56 THE QUEENS COURIER • HOLIDAY GUIDE • DECEMBER 20, 2018 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
holiday guide
Flavorful Fiesta Time
Food, family and holiday traditions
A tamalada, or tamale-making party,
is a Mexican holiday tradition that
occurs during Las Posadas and combines
two of the season’s most important
ingredients - quality family time
and fl avorful food.
Consider these tips from Sylvia Garza
of Qué Mami Organics to help make your
tamalada fun and easy.
• Food: Before your tamalada, prepare
the ingredients that require extra time
and work. For example, if you are using
roasted chilies, roast them the day
before and have them peeled, seeded
and cut up for seamless assembly the
next day.
• Family: When hosting a tamalada, have
food or snacks ready to share with your
guests. Making dozens of tamales can
take most of the day, so you’ll want to
keep your helpers well-fed.
• Flavor: Add an ingredient like Tabasco
Chipotle Sauce to your masa when
making tamales. Not only can the sauce
add smoky fl avor, but it also gives the
dough an appetizing golden color. You
can also mix the sauce into your fi lling
for a brighter fl avor and a kick of heat.
Find more fl avorful recipes at Tabasco.
com.
Zucchini and Corn Tamales
Recipe courtesy of Sylvia Garza of Qué
Mami Organics
Yield: 16 tamales
30 large, soft ened corn husks
Masa (dough):
• 3 cups masa harina (corn fl our)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 1/3 cups vegetable broth, warmed
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft ened
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
Filling:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 small red onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, fi nely diced
• 3 cups zucchini, cubed small
• 1 tomato, cubed small
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup sweet white corn
• 4 tablespoons cilantro, fi nely chopped
• 5 ounces Qué Mami Organics Red
Enchilada Sauce
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Tabasco Pepper
Sauce
• 8 ounces Monterey Jack cheese, cut
into 1/2-ounce strips
To prep husks: Soak corn husks in hot
water. Place heavy pot on top of husks to
keep submerged at least 1 hour. Once pliable,
rinse each corn husk.
To make dough: In large bowl, mix corn
fl our, baking powder and sea salt. Using
hands, mix in warm vegetable broth to
make fi rm dough. In mixer, cream butter
and shortening until fl uff y then add
dough in small amounts until well mixed.
Continue mixing at low-medium speed 5
minutes, scraping dough off sides of bowl.
Reserve dough.
To make fi lling: In large skillet over
medium heat, heat olive oil; saute red
onion and garlic until translucent. Add
zucchini and mix 1 minute. Add tomato,
dried oregano and sea salt; continue
mixing 1 minute. Add corn and chopped
cilantro. Stir and continue cooking about
2 minutes more; zucchini should be
cooked but al dente. Remove fi lling to
heat-resistant bowl.
In small bowl, combine enchilada sauce
and Tabasco pepper sauce. Add half of
sauce mixture to fi lling; mix well. Reserve
remaining sauce.
To assemble tamales, spread 2 tablespoons
dough onto wide end of each corn
husk. Dough should extend across corn
husks, except 1 inch on sides and about 3
inches from narrow end.
Scoop about 1 tablespoon zucchini and
corn fi lling into middle of dough. Add 1
teaspoon reserved sauce over fi lling and
one strip cheese on top. Fold right side of
corn husk over fi lling and seal closed with
dough. Fold over left side of corn husk
tightly and fold narrow end of corn husk
up. Cut strips from extra corn husks and
tie around each tamale to secure.
Place tamales vertically, fi lling-side up,
in steam pot with enough water to steam
40-45 minutes. Cover tamales with extra
corn husks to trap in steam; place lid
on pot. Tamales are ready when masa
dough separates easily from husks. Add
water to pot, as necessary, for longer
steaming.
Let tamales rest 10 minutes before
unwrapping. Remove corn husks before
serving.
Courtesy Family Features