Tamale Class
 
I bet you have been wondering where I’ve been.  Well, I’ve been teaching cooking classes and working on my Tamale DVD.  The classes are done with this month, but not the DVD.  I’m still working on it.  My timetable says that I should have them available around November 15th.  Hopefully before.  Anyway, at my last posting I said that once the tamale classes were done with that I would post the recipe for Tamale Muffins.  Here it is.  I do hope you give it a try.  It is delicious.  Especially when served with a red chile sauce.
 
You will need to have these two items already cooked and ready to use.
 
2 cups brown rice, cooked
1 can black beans or pinto beans (fresh of course is always better)
 
Next step is to make the Picadillo (meat mixture)
1 lb ground beef, ground turkey other ground meat
1 onion, finely chopped
2 to3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
4 tablespoons dry or sweet sherry
pinch of Mexican cinnamin
pinch of ground cloves
pinch of ground cumin
salt and pepper
14 oz canned chopped tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (I use Splenda)
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped toasted almonds
 
rinse and drain the beans.  Set aside.
Cook brown rice and set aside.
 
Brown the meat and onion together in a heavy bottomed skillet over medium heat.  Pour off any extra fat, add the garlic and sherry and boil down until the liquid has nearly evaporated.
 
Add the cinnamon, cloves, cumin and salt and pepper to taste.  Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, vinegar and cook over medium heat until the tomatoes have reduced to a thick, strongly flavored sauce.
 
Stir in the cilantro and almonds.
 
Fill the muffin pans with the mixgture.  You should be able to fill about 6 of the large muffin pans with this mixtgure.  Layer them first with the meat mixture, then a couple of tablespoons of brown rice and whole cooked pinto or black beans.  
 
Take the masa dough, pat into a top that will fit over the mixture.  I make the dough about 1/2 inch thick.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.  Be sure not to burn the tops!!  
 
Serve with Mexican Crema or red chili sauce (as shown in the Tamale Class).
 
You can buy the prepared masa dough at your local Mexican Store.  
 
The picture above is a great idea for presentation.  I placed a pinto bean puree on the bottom of the tamale and used a red chile sauce for the “dots”. The tamale is chicken and I also placed some guacamole on top of it.  
 
I currently do not have nutritional information on the muffin but I am working on it.  More later.  My next post will be another “muffin” idea using polenta.  They freeze great.
If you want to learn how to make tamales, but sure and take my next class.  Keep checking my “Cooking Class” section for details on it.
 
 
Tamale Class
Monday, October 23, 2006
Email comments or questions: