Cannabis Tamales in a Crock pot
After watching this video, i decided that I wanted to create my own version of pork tamales
The recipe makes about 1 dozen tamales
To make my tamales you will need a crockpot.
Make the meat filling
Turn your crockpot on to the highest setting.
You could use chicken, beef or a plethora of other proteins in your savory tamale but, here we are using pork. Cut the meat into chunks for faster cooking time or leave it whole for authentic slow cooked flavor. Add at least two pounds of room temperature pork meat to the dry crockpot.
walk away for twenty minutes.
When i hear walk away for twenty , all I hear is 420, so take a little break.
Flip the meat over
to the crockpot add
4 ancho chile -dried (stems removed)
1 onion quartered
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp salt
1 pouch sazon goya
1 carrot chopped
1 tbsp dried parsley or cilantro
1/8 oz high quality finely chopped cannabis
stir and let sit in crockpot on high uncovered for another ten minutes
add enough chicken broth to cover the meat and vegetables
Cover and let simmer for 6 hours or until fork tender
Remove meat and veggies from crockpot and set aside.
image by Krista used with flickr cc license
Reserve the juices for the masa dough.
Soak corn husks in lightly salted warm water for an hour or two before using them.
image by ricardo used with creative commons license
Make the masa
you will need a hand mixer - the old school kind with beaters, a stand mixer or your bare hands.
3 cups masa harina - i like maseca
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup canna butter or lard (manteca)
1 1/2 - 2 cups broth from pork
mix all ingredients well until an airy, very smooth dough is formed with a consistency like soft playdough. if it feels too wet and sticky, mix in a bit more masa. if it feels dry and crumbly, add more broth. different climates sometimes require more or less liquid.
let the dough rest at room temp for five minutes
while the dough rests, chop up or pull the meat with two forks until it is all broken up. add 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid back in to the meat. mix well
begin assembly of tamales - there are several methods but I do them one at a time rather than assembly line fashion
Image used with cc license photo by: Eugene Kim
take one husk in your hand and spread masa in a thin layer over 3/4 of the husk. if the husk is too wet, the masa may slide off so, blot the husk dry if necessary. i use the back of a spoon to spread the masa. you can use your hands or a trendy masa spreader.
image used with cc license photo by tokyofoodcast.com
place a thin line of the meat mixture down the middle of the husk and wrap it up
Watch the video below to see how to roll tamales.
It isn't my video, that's just how i learn to do things in the modern age. i watch videos.
place assembled tamales inside a metal colander, or vegetable steamer basket. As a last resort, a disposable pie pan with slits cut out will work just as well.
If your steamer of choice doesn't have feet you will need to get creative to keep the tamales from touching the water
Put an upside down bowl or pie tin in the bottom of the crockpot. add water just to the top of the upside down bowl and set colander down into crockpot. put lid on
Watch here to learn how to make a makeshift steamer out of a pie tin and aluminum foil
let the tamales steam, covered on high for three to 6 hours adding more water if necessary. you will notice they are cooked when the dough separates from the husk in one solid piece. In my crockpot, this takes about 3 hours 45 minutes but in some it could take up to 6.
These are also pretty good dipped into salsa or our "eyes blurry chimichurri." sauce
You can find the recipe for chimichurri sauce in our cookbook Dangerously Dank Dinners on Amazon
