Carne Con Chile Tamales
Tamales are a MUST-HAVE for our family on Christmas Eve. Chuck roast is simmered in aromatics until tender. The tender beef is then shredded and given a spa treatment in a rich spicy chile sauce until falling apart. The succulent Carne con chile is then stuffed into masa dough and steamed to make the most spectacular tamales. A gift from my family to yours!
To make this an easier process, this is spread out over 2 days.
Day 1: Make the Carne con chile (filling).
Day 2. Form and steam the tamales.
Carne con chile recipe adapted from Pati Jinich
Carne con chile burritos: https://patijinich.com/carne-con-chile-burritos/
Ingredients
For The Meat:
3lbs Chuck roast, trimmed of some of the fat and cut into 2-inch chunks
½ white onion
5 garlic cloves, peeled
2 bay leaves
1 TBS coarse salt
½ tsp black peppercorns
For the Carne con chile:
7 dried chile colorado (can also be labeled as California chiles, New Mexico chiles)
2 large Roma tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 slice of white onion roughly chopped
3 chiltepin chiles
3 chiles de Arbol
¼ tsp cumin
1 tsp Mexican oregano
½ tsp coarse salt
2c beef broth from cooking the meat
2 TBS vegetable oil
2 TBS cornstarch
For the tamales:
Chile con carne
30-40 Dried corn husks
4c MASECA Tamal corn masa flour
3c of beef broth from cooking the meat plus any store-bought if not enough leftover broth
1c shortening
½ c leftover chile salsa
1 ½ tsp salt
1 TBS baking powder
Preparation
Prepare the meat.
1. Place meat in a large stock pot and cover with at least 8c of water. Add onion, garlic, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. Bring to a rolling boil. Skim off any foam on the top. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and cook the chuck roast until the meat is tender and easily pulls apart with your fingers. About 1 1/2 hours.
2. Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the broth and place it into a large bowl. Using a strainer strain the broth into a separate large bowl that can be fitted with a lid. Measure out 2c of the broth into a measuring cup and set aside. Allow the remaining broth to cool uncovered in the bowl. Once the broth is cooled, cover and store in the fridge for the masa dough on day 2.
3. Once the meat is cool enough to handle. Shred the meat into smaller pieces while discarding the fat.
1. Place chile Colorados, tomatoes, and garlic cloves in a medium saucepan. Add water to the pan until the tomatoes are just covered. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes until tomatoes start to peel and peppers are plump. Using a slotted spoon, transfer tomatoes, peppers, garlic, and ¼ c of their cooking liquid to a blender. Add chopped onion, chile de Arbol, chile chiltepin, cumin, oregano, and salt. Puree until smooth.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot set over medium-high heat. Add cornstarch and stir to create a roux. This will help thicken the chile salsa. Cook stirring until slightly brown and toasty. Add chile salsa. Cook stirring often making sure the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. About 5-6 minutes. Stir in 2c of the reserved beef broth in the measuring cup. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove ½ c of the salsa and set aside for the tamales. Add the shredded beef. Reduce heat to medium, and cover partially with a lid, stirring often to scrape up any bits that may collect on the bottom. Simmer for 30 minutes until meat is tender and falling apart. Taste and adjust seasonings. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
3. Once Carne con chile is cool, cover and place in the fridge for day 2.
Day 2: Tamale time!
1. Remove the Carne con chile from the fridge 30 minutes before making the masa dough to remove the chill. In a large bowl soak corn husks in warm water for 20 minutes. While corn husks are soaking, remove the leftover broth from the fridge. Using a spoon skim off any fat that has risen to the top. In a medium saucepan add about 3c of the leftover broth over medium heat until hot. Remove from heat.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add Maseca tamal corn flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir on low until combined. Add shortening to the flour mixture, starting on low and increasing to medium-low until the mixture starts to form a small pea-shaped dough. Slowly add 2 ⅔ c hot broth on low speed until incorporated. About 2 minutes. Add ½ c of leftover chile salsa to the mixture. Increase speed to medium and mix for 4-5 minutes.
3. FORM THE TAMALES! Drain-soaked corn husks. Spread about 2oz of masa dough on the corn husk on the upper side. Place shredded meat in the center of the corn husk. Close the tamale folding inward the left and right part of the husk then folding the bottom upwards to the top end. Please see the attached stream for reference or YouTube ‘how to fold tamales.’ Repeat until the masa dough is gone. You may have leftover Carne con chile. Make a quick nacho, quesadilla, burrito, or taco while you wait for your tamales to steam!
4. Add water to the bottom of the pot. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium-low. To steam the tamales, line the steamer basket with 2-3 soaked corn husks. Arrange tamales end side down standing up trying not to crowd the basket. Add a steamer basket to the hot pot. Cover the top of the tamales with 2-3 more soaked corn husks. Cover the top corn husks with a kitchen towel and cover the pot with a lid. This helps keep the steam in the basket and avoids extra condensation dripping into the tamales. Steam the tamales for 45-55 minutes carefully checking the water level every so often. Please be careful when handling the lid, and towel as the pot is VERY hot!
5. Turn off the steamer and let the tamales rest for 10 minutes before serving. The tamales are completely cooked when they come off the husk completely.
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