re: Tamale Recipe Please

I Have the Secret to Making Tamales like Manuel's:

I knew a guy who was divorcing the daughter of the owner of Manuel's (named Schnieder). He was in a state of mind where he wasn't going to go out of his way to keep family secrets, as you can imagine. I asked him how they made them, and he said that they browned the meat and mixed all the seasonings in BEFORE rolling them into tamales.

The grease in the pot was NOT drained off. This is critical. The meat mixture was then chilled down until it solidified. Then the tamales were rolled into cylinders, rolled in the coarse corn meal and wrapped. Next came the cooking.

To make them, you can use the ingredients in the recipe above, they are close enough to the originals. Just make sure the meat is NOT lean. And since the meat is already cooked, you don't have to simmer them as long, maybe one hour.

This is the reason Manuel's were so greasy, and so delicious.

ETA: When you cook them, you have to have the open end up, or the filling will ooze out. Roll and pack fairly tightly to help them hold together.Like this:



I have experimented with this many times, and there were several close batches and one magical time that nailed it perfectly. Unfortunately, due to my fondness of drinking while cooking, I did not remember the exact ingredient amounts. I need to work on this some more.