Paleo Tamales

*This is an update to the post on tamales.  I have made this recipe a few times now, and it is my FAVORITE paleo tamales recipe.  As I discuss below, I have made this in stages or all at once depending on how much time I have.  I also want to say that although I have some recipe ideas for fillings, I have seriously used whatever is available and fast at home as well.  For example, one time, I happened to have the chipotle sauce, so I used that with the meat instead of the chile colorado, I even once *gasp* used canned beans. Another time, I used a rotisserie chicken from Costco with a green tomatillo sauce.  Improvise, have fun, and make it realistic and doable for you!

_________________________________________________________

I am going to make Paleo Tamales this week.  My strategy for making them given how busy I am is to make them in stages.  I have the cooked spaghetti squash in the fridge.  You see, part of what you have to do is take advantage of those blocks of time where you are doing something else that is a part of your routine to also do some of the time consuming steps.  I will edit this post as I make each component of the tamales.  This is my personal challenge - making tamales when I don't have a large block of time!

Ingredients:
Masa
4 cups spaghetti squash (1 medium sized spaghetti squash) - cooked and strained.
 3 1/4 cup almond flour
2/3 cup arrowroot flour
2 TBS some sort of fat (I have used lard or butter in the non vegetarian version)
2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp garlic
1/2 tsp paprika
3 eggs

Beef Filling: (This will be my mom's "recipe.")
2 lb. lean cut of beef
cumin (about 1 tsp)
garlic (2 cloves)
sea salt (about 1-2 tsp according to taste)
pepper (about 1/2 tsp)
olive oil (about 1-2 TBS)
chile colorado (about 1/4 cup added the meat when sautéing)

Notice the estimates here.  I realized that I am not good at this posting recipes for other people.  Since I don't use a "recipe" for this, I forgot to measure exactly how much I was using.  So these are estimates.

Vegetarian Filling: (My own invention) (Could be vegan, you would just need to substitute the butter).
2 lb button mushrooms
2 lb kale
2 TBS olive oil
2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 TBS butter
2 TBS arrowroot powder

This filling was so delicious by the way.  It is great just as a veggie side dish too.

Chile Colorado: (Adaptation of my mom's way of making it)
10 chiles anchos
4 California chiles
2 onions
8 cloves of garlic
2 TBS olive oil
3 tsp cumin
2 cups beef stock (from the beef you cooked in the slow cooker).
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
1 TBS salt

Other things needed:
Corn husks, banana leaves, or parchment paper. (Whatever you are going to use as the wrapper.  In my case, I am going to use corn husks this time).

Day 1
So, Step 1: Bake the spaghetti squash.  It takes me about an hour in the morning to get ready, for Atzin to get ready, and get out the door.  So as soon as I got up, I put the spaghetti squash in the oven.  By the time I was ready to leave, I knew it would have been an hour, so I turned off the oven, removed the spaghetti squash and left it there to be dealt with later that day.  If you are worried about leaving the house and forgetting - set a timer on your phone or some other way to remind yourself.  This literally took only seconds out of my morning to do this.  It was easy and this is one hour worth of prep time.

Step 2: Scrape spaghetti noodles. When I got home, I cut it in half, using a fork, I scraped out the "spaghetti noodles" from the squash.  I put this in the fridge ready to be used for the masa.  I put this in a container and put it in the fridge.

Day 2
Step 3: Boil the beef. Before bed, I put the beef I will be using for tamales in the slow cooker.  I put the meat in slow cooker with some whole garlic cloves, salt, and pepper. I am about to go to bed and I can smell it cooking!  Sweet dreams to me.

The next day I will sauté the meat and get it ready to use as a filling.

Day 3
Step 4: Boil the chile ancho and guajillo for the chili colorado.
1. Rinse and de seed the chiles.
2. Bring 4 cups of water to boil and add the chiles.  Let these soak pushing them down with a fork or whatever else to make sure they are completely submerged in the water. Let it stand for about 1/2 an hour.  In my case I let them stand all afternoon until I got home.  I'm telling the real story.
3. In a separate pot, boil the onion.

In the morning, after dropping off Atzin at school, I come back home and finish getting ready.  It takes me about 1/2 an hour. Perfect time to boil the chiles and the onion.  Turn it off, and go.

Remember to put away the beef you cooked overnight and keep some of the beef broth for use in the chile colorado.

Step 5: Make the chile colorado

Later that day in the early evening, I finished the chile colorado, then went to pick up Atzin from baseball practice and finished some grocery shopping.

