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Prep Time: 0 Minutes Cook Time: 0 Minutes |
Ready In: 0 Minutes Servings: 1 |
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As tamales spread across Texas and the rest of the South, they underwent some changes. Easy-to-find cornmeal replaced the Mexican lime-slaked masa and paper squares were often used to roll up the tamales instead of the traditional corn shucks. Anglo tamale-eaters preferred beef to the traditional pork, so beef tamales became common. Ingredients:
3 pounds ground beef |
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin |
1 tablespoon garlic powder |
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper |
1 teaspoon ground black pepper |
1 tablespoon salt |
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder |
1/4 cup chili powder |
4 tablespoons sugar |
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal |
two 8-ounce cans tomato sauce |
4 cups yellow cornmeal mixed with 2 teaspoons salt |
Directions:
1. Combine the ground beef, seasonings, yellow cornmeal, and tomato sauce in a large bowl and mix well. Make 36 balls of approximately 2 tablespoons of the mixture, or 1 1/2 ounces per ball. Roll each ball into a cigar shape about 5 inches long. Fill a 9 by 12-inch casserole or cake pan with the dredging mixture. Dredge the individual meat cigars in the cornmeal until well coated. Place each cornmeal-coated cigar in a piece of paper and roll up the paper around the filling. In a large steamer pot, lay two layers of tamales and steam for 1 hour, covered. Serve hot.
2. Variation - Mississippi Corn Bread Tamales: Add 1/2 cup water and a teaspoon of salt to 10 cups corn bread crumbs and work into a paste. Cover the meat cigars with the paste individually instead of dredging. Proceed as directed
3. From The Tex-Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos by Robb Walsh. Copyright © 2004 by Robb Walsh. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved. Robb Walsh, the Indiana Jones of food writers (Liane Hanson, NPR), is the restaurant critic for the Houston Press, and occasional commentator for NPR's Weekend Edition, the former food columnist for Natural History magazine, and former editor in chief of Chile Pepper magazine. He is the author of Legends of Texas Barbecue Cookbook and The Tex Mex Cookbook: A History in Recipes and Photos, and the co-author of several other cooking and travel books. He lives in Houston, Texas.
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