Yep, still on a budget...but, it does not have to be boring. Years ago, I found and tried a recipe for "Black Bean Tamales" in Vegetarian Times. They were delicious and I am not quite sure why I have waited so long to make them again.
They are not as difficult to make as you might expect. Corn husks are available at my local grocery store and do not cost much. I did not have masa harina, so I used cornmeal. It worked pretty good and we enjoyed our tamales quite a bit. Without further ado, here is the recipe:
Black Bean Tamales
Ingredients:
Wrapping:
about 4 oz dried corn husks (about half the bag I bought)
about 3 quarts of water
Filling:
2 tsp sesame oil (or olive oil)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cooked black beans
2/3 cup bean stock (cooking liquid - use water if you use canned beans)
1 cup frozen corn
2 tsp lemon or lime juice
salt to taste
3-4 tblsp finely chopped cilantro (optional)
Dough:
1 3/4 cups masa harina (or corn meal)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups vegetable stock (or water with bouillion), divided
4 tblsp unsalted butter (or if you insist, margarine)
1 tsp baking powder
Steps:
1. Wrapping: In a large pot, bring water and corn husks to a boil. Lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and place a bowl or something to weigh the corns husks down. Soak for 2 hours.
2. Filling: In skillet, saute onion and garlic in sesame oil. Add beans and some of the bean stock. Simmer a few minutes. Coarsely mash beans, adding stock if needed. You want it to be moist without being too runny. Add corn, salt, lemon or lime juice and cilantro if using. Let cool.
3. Dough: Put masa harina (or cornmeal) in bowl with salt. Heat 1 1/4 cups stock just to boiling. Gradually add to masa harina stirring vigorously to prevent lumps. Set aside. In another bowl, whip butter. To the butter, add half the masa harina mixture and 1/3 cup more stock - beat well. Add the rest of the masa harina mixture and more of the stock as needed. You want the dough to be the consistency of a thick cake batter. I found that in using the cornmeal, I did not need quite the amount of stock called for. Finally, add the baking powder and mix well.
4. Drain corn husks, and set up work area with husks, filling, and dough.
4. Putting it all together: Taking one husk, spread some dough as shown. If husks are small, use two husks overlapping each other to make a wider husk. Then spread filling as shown. Wrap tamales by rolling them into a tube, then fold the ends over. Some people tie them with corn husk strips or string, but I did not.
In a large pot with about an inch of water in it, place a steamer (see mine in lower left part of my pot). Place a few layers of flat, empty corn husks. Then place freshly rolled tamales on top. Criss crossing layers helps. Finally, place some more flat and empty corn husks over the top. Place lid on pot and simmer over low to medium heat for about 45 minutes (more or less). Add water as necessary to keep pot from drying out and burning.
I served mine with home made salsa and some sliced avocado. (Find salsa recipe at bottom of "Frilly Chilli Bean Stew") Yummm...
0 comments:
Post a Comment