Back to the future! We have here the king of mesoamerican food. It is one of the oldest recipes, part of the traditions of mesoamerican populations including Aztecs and Mayas. The Tamales have a long history and traces of their consumption date back to 7.000 AC. They are made with masa a white corn base flour, filled with a savory filling: meat, vegetables, fruits, cheese. The Tamale is portable food steamed or boiled and preserved into a leaf wrapper (usually plantain leaves), you can eat them as a sort of fast food sandwich and they are one of the oldest street food still eaten today. This recipe is very close to how grandmothers would do it, even though it seems that in the ancient recipe no use of lard is recorded. But after I tried it a couple of time, I found out that the masa with lard tastes much nicer! They are not quick to make, so make more once and deep freeze them for future use.

Ca. 20 pcs

Ready in 3 hours + other 1.5H cooking

20 pieces

2 tbs chilli powder

2 tsp salt

1 tbs paprika

1 tbs garlic powder

1 tbs ground black pepper

1 tbs cumin powder

1 onion

1 kg boston butt meat

half glass vegetable oil

1 big onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

1 jalapeno finely chopped

Plantain leaves cut into squares 30×30 cm

1 kg white cornmeal

1 tbs baking powder

250 gr lard

1 tsp salt

1 glass warm water

Sour cream to serve

Combine all powder and spices and retain 1 teaspoon.

Put the meat into a saucepan, cover with spices and completely cover (3 cm at least) the meat with water. Bring to boil and let simmer for 3 hours circa. Set aside. Cool down take the meat and make it in smaller pieces and retain the cooking liquid.

In a large mixing bowl place the cronmeal, the baking powder, the salt , the lard room-temperature and the water and start kneading, add as much meat cooking liquid as necessary to form a dough soft and wet. Set aside.

In a pan, fry the onion, garlic and jalapeno chopped with the teaspoon of spices. Add the meat and stir fry for 5 minutes. Set aside.

Place a leave of plantain leave (25×20 cm) on a table, spread 2 tbs of cornmeal mixture in a rectangle of 7×15 cm, spoOn into the center of the cornmeal spread a line of meat mixture (3×8 cm), close the leave so that the cornmeal dough surrounds the meat. Pack each cornmeal roll into the leave and seal it with cooking twine.

Place the tamales upright position in a steamer and steam them for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Alternatively you can place them in a sauce pan, add water to cover half of them (the water should be below 3 cm from the top of tamales), bring to boil and then, low heat let simmer for the same timing above. Serve hot with sour cream (tell your guest to unwrap them before eating – the leave is not edible).

1 chicken breast cut into thin strips

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 big onion sliced

2 red pepper cut into thin strips

juice of 1 lime

3 tbs vegetablle oil

1 garlic clove finely chopped

half tsp cumin powder

half tsp chilli pepper powder

80 grams fresh cilantro finely chopped

1 tbs brown sugar

Tortillas recipe: Tortillas

Easy and quick to prepare (if you buy ready-to-go tortillas), fajitas are one of my preferred mexican dishes.

Chop the cilantro.

Put it in a bowl along with the garlic (chopped or in pieces at your choice),  the spices, the sugar, the lime juice and the vegetable oil.

Pour the sauce over the chicken strips, mix well and refrigerate for 1h at least.

Now you should grill it on a barbecue. In case you cannot, heat 3 tbs of vegetable oil in a big pan and add the marinated chicken, stir fry high heat until it starts to burn.

Serve hot and wrap i tinto hot tortillas. Serve with sour cream and guacamole.

Quesadillas

flour tortillas as per recipe below: http://eatwithmarco.com/en/tortillas/

400 gr grated Gouda or Monterey Jack cheese

50 gr sliced and preserved jalapenos

3 tbs vegetable oil

Oil a pan with a couple of drops of oil and heat it up.

Roll the dough to a round of 20/25 cm diameter.

Put into the pan. Fill in half of the tortilla iwth some cheese and the jalapenos. Close the tortilla into a half-moon. Cook both sides for 3/4 minutes and medium-high heat.

