Beef Tamales

Pork is the traditional filling for tamales in New Mexico, but since we use pork in Carne Adovada, we chose beef filling for these tamales. Adjust the ground chile for more or less heat as you prefer. If this recipe makes more tamales than you need, freeze for up to a month.

Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 2 tamales)

Ingredients

• Filling:
• Cooking spray
• 1 1/2  cups  chopped onion
• 2  garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1  pound  beef stew meat
• 1  cup  water
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1  tablespoon  all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  ground dried red New Mexico chile
• 16  large dried cornhusks
• 
  Dough:
• 3  cups  masa harina
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1  tablespoon  butter, melted
• 2  teaspoons  canola oil
• 1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium beef broth
• 1  cup  water
• 
  Remaining ingredients:
• 16  long thin strips dried cornhusk
• 1  cup  Red Chile Sauce (optional)

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare filling, heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until onion is tender. Add beef; sauté 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Stir in 1 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring mixture to a boil. Cover and bake 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.

Transfer beef to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Pour drippings into a glass measure. Add enough water to drippings to equal 1 cup. Wipe pan with paper towels.

Shred beef into bite-sized pieces. Heat pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Return beef to pan; sprinkle with flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in ground chile; stir in drippings mixture. Reduce heat, and cook 7 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring often. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature.

Place whole cornhusks in a large bowl; cover with water. Weight husks down with a can; soak 30 minutes. Drain husks.

To prepare dough, combine masa and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add butter and oil; stir well. Add broth and 1 cup water; stir until a soft dough forms.

Working with one husk at a time, place about 1/4 cup masa dough in the center of the husk; press dough into a 4 x 3-inch rectangle. Spoon about 2 tablespoons beef mixture down one side of the dough. Using the corn husk as your guide, roll tamale up, jelly-roll style; fold bottom ends of the husk under. Tie 1 corn husk strip around tamale to secure; stand upright in a vegetable steamer. Repeat procedure with the remaining whole corn husks, masa dough, beef mixture, and corn husk strips. Steam tamales, covered, 50 minutes, or until the dough is firm. Remove tamales from vegetable steamer; let stand 5 minutes. Serve with Red Chile Sauce, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

145 (27% from fat)

Fat:

4.3g (sat 1.4g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.9g)

Protein:

7.9g

Carbohydrate:

19.9g

Fiber:

2.2g

Cholesterol:

20mg

Iron:

1.4mg

Sodium:

268mg

Calcium:

49mg