Baja Border Blend Tamales – 2 ways! This is a recipe I learned from Carmen at The Hood. She is one of the support staff at The Hood Kitchen Space where I make our rubs. She makes hundreds of tamales and sells them every December to support a charity. Fabulous woman!
Make either or both of the tamale fillings and scroll to the end to see how they’re filled and cooked! It’s the same for either one.
Chicken Tamales – makes 35
4 chicken breasts (halves)
2 whole hatch chilies or 1 pasilla pepper
18 medium to large tomatillos – leaf removed
2 jalapenos
½ of an onion – sliced
2 cloves of garlic
2 T chicken bouillon
½ C Baja Border Blend
1 T Baja Border Blend
Baking powder
**Soak the corn husks in water while you’re preparing the rest of the tamale ingredients.
Cover the chicken with water, add the onion and the 1/2 cup of Baja Border Blend – bring to a boil. Simmer until done, about 25 to 30 minutes, then take out of the water, placing them on a sheet pan and let them cool.
Remove the seeds from the chilies and place in a pan with the tomatillos – cover with water bring to a boil and then simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes; when they are done, blend well in a blender.
Shred the chicken (this takes a while) and place in a large bowl. When it’s all shredded, transfer to the tomatillo sauce with 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon and cook for 20 minutes to blend the flavors. That’s it – it’s ready for the corn husks!
Pork Tamales – makes 34
4 lbs of pork cushion meat or pork shoulder
6 New Mexico chilies
10 Guajillo chilies
8-10 tomatoes
½ small white onion
2 cloves garlic
1/3 C Baja Border Blend
1.5 T chicken bullion
**Soak the corn husks in water while you’re preparing the rest of the tamale ingredients.
Cut up pork and put in a pan with 1 cup of water, and add 1/3 cup Baja Border Blend.
Remove the seeds from the chilies and then place them in a pan with the tomatoes – cover with water bring to a boil and then simmer. Cook for 15 minutes. When they are done blend well in the blender with the chicken bouillon, garlic and onion.
In a pan combine the pork and blended salsa and bring to a boil.
Wrapping the tamales:
Masa – for the chicken tamales add a 1/2 tablespoon baking powder and 1 tablespoon Baja Border Blend to 5 pounds of masa, making sure to stir it all the way in.
For the pork tamales add a few tablespoons of paprika and 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder.
There’s a rough outside and a smooth inside to the corn husk. Smear the husk with the masa from about halfway down the husk up to the top, place the meat inside and then fold the 2 sides over and then the tail up.
Fill the tamale pan with water and 2 tablespoons of chicken bouillon up to the line. Place the tamales standing straight up – you can layer them to get them all in.
Then cover with a few layers of corn husks and seal tight with foil. Put the lid on and bring to a boil. Turn it down slightly and cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes up to 2 hours.
ENJOY!! .
