How to Make Tamales free essay sample

The larger the better. Although tamales are certainly worth the trouble, fact is they can be a decent amount of work. You wouldn’t want to do all of this for just a couple dozen tamales. You need a pot deep enough to hold the tamales and something that holds enough water that you won’t have to be refilling every 10 minutes. The glass lid is nice because you can satisfy your curiosities without letting the steam out. Measuring devices: As many or as few as you like. Everything from large measuring cups to small measuring spoons will come in handy. Silicon spatula: This device is key. A lot of the trick to making good looking tamales is the ability to get very sticky masa dough onto a damp corn husk in a smooth and controlled manner. We feel that the silicon spatula is the best way to go. Also, comes in handy when you’re getting down to the bottom of the masa bowl. We will write a custom essay sample on How to Make Tamales or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Tongs, forceps, or chopsticks: You’re going to need something to handle very hot little tamales. Big pots produce big steam. The longer the handles the better. Gravy separator: One of the keys to this delicious recipe is using the stock from the meat to moisten the masa mix. Of course, you don’t want all of the chicken and pork fat going into the mix so you’re going to need a way of getting it out. You can use a ladle, or chill the stock and wait for the fat to solidify, but a good gravy separator comes in handy. Great ingredients = Great tamales Tamales are fun to make, but they are a bit labor intensive. If youre going to spend the time, you want to make the best tamales you can. This is where top-notch ingredients make the difference. 7-8 lb Pork Shoulder Roast buy a good quality roast and trim as much of the exterior fat off as you can.   Whole Chicken dont forget to remove the giblets from the cavity. 2lbs. Corn Masa this usually comes in a 4lb bag, so youll have enough for two batches. 1 to 2 packages Corn Husks the amount depends on how large you like your tamales. We like ours small, so we get a couple of packages. Be sure your husks dont have any black mold on them, and dont use any substitute for real corn husks. 2 1/2 C. Co rn Oil oils dont last forever. If you dont remember when you bought it, its probably time to get a new bottle. 3/8 C. Garlic Powder heres another place you might want to buy a new bottle rather than using that one thats been at the back of your spice cabinet for years. 5/8 C. Chili Powder chili powder is actually a mixture of many ingredients, not just ground chiles. This is an ingredient where buying the best will result in a better tamale. 1 Tbsp. Whole Cumin Seed if you have a means of grinding the cumin, buy an extra amount of whole seeds. 3 Tbsp. Ground Cumin fresh ground spices are always the best, but a little jar of ground will do the trick. 3 Tbsp. Paprika hot, sweet, or smoky eres a place where you can add your own interpretation. 5  Tbsp. Salt we always use a good kosher salt. 1 Tbsp. Ground Pepper again, fresh ground is always the best Perfect Preparation: There are two important steps to make sure you start early. Thats the cooking of the meat, and the soaking of the corn husks. These steps take time and if you dont allow for them, theyll throw off your whole day. Lets start wi th cooking the meat. The best way to do this is the night before tamale day. You’ll need two large pots. Cut the pork roast into 5 or 6 large chunks. Place the chicken in one pot and the roast in the other and cover both with water. This is also a fun place to throw in some garlic cloves, onion slices, or anything else you think might serve the meat well. Bring to a boil. The chicken will be done in about 2 hours, the roast will need at least 2 ? hours. While the meats are cooking (if you’re doing this all in one day), start soaking the Corn Husks. You need to soak them submerged in warm water for at least 2 hours to make them soft and pliable. When the meats are done, let them cool in their liquid. If you have enough refrigerator space, you can place them and their pots in the fridge overnight. This will not only cool the meat, but also solidify the fat on top, making it easier to remove. Remove both meats from their stock, but save the stock! This is a key ingredient later on. Now take the skin from the chicken and debone it shredding the meat with your fingers. Shred the pork in a similar fashion while discarding as much fat out of the meat as possible. Combine both of the meats. In a small pot on the stove, warm 1/2 C of Corn Oil 6 Tbsp Chili Powder 3 Tbsp. Ground Cumin 3 Tbsp. Garlic Powder 2 Tbsp. Salt 1 Tbsp. Ground Black Pepper. You’re not trying to cook the spices, just warm them enough to bring out their flavors. Add the spice/oil mixture to your meats. Kneed with your hands until the meat and spices are fully incorporated together. This will take many minutes and your hand should feel like it’s about to fall off. When the chicken and pork stocks are cool enough to work with, skim the fat off of the top of the stock with a ladle, or use a gravy separator. Discard the fat. Combine the stocks. Next we make the dough†¦. If your stock is chilled in the refrigerator, now is a good time to take it out and warm it on the stove. Combine 2lbs Corn Masa (1/2 the bag) 3 Tbsp. Paprika 3 Tbsp. Salt 1 Tbsp. Whole Cumin Seeds 3 Tbsp. Chili Powder 3 Tbsp. Garlic Powder. Mix well. Now add 2 Cups Corn Oil. This is where we find our Kitchen Aid  mixer and dough-hook attachment handy. These ingredients are a little much for the smaller Kitchen Aids, but should work well in the larger models. Add up to 8 cups of stock to your Masa mixture, kneading or mixing thoroughly after each addition of liquid. Stop adding stock when your mixture is the consistency of thick peanut butter. Don’t let it get too thin. Steamy Sauna Time: Now it is time to assemble the tamales and get them in the steam. Drain some of our corn husks and unroll them. Hold one in your hand and, using your silicon spatual or similar tool, smear about ? cup of masa dough onto the husk. You want to cover the 2/3 of the husk toward the wider end of the husk. Leave some of the husk at the top without dough on it. (see photo) Now take some of the meat in your hand and squeeze. Place meat in middle of the masa dough in your husk. Roll from the bottom end up so that the masa dough encircles the meat and the roll finished with the un-doughed end of the husk. Now take the narrow end of the husk, without the masa, and fold it up against the tamale. Set it on the counter with the tamale sitting on its tail, so that it doesn’t unroll. Repeat with the rest of the tamales. Get your large steaming vessel on the stove with water and heat. You want the steaming water to come close to the bottom of the steaming basket, but not so close that you’re boiling the tamales. Fill the steaming basket with your tamales on end. If you have to steam several batches and you get to one that doesn’t completely fill the basket, you can use an upside down glass jar to fill up some of the space. Lower into the steam. The tamales need to steam for at least 2 hours. Check the water level ever so often to make sure that it doesn’t run dry. You want to avoid this at all costs. Add water as necessary. After 2 hours, you can take a tamale out and test it. The masa dough should be completely cooked. If it is still gooey and raw, continue to steam for another 30 minutes and check again. Leftover tamales can be carefully wrapped and frozen for later snacks. Just take a few of the frozen tamales, wrap in a damp paper towel and place in the microwave.