This is the basic version but you can fill them in as you like (add anything you like, such as cooked chicken, grilled vegetables, etc).

600 gr di carne trita di manzo / 600 gr mince beef meat

400 gr fagioli neri in scatola / 400 can black kidney beans

400 gr pomodori a pezzettoni  / 400 gr can chopped tomatoes

1 cipolla / 1 onion

1 peperone rosso / 1 red pepper

2 spicchi d’aglio / 2 garlic cloves

1 peperoncino fresco piccante / 1 fresh chili pepper

1 cucchiaio cumino macinato / 1 tsp cumin powder

1 cucchiaino peperoncino macinato / 1 tsp hot chilli powder

mezzo cucchiaio paprika / half tbs paprika

1 cucchiaino di zucchero / 1 tsp sugar

Succo di mezzo lime / half lime squeezed

Olio d’oliva / Olive oil

Sale / Salt

Tritare grossolanamente la cipolla, il peperone, l’aglio e il peperoncino.

Chop roughly the onion, the green pepper, the chili pepper and the garlic.

Soffriggere la cipolla con mezzo bicchiere di olio d’olive finché non sarà lucida.

Fry the onion with half glass of olive oil until transulcent.

Unire il peperoncino.

Add the chili pepper.

Unire il peperone e l’aglio. Cuocere per 5 minuti.

Add the green pepper and the garlic. Cook for 5 minutes.

Unire tutte le spezie. Saltare per 5 minuti.

Add the spices. Cook for 5 minute.

Unire la carne a fuoco alto. Saltare per almeno 20/25 minuti (o più se necessario) mescolando continuamente. La carne si deve tostare e deve diventare color nocciola scuro.

Add the meat high heat. And let fry fr at least 20/25 minutes (or more if necessary) stirring continuously. The meat must be fried and must become brown.

Unire 250 ml d’acqua, 1 cucchiaino di zucchero, 1 cucchiaino di sale, origano e il mezzo lime spremuto.

Add 250 ml of water. Add 1 tsp of sugar, 1 tsp salt, oregan  and the lime juice.

Unire i pomodori. E lasciare sobbollire a fuoco medio per circa 30 minuti, mescolando di tanto in tanto. Se si asciuga troppo aggiungere acqua.

Add the tomatoes. Let it bubble for 30 minutes at medium heat stirring every now and then. If it gets too dry add water.

Aggiungere i fagioli sciacquati. Cuocere per altri 20 minuti a fuoco basso. Aggiustare di sale. Servire caldo con tortillas, guacamole, pico de gallo e panna acida.

Add th kidney beans (drained and rinsed). Cook for other 20 minutes at low heat. Season with salt if necessary. Serve with tortillas, guacamole, pico de gallo and sour cream.

Servire come nella foto con / Serve as shown in picture with:

Pico de Gallo: http://www.eatwithmarco.com/pico-de-gallo/

Tortilla: http://www.eatwithmarco.com/tortillas/

Guacamole (dalla ricetta che segue/from the following recipe):

http://www.eatwithmarco.com/tartare-di-salmone-salmon-tartare/

E panna acida / And sour cream.

500 gr riso / 500 gr rice

400 gr pomodori a pezzettoni / 400 gr can chopped tomatoes

400 ml acqua calda / 400 ml hot water

2 dadi / 2 stock cubes

2 cucchiaini di cumino macinato / 2 tsp cumin powder

1 peperoncino piccante / 1 hot chilli pepper

1 cucchiaino di peperoncino macinato / 1 tsb chili powder

1 cipolla / 1 onion

5 cucchiai olio d’oliva / 5 tbs olive oil

sale / salt

facoltativo / discretionary:

1 cucchiano di aglio in polvere / 1 tsp garlic powder

Accendere il forno a 250°.

Pre-heat oven at 250 degrees C.

in una piccola casseruola bollire l’acqua con i dadi e spegnere non appena i dadi si saranno sciolti.

In a small casserole put the water and the stock cubes and bring to boil. Switch off when the cubes are melted.

