Tamale Party

Every time we host a party, I think to myself "I'm obviously overdoing it - I've got to find a way to simplify". This time was no exception (250 handmade tamales? We're insane!), though things did go much more smoothly than the last time we had a tamale party. People mingled, the weather was perfect, and the tamales turned out fabulous. Enormous amounts of food were consumed.


I used the recipe on the bag of masa for tamales (which I don't even have to go check, because after making about 12 batches, I have it memorized). I've added my mixing method.

Tamale Masa

2/3 c. lard
2 cups dry masa for tamales
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups chicken broth

In a stand mixer with a wire whisk, whip the lard. In another bowl, measure the dry ingredients and stir together. Stir in the chicken broth. Add to the lard and beat with the beater attachment until light and airy. If you put a little dollop of this in a bowl of cold water at this point, it should float. If it doesn't, beat it some more to incorporate more air.

For vegetarian masa, substitute butter or oil for the lard (or a mix of the 2) and vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

If you've never assembled tamales before, it's easier to learn by watching someone than to follow directions, so I'm not even going to try to describe how. Maybe another post.

We used 4 kinds of fillings:
*chicken with tomatillo sauce
*pork with ancho chile and tomato sauce
*black beans with jack cheese and poblano peppers
*one that Jill brought - butternut squash with chipotle and green chiles.

We also had
*Oaxacan style black beans
*Gulf Coast Style white rice pilaf
*fresh tomato & tomatillo salsa
*Ancho and Pasilla chile sauce
*fresh tomatillo cilantro salsa
*Zoe's best guacamole
*tortilla chips
*watermelon lemonade
*grilled corn on the cob with lime and chipotle
*green salad with tangy avocado dressing
*fresh lime ice with raspberries
*homemade peach ice cream
*"Mexican chocolate" brownies (with cinnamon)

Offerings from the guests included Melissa's famous chocolate chip cookies, Amorette's smokin' roasted tomatillo salsa, Alisa's beet and carrot salad, Melissa's garden fresh tomatoes and basil, and April's fresh perfectly ripe mango chunks. (If any of you want to guest post your recipes, that would be great!). Thanks to Melissa for the photos - I never even thought about taking any. And thanks to Stephen for his monumental efforts doing the dishes.

Any requests for me to post on the other recipes? I got most of them from Rick Bayless, who is my go-to cookbook author for authentic Mexican food.

Where to find ingredients: we got the corn husks and masa at the little Mexican grocery in Oakland (just off Bates Street) -(you can also find them at Reyna's in the strip, and the masa for tamales I also saw for cheaper at Walmart), the lard came from the Forest Hills Giant Eagle in the meat section, tomatillos from the farmer's market, Poblano chiles from Walmart, peaches from our tree.

Clay says he talked to the gardener at CMU and asked if he could have the banana leaves when they cut them back next week, and got the ok. So you know that means we've got Oaxacan style mole tamales wrapped in banana leaves coming up. . .