Tamales are labor intensive. Save yourself some grief and make at least the pork ahead of time. It cooks easily in the crock pot, then you can shred it and freeze it in large zip-loc until you're ready to use it.
Pork Filling
4 pound pork loin-I buy a large one at Costco and slice the rest into chops & freeze
Small can of chopped green chiles
1 t. Ground coriander
1 t. Ground cumin
1 medium sweet onin, coarsley chopped
Cook on low in crockpot for 6-8 hours. Reserve liquid for chile sauce.
Chile Sauce
You can make this ahead of time, too. I don't know how it freezes, but it should keep in the refrigerator for at least a week.
3 oz. bag dried New Mexico chiles-at my store, these are called California chile pods-El Guapo brand (buy & add 4-5 Arbol chile pods if you want a little heat)
4 cloves garlic
1/2 t. Coriander
1/2 t. Cumin
1/2 t. Salt
1/2 cup reserved liquid from pork
With gloves on, remove stem ends from chiles and shake as many seeds out as possible. If a lot of seeds remain, break chiles in half and shake out the rest of the seeds. You can rinse under cold water to remove any remaining seeds, but I don't think it' necessary.
Toast the chiles in a large, dry skillet, about 45-60 seconds, just until aroma is released. DO NOT burn them! Place in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer, covered for about 8 minutes. Take off heat and cool.
In the meantime, place the garlic, spices and reserved liquid in blender, drain the liquid, reserving 1/2 cup. Add the liquid and chiles to the blender. Process until smooth.
The day you are putting them together, soak full package of corn husks for at least an hour. Drain.
Masa Dough
2 lbs corn masa
3 T. Smoky paprika
3 T. Salt
3 T. Cumin seeds-buy these in the Mexican section in the little bags, it's much cheaper
3 T. Chile powder- we used 2 regular & 1 chipotle
2 cups vegetable oil
8 cups chicken broth (2 boxes)
Blend dry ingredients together in a LARGE bowl. Add oil and blend with a wooden spoon until oil has moistened all dry ingredients. Using mixer, blend in broth, about 2 cups at a time until dough is the consistency of thick peanut butter. Most likely you will use all the broth.
Preparation
Mix chile sauce with meat, adding reserved liquid or water if necessary. Sauce should just coat the meat, but not runny.
Set up your assembly. Corn husks, masa dough, meat mixture, steamer basket.
The corn husks are shaped like triangles. Place about 1/4 cup masa on one side of the wide part of the husk and spread evenly. Place 2-3 tablespoons of the meat mixture in the middle of the masa. Roll the husk up lengthwise, ending on the side that has no masa. Then fold the top down. You can tear off thin strips of the husk and tie the ends if you want. Place the tamales in the steamer, open side up. Fill the steamer a little loosely--the masa will expand. Steam for about 2 hours. The masa will be fairly firm to touch when done--take one out and let it sit for a bit before you check it. Be careful not to run the steamer out of water!
*note: one of the most difficult parts of the tamale making process was finding the right kind of steamer. You will need one that allows you to stand the tamales upright in the basket to steam.
