Although I have been stockpiling ingredients (masa harina, corn husks, dried peppers) from trips to the U.S. to make tamales for some time, it was actually the purchase of pasilla peppers from Sobeys Urban Fresh that prompted the tamales finally get made. I’ll admit it, I was intimidated. I have learned how to roll cabbage rolls and make perogies from my Gran before she died, but she’s Ukranian, not Mexican. So I did not know how to roll tamales, and it seemed complicated.

Oh, I had books. Rick Bayless has a multi-page section dedicated to the filling and making of tamales. There are diagrams, tips and descriptive paragraphs, but it just wasn’t the same. Luckily, Youtube came to the rescue with a visual guide on what to do.

Zarela runs a restaurant, and has a series of videos up on Youtube on Mexican cooking. She also had an easy going attitude, and was knowledgeable. In four minutes with her help, I was rolling tamales.

I made the masa dough for a filling and stuffed the tamales full of roasted pasilla peppers, adobe tomato salsa and Monterey Jack cheese. I made a few vegan tamales by making the masa dough with vegetable shortening instead of pork and omitting the cheese.

And you know what? Just like perogies and cabbage rolls, tamales aren’t that hard to do.

First you must acquire corn husks, and soak them so they are pliable. I used the hole filled ones to tear into strips to tie the tamales with. This isn’t a necessary step, but it’s a pretty one.

Bob’s Red Mill masa harina from a Whole Foods in Minneapolis. I would have bought a bigger package, but my luggage was already grossly obese.

I cannot find masa harina in Edmonton. I’m hoping the latin markets will have it, I just haven’t had time to look yet. It’s easier to do my grocery shopping while on holiday, apparently. Safeway, Save-On and Planet Organic all carry a wide assortment of Bob’s Red Mill products, just not this.

What gives?

Masa harina is a corn flour, mixed with lime. It’s used to make a variety of things, including tamales and tortillas.

The masa dough being stirred. You need strong arms and a wooden spoon if you don’t have a mixer. Luckily I’ve been making cookie dough for years, so I can handle my spoons.

Peeling the roasted pasilla peppers. I broiled them in the oven on all four sides, tossed them in a bag for a bit and then peeled, cored and seeded them.

After making an adobo tomato salsa, and cubing the cheese, I rolled. It’s really easy.

Tied with strips of corn husk. Not as easy. I had to redo a few, and some popped on me.

The tamales were steamed for about an hour. The dough gets fluffy, and the smell of corn is wonderful.

A bit moist, still, but I think I had a good dough to filling ratio.

If it seems like I’m proud, it is because I am. The key thing is to have the ingredients. The rest is easy.

Vegan Masa filling for tamales

• 1/2 cup of vegetable shortening
• 2 cups masa harina
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup vegetable stock, plus 1/4 cup of water
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Beat the shortening in a bowl with a whisk until fluffy. In another bowl, mix the masa harina and salt. Combine stock and water. Mix the masa and liquid into the shortening, alternating, until the dough stiffens. Mix in the baking powder. This makes enough for about 15 mid sized tamales.

I made mine sort of chile rellenos tamales, with peppers and cheese. You can use any variety of ingredients however, and make them any size.

Features included:

• fresh salsa verde and guacamole to start
• tortilla soup with all the fixin’s
• red-chile dipped enchiladas

Tortilla soup, with fresh corn tortilla strips, flash fried ancho peppers, farmer’s cheese and chicken chunks. This recipe was amazing.

The main: red-chile dipped enchiladas on a bed of cabbage ‘relish’, covered with red-chile coated potatoes and carrots. It came together well, but was hard to handle.

Since I sustained an oil burn (it’s a long story and mostly involves my own kitchen stupidity) and my hand still kind of hurts when I type, I will save sharing long recipes. (You can find my guacamole recipe here)

The recipes all came from Rick Bayless (of course! I can’t say enough about his book: Authentic Mexican), and I would make them all again, except for the main: the red-chile sauce dipped enchiladas. They are a bit different than the Americanized version of enchiladas we all know and love, and are essentially deep fried flavoured corn tortillas, with no fillings really. I’m not sure if we did something wrong, because although they tasted great, they were hell to get good presentation out of and kept falling apart.

Salsa Verde

10 to 12 tomatillos (1 pound)
1 clove garlic, coarsely chopped
2 jalapeno chiles (or to your tastes)
handful of cilantro
1 small onion, chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 cups broth (beef or chicken, I suppose you could try vegetable as well)
salt to taste, about 1/2 teaspoon

Boil the tomatillos until soft in salted water, about 10-15 minutes. Drain well.

Blend tomatillos, garlic, chiles, cilantro and onion together. Just until it is almost smooth; there should still be some texture.

Heat a frying pan with vegetable oil on medium high. When hot enough that a drop of the tomatillo puree sizzles when you drop it in, add all the puree, stirring constantly for 5 minutes, or until the mix is thicker.

Add the broth, bring to a boil, and reduce heat to simmer for 10 minutes, or until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season.

This recipe is a bit different than ones I have done in the past, and I far preferred it. It’s not as sharp as roasted tomatillo salsa verde can be; it’s sweeter and smoother. I think I’ll crank up the heat factor next time and add more chiles.

Tomatillo mix before the blending…

Almost done!

Frying up the chile for the tortilla soup. Hand-meets-oil accident happened soon after this photo was taken. No cameras were harmed in the making of these chiles.

Dried ancho and guajillo peppers.

Toasting the peppers.

The soaking peppers (closest) and the cabbage/vinegar/red onion mix, farthest.

Grinding peppercorns and cumin seed for the red-chile sauce.

Straining the pepper pods and seeds out of the sauce.

These were the main steps on the road to our Mexican meal. It kind of looks time consuming as I review the photos, but it really wasn’t. Highly delicious and rewarding. I think Mike’s parents liked it, too.

Julio’s Barrio: take note! If I can make fresh delicious authentic Mexican food, so can you. But I would even settle for cooked chicken in my nachos. Thanks.

I grabbed a few that were soft to the touch (patience is a virtue, but not one of mine. I like my avocados ripe) and whipped up some guacamole to snack on.

My recipe is pretty simple, and quite close to Mexican cuisine God Rick Bayless’ “Simple Guacamole” Basically: be a confident cook, have good avocados and good tortilla chips.

The fixin’s for good guac

Crazy White Girl Guacamole

• 2 medium avocados (if they are not soft, stuff them in a paper bag with bananas for a day or two)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 to a whole jalapeno pepper, minced
• 1/2 red onion, diced finely
• juice of 1/2 a lime
• 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved
• handful of cilantro, coarsely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Cut avocados in half, circling around the stone. Jab tip of knife into stone and twist to pop out. Cube avocado in it’s skin, then pop out into a bowl. Coarsely mash with a fork, pouring lime juice on top. Add all other ingredients, mixing. Season to taste.

Easy, right? Basically, just know your tastes in guacamole. I sometimes add more lime or jalapeno. Occasionally, in goes green onion or radish, sometimes a bit of cumin. I usually do it chunky-style.

It is best to eat it all as soon as possible, as the avocado oxidizes quickly, even with the help of the lime acidity. Covering with Saran Wrap, pressing down into the guac and storing in an air tight container will help contain the browning. Also, it’s not bad for you, it just don’t look pretty. Spread it on a sandwich or something if it bothers you.

Mike and I devoured our snack with some Que Pasa brand organic corn chips. They are low in salt, so I find them easier to eat; the corners of my mouth don’t hurt as much after eating. I bought these at Costco, but you can also buy them at Sobeys Urban Fresh. Sooooo goooood.