December 3, 2007 by Nathalie Herling.

Sweet Christmas Tamales

1 C of Raisons
1/3 C of Rum

2/3 C of softened butter
2 C of Tamale Masa
1 T Vanilla
2 T Rum
1/4 Sugar
1 t of Baking Powder
1 t of Salt
2 C Lukewarm Water
1/2 t of Ground Cinnamon

1/2 C of Pecan pieces

18 to 20 corn husks

Put the Raisins in a sauce pan and heat until plump up in the 1/3 C of Rum, about 3 min. Let cool. The raisins will absorb up most of Rum.

In a large bowl combine the butter, masa, vanilla, rum, sugar, cinnamon, and water.
Mix on Medium for 5 min. Let sit for 5 min.

Take a corn husk and put a thin coating of masa on the husk. Do not put it on the pointed tip but make like a square rectangular of thinly applied dough. You can also put a 2 T flattened glob in the center is another technique. I have started using a masa spreader. If you are going to make tamales regularly this under $10 investment is pretty cool.
Spread out all your Masa Dough on the corn husks.

In the center of each husk spread about one T of rum raisins. And about 3 broken up pecan halves.

Fold the husk the way you like. Tie is you like but if you fold and turn up right you will not necessary need to tie. Since these are considered Holiday tamales you might want to tie to tear off a piece of the husk and tie around to look like a present.
Put the little packages standing upright in a steamer for 1 hour.

Be-careful removing not to disturb the husk packages too much or to get hurt by the steam.

Let cool and serve.

For a fancy dessert you can accompany these with ice cream or a sauce of chocolate, raspberry, vanilla, tamarine or brown sugar sauce.

Posted in desserts, latin, recipes, la chamba cookware | No Comments »

December 2, 2007 by Nathalie Herling.

Roasting Garlic

5 bulbs of Garlic

1.5 T of Olive Oil

1/2 C of Water

A great ingredient to have handy is roasted garlic.  I recently had the opportunity to try the Superstone (a patented highly fired clay mixture) Garlic Baker by Sassafras. Roasted up the garlic perfectly. Simply cut off the top of the full garlic bulb and remove the papery part.  Dribble about 1.5 T of Olive Oil over the top, salt and pepper and put in a cool oven at 350 degrees. After 25 min add a 1/2 a cup of water and baste every 10 to 15 min until the garlic is tender in an hour. After it cools, remove the extra pulp from the bulbs and store in an air tight container for future use. The brick like surroundings cooked it perfect. Cleaned up beautifully. Recommended.

I made five bulbs at a time to have a good supply for lots of recipes for the week.

Posted in stoneware, european, vegetarian recipes, recipes | 2 Comments »