty.

I used walla walla sweet onions, because they are SOOO good. I also used basil instead of oregano because that is what I had growing in the garden. Although I love the way my pizza looked and it was nice to be able to cut slices without onion for the kids, I should have mixed the onions and tomatoes together more. The best flavor was tomato and sweet onion in the same bite. We will be making this again, but I will try using puff pastry for a crust and call it a tart. Or maybe I will just use phyllo that is not years(?) old.