"Smells Like Children" -Joe Biden
I would love to marry into your family, however im still working up the courage
to ask your grandpa at Sunday bingo for permission to start a life with your dad.
I love the feeling of hairy knuckles brushing across my cheeks.
I prefer my caves to be in the woods. A cave in the open has seen to many visitors.
If Sarah Palin relases another sex tape, notify me immediately.


Tamales

Meat:

2 ibs pork shoulder or butt 1 onion cut in half 5 cloves garlic, minced 2 tsp ancho chili powder 2 tsp cumin 2 tsp chipotle chili powder 2 small chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced

Trim excess fat off pork butt. Put ingredients in slow cooker, cover w/water (1/2 strength beef stock) and cook on low for 6 hours or until meat falls off bone. Cool and put in fridge overnight. The next day, shred the meat, removing any bones or gristle. If there is a lot of fat floating on top, remove some, but leave a little.

Chile sauce:

4 dried California or Guajillo or Anaheim chiles, stemmed and seeded. 2 cups broth from cooking pork, including onion, garlic, etc. (after reserving 1 1/2 cup for dough) 1 tsp ancho chile powder 1 tsp chipotle chile powder 1 tsp chili powder 1 tsp cumin 1 1/2 tsp salt 1 TBS cider vinegar

Put chiles and spices in broth and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes. Cool. Blend until smooth.

Add 2 cups chile sauce to meat and mix

Put corn husks in a big pan of water. Heat until water is too hot to touch, turn heat off and cover. Let soak until husks are very soft (about a hour or more)

Dough:

2 cups Maseca instant masa harina for tamales. 2 cups broth from cooking meat (reserve before making chili sauce) (1.5 to 2 cups) 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1 1/2 tsp salt 3/4 cup lard (use the skimmed fat from the meat in addition to store bought lard to make the 3/4 cup) 1 tsp chipotle chili powder 1 tsp ancho chili powder

Add enough broth to masa to make a soft dough On medium speed, beat the lard with salt and the baking powder until fluffy. Continue beating as you add the masa. Add more broth if necessary to make dough the consistency of peanut butter. For the lightest texture, refrigerate the dough for an hour and then reheat, adding a little more broth to obtain the right texture.

Build the tamale:

Drain the corn husks and remove as much water as possible. Spread masa over husk. Cover to 1/2" of top and sides and 2-3" to bottom (narrow end). Put meat filling in center and fold one side over filling and the other side over the first side. Sides should overlap by about 1/4". Fold bottom up and set aside.

Steaming:

Place tamales in steamer, bottom end down. Pack tamales so the all stand up, but with some room in between for expansion. Steam for 3 hours or until husk comes away from dough cleanly. Put a penny in the steaming water so you can hear if it gets low and you can add more water. I keep an extra pot of simmering water on the stove so I’m adding hot water and not cold.

Dough may seem soft until the tamale cools a bit.