You can fry bacon naked if you use the microwave ... well the bacon can't be naked, has to have paper towel under and over it, but you could be naked, long as you really believe the little round thing on the control panel there isn't a webcam, heh heh
Tamal my wife makes, so i don't know much about it ... she puts achiote in the masa, also in the meat, this is one thing, we have lots because her father grows it ... being from the south she uses leaf of plátano not husk of maize as in the north, much less fiddly because they're bigger and stronger, plus you don't have to tie them [although she usually does] if you lay them right and handle carefully ... here in BC she gets plátano leaf at a chinese store, but the masa at an indian store [indian as in from India], we like masa Maseca better than the Mixta, both US brands
My wife likes chicken for the filling, i prefer pork, so it's usually chicken ... it's a simple basic food really, not that much work per person-meal when done in quantity but to just make a few would take some time, especially if you haven't done it before ... but worthwhile, tamal is a top favourite for me, tasty, healthy, just dab a little sambal oelek on top and eat ... it's associated with holidays, especially Día de los Muertos when traditionally no cooking or other work is done, the women get together and make pots and pots of tamales 31 october, then for the next two days you just heat them up and eat ... there are never any left over
It looks pretty simple to do, can't go far wrong, just experiment to your own taste, i'd say ... how about a bacon tamal - crumble up a couple of strips, roll them into some leftover polenta, wrap a lettuce leaf around the loaf, tie with an old shoestring, and nuke till hot ... that should work ... you make the masa a bit stiffer than that used for tortillas, it seems to me [could be wrong] ... you can take a fresh ear of maize, cut the grains off, put them in the blender but don't quite liquify them, and work that into the masa, this is called tamal de elote ... one of the best fillings imho, is beans, chopped roast pork, and finely chopped chiles, bit of cilantro and onion maybe too, all made into a thick paste, formed into a little finger-sized sausage shape and then the masa rolled around it .... this forming and rolling i have been enlisted to do, so it and eating are the only points i can address with authority
One of the best salsas to go with them, imho, is one of my wife's - chop some cilantro [lots], chop some red onion, squeeze lime into the bowl till it's good and wet, salt to taste and then cover and leave in the refri for a while, maybe roll it around periodically ... very simple, fast ... it's also good to eat right away, but i like it even better marinated, keeps for days
Never knew this thread existed, lots of familiar folks here ... i prefer eating to cooking, just better at it, that's all ... tonight we had lentil stew, quite thick with some pork and chicken in, red with achiote, and a tuna salad, tuna from a commercial fisherman friend's custom canning, rest of the salad sort of salsa mexicana without the chiles, and with chopped red and green peppers ... good stuff ... bacon tamales, now you've got me thinking |
