Shredded meat tamales

Yield: 32 Servings MM

Ingredients:

32 Corn shucks
1 c Lard
1 ts Chili powder
1 ts Salt
8 c Masa
3 c Water warm MMMMM--------------------------FILLING-------------------------------
1 md Onions chopped
1 Garlic cloves crushed
1/2 ts Cumin ground
1/2 ts Chili powder
1/2 tb Salt
1/4 ts Pepper black
3 tb Raisins; finely chopped
2 tb Oil
1 lb Meat shredded
1/4 c Water MMMMM-----------------------COOKING WATER----------------------------
1/2 tb Lard
1 ts Chili powder
1 pt Water

Instructions:

Soak corn shucks in warm water 2 hours or overnight before using. Fry onion garlic cumin chili powder salt pepper and raisins (if desired) in hot oil. Add meat and water and simmer until liquid has been absorbed. Work lard chili powder and salt into masa; knead with hands until smooth. (Alternately pour ingredients into breadmaker and start on manual. ) Using back of spoon spread masa mixture thinly and evenly on inside of shuck covering half the length of shuck. Thinly spread 1 tb filling mixture on masa-covered portion of shuck. Lap one side of shuck over the other folding under portion of shuck which does not contain masa. Stack tamales pyramid-fashion on shallow steaming rack in bottom of large cooker. Add lard and chili powder to water and pour over tamales. Cover with additional shucks and steam 4-5 hours. Hint: when masa is done it will pull away from shucks when unfolded. Sylvia's notes: Stokes' Green Chili Sauce with Pork along with some shredded meat makes a great quick filling. And I steamed a batch in my rice cooker/steamer for 4 hours although I think they were done after 3. It was a bit of a pain because when the timer dinged at the end of an hour I had to remove the steamer and drip pan and refill the water base before starting it for another hour but it was still less of a hassle than trying to keep them from burning in a big pot. I also had to clean the base pretty well as something colored from the tamales kept working down into the water. And I think the masa needs a lot more chili powder to steam it over plain water instead of flavored water; it was pretty bland after being steamed. Source: White Wings Corn Tortilla Mix bag MM by Sylvia Steiger GEnie THE.STEIGERS CI$ 71511 2253 GT Cookbook echo moderator at net/node 004/005