Double-Corn Tamales with Green Chiles and Cheese - So easy, even adults can do this!

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A while back, a friend of mine was lamenting the absence of good acitvity books to help her teach her two young boys about daddy's favorite food tamales and how to make them. How perfect, I thought. I happened to have a few copies of Cocina Connection: Tamales - a children's guide - a bilingual, comprehensive tamale acitivity book. Intended for children, it's packed with tamale facts, sayings, customs, recipes, and puzzles. I thought this was an ideal opportunity to child-test the book and get some real user comments. I gave my friend a copy.

After a few runs with some of the easier recipes, my friend tells me the boys love the book and the 'little stories' - they especially like that they get to eat the little corn pillows, or, as her youngest calls them tommies. And, my friend was happy to report, the kids weren't the only ones having all the fun. She was hooked on the activities right along with them, and was learning about as much about tamales as they were. She also shared that having to teach her kids how to make tamales, she forgot to be afraid of making them. The task became a game and before she knew it, they had a couple dozen to share with friends.

So there you go - the secret to making your first batch of tamales: pretend you're teaching a child.

Here's a recipe for Sammy's favorite pillows:

This easy recipe for tamales uses both masa harina--the dried cornmeal used in most
recipes--and fresh corn kernels, which are sometimes used to make what are called "green corn" tamales. The tamales are filled with mild green chiles and soft white cheese.

You should be able to buy all the ingredients in any large grocery store. Be sure to ask a grownup to help, especially when the time comes to cook the tamales.

Ingredients
14 large dried cornhusks
2 cups masa harina
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup milk
2 small ears fresh corn, kernels removed, or
1 cup drained canned corn kernels
1 whole canned mild green chiles, cut into
thin strips
1 1/2 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

In the kitchen sink or a large bowl, put the cornhusks and add enough lukewarm tap water to cover them. Leave them to soak and soften for 5 to 10 minutes. While the cornhusks are soaking, put the masa harina, salt, sugar and baking powder in a
medium-sized mixing bowl. Add the shortening and butter and, with a fork or a pastry blender, mash them into the dry ingredients until the mixture looks like fine crumbs. Stir in the milk until a soft dough forms. Stir in the corn kernels.

Drain the cornhusks. With your fingers, tear two of them lengthwise into thin strips about 1/4 inch wide. To shape the tamales, place one whole cornhusk on the kitchen counter. Place 2 tablespoons of the tamale dough in the center of the cornhusk and spread it with the back of a spoon to shape a rectangle about 3 inches by 1 inch and about 1/2 inch thick. Place a few chile strips along the center of the dough and sprinkle some cheese over them. Put 2 more tablespoons of dough on top and, with your fingers, press the edges of the dough together to seal in the filling. Fold the top and bottom of the cornhusk over the filling, then fold in the sides to form a neat package. Wrap one of the strips of cornhusk around the middle of the package to hold down the flaps, tying the strip securely with a knot.

Repeat the process with the remaining cornhusks, dough, chiles and cheese. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in the bottom of a steamer, then reduce the heat to low
to keep the water simmering gently. Place the tamales in the steamer's basket and carefully put the basket over the simmering water. Cover and steam the tamales for 45 minutes.

Carefully remove the lid, opening it away from you to avoid the steam. Carefully remove the steamer basket and let the tamales cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Use scissors to snip the tied cornhusk strips and let everyone unwrap their tamales at the table.

Traditional Equipment for Making Tamales
While modern supermarket ingredients such as masa harina help people today make tamales easily, traditional Mexican cooks use equipment that hasn't changed for centuries, including:

Metate: A rough-surfaced stone grinder, used to grind dried corn kernels
into a coarse or fine cornmeal, masa harina, from which the dough for
tamales is made.

Tamalera: The steamer in which tamales are cooked. The most common type is called a bote tamalera--literally a "can" or "pail" for tamales-- which looks like a tin bucket with a lid and a basket full of holes that fits inside to hold the tamales.

!Buen Provecho!