The 5 Conservative Women Most Likely to Become President

The 5 Conservative Women Most Likely to Become President Four women are early frontrunners to be part of a 2016 presidential ticket. As voters and the media continue to obsess over the next first in national electoral politics, these four Republican women make a strong case to be part of such a ticket. The Democrats will likely throw down with failed First Lady-turned-Failed-Senator-turned-failed-Secretary-of-State Hillary Clinton. But Republicans have a diverse group of candidates with compelling stories and strong records of success. Condoleezza Rice Many had hoped that the former Secretary of State and National Security adviser would have been Mitt Romneys pick in 2012. Though she was passed over for Paul Ryan, Condi Rice remains popular with Republican voters and the general public at-large. She was easily the most well-regarded figure in the George W. Bush administration. Rice would have seemed an unlikely selection prior to 2012 as many within the Republican Party stepped back and re-evaluated their foreign policy thinking. But after watching the isolationist, weak, indecisive and rogue foreign policy decisions of the Obama administration, a candidate Rice is starting to look quite appealing. With Russia, Iran, China, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and ISIS being a much bigger issue now than they were in 2008 and 2012, Rices experience and knowledge could not be matched by many others. And as almost none of the frontrunners for the Republican nomination have any in-depth foreign policy experience, she could provide that in a year where it will matter. And if Hillary were to be the Democratic nominee in 2016, who better to explain the world as it was left to Hillary, and the world Hillary let it become? Seeing Rice picked as Jeb Bushs running-mate is no stretch given her ties to the family. But she could also be a compelling pick for Rand Paul, someone who clearly has a different foreign policy perspective but who is a candidate who needs to satisfy the concerns of foreign policy conservatives. It would be an interesting and compelling ticket. It could be an unexpectedly brilliant ticket as well. [Potential: Vice-Presidential Nominee] Nikki Haley The Governor of South Carolina should cruise to second term in 2014.   By 2016, she will have 6 years of executive experience on her resume that includes a solid record of job creation and a drastic reduction in the unemployment rate. She has worked tirelessly to improve the business climate of the state and attract major businesses to relocate. Should she run for President, she would also have the clear upper-hand in the South Carolina primary, one of the 4 premier battlegrounds with a designation as the first-in-the-south contest. She is the daughter or Indian immigrants and her husband did a full-year tour in Afghanistan in 2013. She also appointed the popular Tim Scott to the US Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint. [Potential: Presidential or Vice-Presidential Nominee] Susana Martinez The Governor of New Mexico makes sense as a Presidential of Vice-Presidential pick for many reasons. She is a female Latina Governor in a world obsessed with checking off boxes of firsts, and she would be a two-for-one deal. But beyond the identity politics, Martinez has proven a practical and tough figure. Her electoral accomplishments have come in New Mexico, a bluish-purple state that voted for President Obama in 2008 and 2012 by double-digit margins, proving she has broad appeal. As the GOP struggles to convince minority and women voters to give the Republican Party a chance, Martinez is a pretty effective voice in that regard: Martinez was a Democrat who shifted to the Republican Party after being personally convinced that her states values were conservative ones. Its an argument that Republicans will need if they want to broaden their support base. [Potential: Presidential or Vice-Presidential Nominee] Carly Fiorina Fiorina has never held political office, but the first female CEO of a Fortune 50 company proved to be a very smart and disciplined politician in her 2016 run for President. Conservatives took to Fiorinas aggressive style, but she never had a base to draw from with a dozen other established candidates in the field. However, look for her to be a top option for US Senator Ted Cruz if he somehow upends Trump for the GOP nomination in 2016. Kelly Ayotte The US Senator from New Hampshire will be up for re-election in 2016. This presents a problem for her and many other Republicans from the 2010 Senate class such as Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rob Portman, and Ron Johnson: to run for re-election in a tough state; quit and run for President; or do both. So far, only Rand Paul has indicated that he wants to both run for President and re-election to the US Senate. Unlike the other candidates, his Senate seat will likely not be competitive so it is less of an issue. For Ayotte, doing both is not practical and she would be a long-shot as a Presidential contender in such a crowded field. But as a VP prospect she brings a lot to the table. She is a fairly popular US Senator and the only female contender with Northeastern credentials, an geographic region of struggle for Republicans. However, she lacks the foreign policy experience of Dr. Rice and the executive experience of Haley and Martinez, so her selection could appear more optics than exper ience. [Potential: Presidential or Vice-Presidential Nominee]