Tomorrow I am having the ladies over for lunch. I thought I would spend Sunday peacefully making tamales. Well, I did spend Sunday making tamales but it was rather less peaceful than I would have liked. Just as I was beginning to get started I sliced my finger open on my new stupid sharp knife. I am simply not used to having sharp knives. It was not a good time to go to the emergency room since I knew on Sunday morning it was likely to be crowded. I taped it up really, really tight with lots of band-aids. Every once in awhile a little blood leaked out which I taped over with more band-aids. I was thinking about that book "Like Water for Chocolate" where she cries sad tears in the food as she's cooking and everyone suffers from heartbreak or some such thing. I am not sure what effect a little blood might have...Just kidding none got in the food.
The tamales turned out pretty well but they did take all day. Jeez! I was wishing for a large Hispanic family to make the things with assembly line style. And some alcohol. Lots of alcohol. Karl did tie them up for me since I really had a problem with the leaking blood trying to tie bows.
Monday I thought maybe I would go on over to the emergency room since the dam thing was still bothering me. Maybe some stitches would be more effective than increasing layers of band-aids. The waiting room was empty. I walked right in! But they have some stupid rule about waiting too long to get stitches. Something about infections. They wouldn't stitch me up. All they had to offer was a Tetanus shot. GRR. And I heard them instructing someone on how to give shots on the other side of the curtain. When the baby-face young man came in to give me my shot I asked him if he was old enough to be giving shots but he claimed he was. I asked him if he had ever given a shot. He said he had just not a Tetanus shot. Go figure my arm really hurts today. Oh yes, and he mentioned how cute I was questioning him and all... One hundred dollars later all I got was a gauze wrap and a sore arm.
So I went home and carried on with the tamales. I still had the meat ones to construct. The emergency room doctor did show me how to cut the thumb off of a latex glove to fit right over the gauze wrap. That kept the blood in and the water out. I set the little TV up on the kitchen table and finished up the tamales while watching a documentary about Hunter S. Thompson. Gonzo journalism or something..
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6 comments:
$100??? You got off cheap. Out here it costs $1000 just to walk into the emergency room.
Not very impressed with the HST documentary I take it. "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." is one of my favorite quotes of his.
Tying tamales was fun. Cindy started out with some macrame cord, but it was way too hairy and shed a lot. So, I ran out and got some cotton cord. That was an adventure in itself, trying to find the stuff. Cooking supplies? paper products? Hardware?
I must say, in the end the tamales were VERY tasty. The lady's are sure to enjoy them too.
And I've read that sharp knives are a lot safer to use than dull ones. So much for that theory. Will any of the ladies attending be reading your blog before hand? Anyway, I think you are very adventureous to be making tamales. I don't have much good to say about emergency rooms, after having taken mother there several times, usually at mid-night, and sitting there for hours with this frail, shakey old lady in a wheel chair while they took care of all the drunks and drug addicts. First come first serve. I finally told mother the next time we were calling an ambulance, at least she would be laying down. I don't think we ever went again to the ER.
Being a born and raised New England girl (and not having ventured far off the east coast), please tell me what goes into making a Tamale?
DIRECTIONS
1. Place beef and garlic in a large pot. Cover with cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as water boils, reduce heat to a simmer and cover pot. Let simmer for 3 1/2 hours, until beef is tender and shreds easily. When beef is done, remove from pot, reserving 5 cups cooking liquid and discarding garlic. Allow meat to cool slightly, and shred finely with forks.
2. Meanwhile, place corn husks in a large container and cover with warm water. Allow to soak for 3 hours, until soft and pliable. May need to weight down with an inverted plate and a heavy can.
3. Toast ancho chiles in a cast iron skillet, making sure not to burn them. Allow to cool and then remove stems and seeds. Crumble and grind in a clean coffee grinder or with a mortar and pestle.
4. Heat oil in a large skillet. Mix in flour and allow to brown slightly. Pour in 1 cup beef broth and stir until smooth. Mix in ground chiles, cumin seeds, ground cumin, minced garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, vinegar and salt. Stir shredded beef into skillet and cover. Let simmer 45 minutes.
5. 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.
6. Drain water from corn husks. One at a time, flatten out each husk, with the narrow end facing you, and spread approximately 2 tablespoons masa mixture onto the top 2/3 of the husk. Spread about 1 tablespoon of meat mixture down the middle of the masa. Roll up the corn husk starting at one of the long sides. Fold the narrow end of the husk onto the rolled tamale and tie with a piece of butchers' twine.
7. Place tamales in a steamer basket. Steam over boiling water for approximately one hour, until masa is firm and holds its shape. Make sure steamer does not run out of water. Serve immediately, allowing each person to unwrap their own tamales. Allow any leftovers (still in husks) to cool, uncovered, in the refrigerator.
In Texas tamales are all over the place. I prefer the ones that are in husks, smell like corn, and most importantly are moist and not dried out! yummy
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