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Tamales 2 ways!

Baja Border Blend Tamales - 2 ways! This is a recipe I learned from Carmen at The Hood. She is one of the support staff at The Hood Kitchen Space where I make our rubs. She makes hundreds of tamales and sells them every December to support a charity. Fabulous woman!

Make either or both of the tamale fillings and scroll to the end to see how they're filled and cooked! It's the same for either one.

Chicken Tamales - makes 35

4 chicken breasts (halves)

2 whole hatch chilies or 1 pasilla pepper

18 medium to large tomatillos – leaf removed

2 jalapenos

½ of an onion - sliced

2 cloves of garlic

2 T chicken bouillon

½ C Baja Border Blend

1 T Baja Border Blend

Baking powder

**Soak the corn husks in water while you’re preparing the rest of the tamale ingredients.

Cover the chicken with water, add the onion and the 1/2 cup of Baja Border Blend - bring to a boil. Simmer until done, about 25 to 30 minutes, then take out of the water, placing them on a sheet pan and let them cool.

Remove the seeds from the chilies and place in a pan with the tomatillos – cover with water bring to a boil and then simmer. Cook for about 15 minutes; when they are done, blend well in a blender.

Shred the chicken (this takes a while) and place in a large bowl. When it's all shredded, transfer to the tomatillo sauce with 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon and cook for 20 minutes to blend the flavors. That's it - it's ready for the corn husks!

Pork Tamales - makes 34

4 lbs of pork cushion meat or pork shoulder

6 New Mexico chilies

10 Guajillo chilies

8-10 tomatoes

½ small white onion

2 cloves garlic

1/3 C Baja Border Blend

1.5 T chicken bullion

**Soak the corn husks in water while you’re preparing the rest of the tamale ingredients.

Cut up pork and put in a pan with 1 cup of water, and add 1/3 cup Baja Border Blend.

Remove the seeds from the chilies and then place them in a pan with the tomatoes – cover with water bring to a boil and then simmer. Cook for 15 minutes. When they are done blend well in the blender with the chicken bouillon, garlic and onion.

In a pan combine the pork and blended salsa and bring to a boil.

Wrapping the tamales:

Masa – for the chicken tamales add a 1/2 tablespoon baking powder and 1 tablespoon Baja Border Blend to 5 pounds of masa, making sure to stir it all the way in.

For the pork tamales add a few tablespoons of paprika and 1/2 tablespoon of baking powder.

There’s a rough outside and a smooth inside to the corn husk. Smear the husk with the masa from about halfway down the husk up to the top, place the meat inside and then fold the 2 sides over and then the tail up.

Fill the tamale pan with water and 2 tablespoons of chicken bouillon up to the line. Place the tamales standing straight up – you can layer them to get them all in.

Then cover with a few layers of corn husks and seal tight with foil. Put the lid on and bring to a boil. Turn it down slightly and cook for 1 hour and 45 minutes up to 2 hours.

ENJOY!! .