Finally! A post! And not just any post, I finally remembered to take pictures last time I was making a batch of tamales, so here it is! These have got to be one of my favorite things to make, mainly because you can make A LOT of them at once, freeze them, pop them in the microwave for a few minutes and they are so delicious!!

Here’s what I use:

Tamale Dough (see recipe below)
Can of Tamale Sauce
Rotisserre Chicken
Bag of Corn Husks

(I usually can get everything that I need for these at Lin’s.)

First I take the corn husks and start soaking them in warm-hot water in a cake pan or large bowl in the sink. Once they are soft take them out and towel dry them off. while I’m drying them off I keep an eye out for any husks that are longer than the rest and set those aside to rip into small strips for holding the tamales together later.

While the husks are soaking I shred the chicken and mix it with the can of tamale sauce.  In this particular batch I tried mixing an additional can of tamale sauce with vegetables (zucchini, summer squash, onions and peppers – all from my sister’s garden! YUM!) to fit into my veggie diet and they turned out amazing =) Then I put my sauce mixtures on the stove to simmer for a few minutes while I make the tamale dough.

Here’s the tamale dough recipe I use:

3 cups Maseca for Tamales
3 cups Chicken Broth
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

Mix dough ingredients together and your ready to start assembling the tamales like this:

Then I start stacking them into a pan with a steamer on the bottom until it’s full and ready to cook!

You know they are done when you can pull the husk off the dough and it doesn’t stick. Once they’re done cooking (it usually takes about 40-50 minutes of steaming time) let them cool for at least 10 minutes as to set completely.

ENJOY!

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I got another amazing recipe from my sister-in-law using her home grown Swiss chard, and here’s how it turned out!

Like most always, I made changes to the recipe based on what I had and how I was feeling, lol. Here’s the original recipe though:

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small white onion, chopped
4 cups sliced escarole or Swiss chard
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup brown rice, cooked according to package directions
½ cup chopped roasted red bell peppers
4 large portobello mushrooms, stems discarded
½ cup prepared hummus, preferably basil flavored
3 Roma tomatoes, sliced
¼ cup chopped walnuts
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the escarole and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until wilted. Remove from the heat and stir in the rice and peppers.

Place the mushrooms, gill side up, on a rimmed baking sheet. Spread with the hummus and spoon the rice mixture over the top, spreading it to the edges. Arrange the tomato slices on top and sprinkle with the walnuts and Parmesan.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the mushrooms are tender. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

I used regular (large size) mushrooms, instead of portobello. I couldn’t find basil hummus so is used a spinach flavor that i found. Also, once I got started I realized that I was going to have WAY too much filling, so I didn’t use the rice and i wish I would’ve remembered to get the walnuts because it would have added a great touch.

And BTW, I have a few upcoming projects that are rounding into the finish line soon. One is my son’s nursery, his second birthday party (this Saturday) and a set of wall art for my master =)

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I decided to take a whack at making cinnamon buns the other night and they turned out quite delicious! The only thing I would do different next time is make them at night and cook them the next morning (one of the recipe options), I think. I was so excited to eat them that I didn’t wait long enough for them to rise =P But nevertheless, here they are:

And here’s the recipe {I got it HERE}

Cinnamon Rolls I