Sciacquare il riso per un paio di minuti sotto acqua corrente (questo passaggio toglie l’eccesso di amido e mantiene i chicchi separati).

Wash and drain in running cold water the rice for a couple fo minutes (this step remove the exceeding starch so it will not stick).

Grattugiare la cipolla e soffriggerla con l’olio.

Grate the onion, and fry it with the olive oil.

Unire le spezie. Soffriggere 2 minuti.

Add the spices. Fry 2 mins.

Unire il riso e soffriggere mescolando bene per 7/8 minuti.

Add the rice and mix well. Fry for 7/8 minutes.

Unire i pomodori.

Add the tomatoes.

Unire il brodo di dado. Unire il peperoncino fresco intero.

Add the stock. Add the fresh chili pepper.

Versare tutto in una pirofila da forno.

Pour everything in a casserole dish.

Coprire con carta stagnola. Infornare per 20 minuti.

Cover with aluminium foil. Put in oven for 20 mins.

Dopo 10 minuti togliere il coperchio di alluminio e far assorbire tutto il liquido.

After 10 minutes take off the lid and let all water evaporate.

Serve.

Servire.

400 gr pomodori / 400 gr ripe tomatoes

3 cucchiai di coriandolo fresco tritato / 3 tbs fresh chopped cilantro

1 peperone verde / 1 green pepper

1 peperoncino fresco piccante / 1 hot chili pepper

1 cipolla / 1 onion

Succo di 1 lime / 1 squeezed lime

Sale / salt

Tritare grossolanamente tutti gli ingredienti: la cipolla, il peperone, il peperoncino, i pomodori (sgocciolare i pomodori e togliere l’acqua in eccesso).

Chop roughyl all ingredients: the green pepper, the chili pepper, the onion and the tomatoes (discard the exceeding water form the tomatoes).

Mettere in un recipiente e unire il coriandolo, il succo di lime, e aggiustare di sale. Lasciare in frigorifero per lameno 1 ora prima di servire.

Put everything in a container, add the cilantro, the lime juice and seaosn with salt. Refrigerate for 1h at least before serving.

600 gr farina ‘0’ / 600 grams all-purpose flour

60 gr olio di semi / 60 grams vegetable oil

1 cucchiaino colmo lievito per torte salate / 1 full tsp baking powder

200 gr circa acqua tiepida / circa 200 grams warm water

mezzo cucchiaio di sale / half tbs salt

Versare in un contenitore la farina, l’olio, il sale e il lievito. Iniziare ad amalgamare con le dita, aggiungere l’acqua poco alla volta (la quantità necessaria dipenderà dal grado di umidità della farina), aggiungetene poco alla volta fino a che il composto sarà morbido ed elastico e non si attaccherà alle dita. Se avete esagerato con l’acqua, compensate con un po’ di farina (e viceversa).

In a bowl mix the flour, the vegetable oil, the salt and the baking powder. Start mixing with your fingers and add slowly the water (the quantity of water necesary will depend on the humidity of flour), pour the water slowly until you reach a very soft non-sticky dough.

If you put too much water, compensate with a bit of flour and viceversa.

Avvolgere in pellicola e porre in frigorifero per 2 ore prima di usare.

Wrap in plastic film and refrigerate for 2 hours before using.

Dividere l’impasto in 10 parti uguali. Stenderle col mattarello finché non saranno sottilissime.

Divide the dough into 10 balls. Roll them out until very thin.

Cuocerle su una piastra o una padella antiaderente. Cuocere per 40 secondi per parte. Attenzione a non cuocerle troppo altrimenti si seccano e diventano croccanti. Impilarle in un piatto e mantenerle sempre coperte con un coperchio (l’umidità le mantiene morbide e arrotolabili).

Cook them on a griddle or a hot pan. Cook them for 40 seconds per side. Careful they do not burn and do no overcook otherwise they will be dry and crunchy. Pile them on a plate and keep covered with a lid (the steam will keep them soft and ‘rollable’).