Beef Tamales

Keeping with the theme of eating healthy (and mexican, lol) I made beef tamales. I have never made tamales before and they were on my "to make" list, so when I saw a Cooking Light recipe for them I decided to give them a try. I have to admit, they were a bit time consuming (because of the cook time for the beef, and then the steaming) but I didn't care. I was making these. I couldn't believe the nutritional info, so little fat and calories, in a serving size of two tamales that meant I could have 3, lol! Unfortunately, 2 were plenty. They are pretty filling. I made slight variations to the original recipe only because I didn't read it well. Oh well, I doubt they would effect the nutritional value little, if any. I made a super easy red chili sauce to accompany the tamales. The sauce lent a wonderful flavor to them I'm so happy I decided to make it.

Chad had never had tamales before and wasn't sure how to eat them. After a little Tamale 101, he understood. : )

I am really happy that these turned out so well. Next time I'm sure to use left over beef or pork instead of braising, and then steaming in the same day. That took about 2 1/2 hours. Definitely not a weeknight meal unless some of the work is done ahead of time.

Beef Tamales

(Cooking Light)

Filling:

Cooking spray

1 1/2 cups chopped onion 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 pound beef stew meat

1 cup water

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons ground dried red New Mexico chile

16 large dried cornhusks

Dough:

3 cups masa harina

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon butter, melted

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 cup fat-free, less-sodium beef broth

1 cup water

Remaining ingredients: 16 long thin strips dried cornhusk ,1 cup Red Chile Sauce (optional)

My Red Chili Sauce:

1 8oz. can tomato sauce

1 1/2 Tbs. Chili powder

1 Tbs. cumin

1 tsp. sugar

dash of salt and pepper

Mix all together in sauce pan and simmer 5 minutes.


Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
To prepare filling, heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until onion is tender. Add beef; sauté 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Stir in 1 cup water and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring mixture to a boil. Cover and bake 1 1/2 hours or until beef is tender.
Transfer beef to a bowl with a slotted spoon. Pour drippings into a glass measure. Add enough water to drippings to equal 1 cup. Wipe pan with paper towels.



Shred beef into bite-sized pieces. Heat pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Return beef to pan; sprinkle with flour. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in ground chile; stir in drippings mixture. Reduce heat, and cook 7 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates, stirring often. Remove from heat; cool to room temperature.
Place whole cornhusks in a large bowl; cover with water. Weight husks down with a can; soak 30 minutes. Drain husks.



To prepare dough, combine masa and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add butter and oil; stir well. Add broth and 1 cup water; stir until a soft dough forms.

Working with one husk at a time, place about 1/4 cup masa dough in the center of the husk; press dough into a 4 x 3-inch rectangle. Spoon about 2 tablespoons beef mixture down one side of the dough. Using the corn husk as your guide, roll tamale up, jelly-roll style; fold bottom ends of the husk under. Tie 1 corn husk strip around tamale to secure; stand upright in a vegetable steamer. Repeat procedure with the remaining whole corn husks, masa dough, beef mixture, and corn husk strips.

Steam tamales, covered, 50 minutes, or until the dough is firm. Remove tamales from vegetable steamer; let stand 5 minutes. Serve with Red Chile Sauce, if desired.

(Take a look at my make shift steamer!)


8 servings (serving size: 2 tamales)


Nutritional Information
CALORIES 145(27% from fat); FAT 4.3g (sat 1.4g,mono 1.6g,poly 0.9g); IRON 1.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 20mg; CALCIUM 49mg; CARBOHYDRATE 19.9g; SODIUM 268mg; PROTEIN 7.9g; FIBER 2.2g