1. In your blender or food processor (I used the vitamix of course), blend the chiles, onions, and garlic. Make sure to keep some of the chile liquid for later.  

2. In a saucepan, heat the oil and add and saute the cumin. 

3. Add the chile mixture and simmer for 3 minutes. 

4. Add 1 cup of stock and 1 cup of the reserved liquid from the chiles.  The chile should look "saucy" like a marinara sauce.  

5. Add salt. 

6. Set aside.  This can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days, beyond that in the freezer.  

Then, once we had dinner (I kept it really simple so it didn't involve cooking.  A cold salad with pre-cooked chicken or salmon that I already had in the fridge).  See, I am giving you the real scoop.  Don't even think I'm doing this AND making some other dinner!  We had cut up strawberries for dessert.  

Step 6: Make the fillings

Beef
1. Mince the meat so that it is in very small pieces.  I prefer it this way and this is how I was taught by my mom.  I have seen others use larger beef pieces, but I prefer I finely minced meat.
2. Heat the oil.
3. Add the meat and spices.  I added about 1/4 cup of chile colorado.  Again, this is  unique to my mom.  Others will not add any chile colorado to the meat and put some in the tamale during the assembly.  I like to do both.  This way, the meat is really moist with the chile colorado and spread throughout.  Then, you have the added bonus of the extra sauce when you assemble the tamales.

Vegan/Vegetarian
1. Mix the butter or butter substitute (I used buttery spread) and the arrowroot with a fork until it's mixed well.
2. In a skillet heat the oil.  Add the garlic and onion.
3. Add the mushrooms and saute
4. Add the kale and spices.  Saute for about 10-15 minutes.  Stirring frequently
5. Add the butter mixture.  This creates a nice creamy texture.

Now the fillings and the sauce is ready.  Tomorrow I will make the masa and assemble!

Day 4

Step 7: Make the masa!  

1. Take the 4 cups of spaghetti squash and strain them.  I have found that best way is to use a cheesecloth and squeeze as much liquid out as possible.  The masa turns out better when you are able to get much of the liquid strained out of the spaghetti squash. Put the spaghetti squash in the food processor.
2. Place the spaghetti squash in the bowl and add the other ingredients. Mix.

Step 8: Prepare the corn husks

1.  Fill a bowl with hot water and soak the corn husks.

Step 9: Assemble and Bake

1. Place the corn husk on the palm of your hand, place a good 2 TBS or so on the corn husk and spread the masa with the back of a tablespoon.   (Make sure the corn husks are nice and moist - don't let them dry out.  The moisture helps so they won't stick).
2. Place the filling in the middle of the tamale dough and add some more chile colorado.
3. Fold over one side and sort of roll the corn husk closed, and fold the top flap down.
4. Place them in a baking pan and cover with aluminum foil.
5. Steam the tamales for about 2 hours.

I had enough filling for a second batch so I made a different masa.  Here it is:

Almond Flour Flax Meal Masa
1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
1/2 cup flax seed powder
8 oz butter
1/2 cup chile colorado
1 tsp salt

This is the first time I made this masa and I will update this site as I modify the recipe.  It was good, but I would add more spices.

I definitely like the first masa recipe better - and I was about to celebrate, I was so sure this batch would be perfect because I've made major adjustments to the recipe - but I think they need more fat.  I will keep adjusting that first recipe as well.  I think it's almost perfect.

I didn't take any photos because this is real life folks.  My kitchen table is full of mail I haven't sifted through yet, dishes that need to be washed, and my pajamas were hanging off the chair.  I am not one of those glamorous women posting beautiful pictures of cooking in a perfect kitchen on the internet.  I'm an overburdened, overworked professor who still wants her family to eat good food.  Then, a photo would be yet one more thing to post.  I will do this for you all at some point so you can see the tamales.

I have to tell you I was regretting today that I had just spent all this time on these tamales.  However, after I got to bite into them, oooohhhh soooo gooood.  It was so worth it.  It's like childbirth.  It's so hard, but the result is very much worth it and you would do it all over again.  I think I had like 10 of them.

I couldn't believe that this evening all I had to do was make the masa and assemble.  I couldn't have done this any other way but in stages this week.  Lately my weekends just blend right into a weekday and I don't have any down time.

Well, I am going to try this again soon so that I can continue to perfect that masa.  Check back for modifications to these recipes!