We started the process of making traditional Christmas tamales today. The pork butt is cut into chunks and combined with white onion, Anaheim chiles, and garlic gloves, and will cook overnight in a Crock Pot on low.

The meat will either be cut or shredded in the morning, depending on how it turns out and what texture we are looking for.

Next up will be making the sauce from the juice in the crock pot, some of which will be added to the masa.

The masa is made right before the tamales are assembled.

Assembling the tamales happens when you have everyone together. It is a production line event, which is why it is usually reserved for big holiday gatherings.

Finally, steam and eat. That is the best part.

I will also be making enchiladas, tacos and burritos. I am contemplating trying chile rellenos but that will cost me another trip to the store. I want to give them a try since I have not made them before.

I still have some heirloom red and blue masa so I may make some more corn tortillas.

I bet they will taste delicious

Do you wrap your tamales in corn husk?

Yes, they will be wrapped in corn husks


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That sounds really good!  My wife and I were talking to our sister in law earlier about the menu for Christmas dinner.  The three of us agreed on a non-traditional meal of tacos and other southwest fare, but my brother in law (who is nowhere near conservative) is insisting on a traditional meal.  He's going to the one buying and cooking the prime rib, so I can't complain about that part.

Anyway, I'll be thinking about doing this for some other event.

Do you season the water you used in steaming?

I do not. Never heard of it.

Yesterday was day two in tamale prep, and it almost killed us. We needed to prep and roast Anaheim and jalapeno chiles to make the sauce to go in the meat. I don't recall ever having chiles that were so aromatic.

The fumes caused my wife and I do sneeze and cough uncontrollably. Fortunately, my wife had found some cooking gloves so I didn't have to handle the chiles with my bare skin.

I made that mistake before.

We are probably going to have to make the tamales today since the meat is aging. I don't think we can get to Christmas unless we freeze it.

We can always freeze the tamales when we are done.

The first batch is steaming. We have a second batch ready to go.

We had to do a lot of spicing up on the meat. You don't have to worry about over spicing since there is a lot a masa to cut the flavor.

Ending up bland is a bigger problem.

We used heirloom red corn masa for one batch of eight. We will see how that compares to the standard masa.

Total is about 32 tamales. We have some pork left that we will freeze. So one pork butt made 32 tamales with butt to spare.

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They turned out great. The second batch is on now. I will post a picture of the red corn tamales when I eat one.

This is the same red corn masa I used in one of my corn tortilla posts. I have made tacos and enchiladas out of it so far. Now to see how tamales turn out.

The extra spicing of the pork turned out just right. They have a bite without being too hot.

The first picture shows one batch done, and one batch ready to go.

Making them early means we can enjoy them for the next few days. Tomorrow, I'll make enchiladas. I am still contemplating whether to go for chili rellenos or wait a few days so I can avoid a Christmas Eve trip to the market.

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Do you season the water you used in steaming?

The second batch is seasoned with the water of the first batch. We'll see how that turns out. I'm not sure it makes a difference since the tamales are inside corn husks.

 That's some  great looking food!

Love good tamales but I am not a huge fan of a heavy masa vs. filling recipe. We tried them twice, edible both times but NOT gift worthy.

Look mighty tasty. Just need some red chili sauce.
Had Posole last night. I think that would go good with the tamales.
 
Is that a Time Stack I see behind the tamales ?
I bought the Orange one.  Another great product from ThermoWorks.

Look mighty tasty. Just need some red chili sauce.
Had Posole last night. I think that would go good with the tamales.
 
Is that a Time Stack I see behind the tamales ?
I bought the Orange one.  Another great product from ThermoWorks.

Yes, that is a Time Stack. I have two. I use one in the kitchen and one for workouts. I find that the Time Stack is easy to see when I am exercising, unlike my cell phone or my small exercise timer.

I should own stock in ThermoWorks. I have soooooo much of their stuff.