Old Nag Tamales

 Old Nag Tamales

4 pounds chuck roast

4 cloves garlic

Enough water to cover the roast. Boil until tender and can be shredded. Approximately 3 ½ hours it will take. When tender shred. Reserve approximately 6 cups of the cooking liquid. You may also use chicken or pork. I like the flavor of smoking the meat first.

3 (8 oz) packages of corn husks

4 dried ancho chilies

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons flour

1 cup beef broth

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 mince garlic cloves

2 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 tablespoon salt

Toast chilies in a cast iron skillet, making sure not to burn them. Allow to cool and then remove the stems and seeds. Crumble and grind in a clean coffee grinder, mortar and pestle or nutribullet.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Mix in flour and allow to brown slightly. Mix in ground chilies, cumin seeds, cumin minced garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, vinegar and salt .Stir into shredded beef mixture. Let simmer for 45 minutes.

Soak corn husks in hot water for 3 hours until pliable. You may have to weigh it down to keep them from floating.

3 cups lard

1 tablespoon salt

9 cups masa harina

Place lard and salt in a large mixing bowl. Whip with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy. Add masa harina and beat at low speed until well mixed. Pour in reserved cooking liquid a little at a time until mixture is the consistency of soft cookie dough.

Drain the water from corn husks. One at a time flattens the husk out with the pointy side towards you. Put 2 tablespoons of masa mixture in the upper right hand corner. Spread until evenly distributed. Place 1 tablespoon in the middle of the masa mixture. Roll the corn husk making sure that the meat mixture is completely covered by masa. Fold the bottom end up to keep the mixture from running out. You can tie with butcher twine if you have issues. I personally like to use double the mixture in each of the tamales.

Place tamales in a steamer basket in a manner that the mixture won’t run out. Steam for approximately 1 hour until the masa mixture is firm. Serve hot. Any leftovers may be frozen or refrigerated while still in the husks. I like serving them with con carne over them.