It's Tamale Time!
 

I'm starting to buy the tamale fixings, just one, or two at a time, each week. I'm not sure what fillings I'm going to put in yet. Anyone else making tamales this year?

Not this year -- not enough gatherings with other people. I played a lot vegan versions a couple of years ago, from a posting from this board where you made the masa with vegetable oil and stock instead of lard.

Everyone's clear favorite was a spicy mushroom mixture, I've linked the recipe before, I got the filling from here:
https://jamiegeller.com/recipes/isra...kets-bourekas/

It turns out that many varieties of frozen puff pastry are vegen, even Pepperidge Farms. And the filling works in many ways.

I made tamale pie last week, that is the closest I have come. I have a great recipe I got from a magazine years ago that is to die for. I want to bake first though. I made hubby the bourbon balls and they are curing in their tins.

My dau has a friend that lost his mom to covid last year, so he's alone this holiday season. He loves to cook (me too!) and loves talking about real estate (so do I!) so she invited him to come over and have Christmas dinner with us. We're gonna make tamales.

That dau of mine. Sometimes she can be so self-serving, but then she goes and does something like this. Gotta love her.

It's just going to be the two of us this year & I still have some frozen tamales that I made earlier in the year so I won't be making any more for Christmas. I use the recipe from this dear lady's you tube & they always turn out so delicious! I make mine from pork butt roast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LL79rkAE_5Q&t=179s

My favorite? Cream cheese and jalapeno!

very interesting. I don't think I have ever had a tamales and after watching the video, I guess they must be pretty special to go to all the work of making them. I did like that plaster trowel like thing she used to spread the masa on the corn husk! But I don't see making them anytime soon. It took me forever to make my lowly meatloaf this evening!

They are time consuming but so very, very worth it. There is absolutely no comparison to those sold in a can. I bought the masa spreader for mine this past year & it makes spreading the masa on the corn shuck so much easier.
You can do a lot in advance like cooking & shredding your pork the day before & making your sauce that goes in the masa the day before. My DH helps me when I make them....he's the masa spreader & I'm put in the filling & wrap the tamales.

What a neat idea to use the peppers and cream cheese. Sounds like poppers.

Hummm...I like the idea of cream cheese and jalapenos. Maybe add some fresh, Mexican cheese to that.

I like picadillo filling, with roughly ground meat, onions, sweet peppers, raisins and cinnamon.