Salsa Verde Chicken Tamales

Ingredients

Roasted Chicken
4 to 5lb chicken (preferably free range grass feed)
10 cloves of garlic
1/2 large onion
Cumin
Sea salt
Olive oil
4 Cup of water
Salsa Verde (Green Salsa)
10 tomatillos
1 Pablano chile
1 Jalepeno chile
2 Serano chiles
1/4 yellow onion
1/3 of a bunch of cilantro
1 tsp Sea salt
Tamale Dough (Masa)
I would have liked to use an organic version of masa but I couldn't find one at the time of making the tamales. I used Maseca brand. You can find an organic masa on amazon.
6 cups Masa (corn flour, NOT corn meal)
2 tsp Sea salt
6 TBS Organic Palm Shortening
4 cups Chicken broth (reserved from roasting your chicken)
1 cup Salsa verde

Preparation

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Roasted Chicken
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1. Place your chicken into a roasting pan or dutch oven. I left the organs and the neck for added flavor.
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2. Put garlic cloves under the skin of the chicken
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3. Chop the onion and scatter around the bottom of the pan. Pour in water.
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Salsa Verde
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1. Remove the hulls from the tomatillos. They will be sticky, don't worry if you can't wash it all off. Remove the stems.
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2. Place all the tomatillos and chiles into a sauce pot. Cover with water and boil until soft.
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3. Remove the tomatillos and chiles from the water and place in a blender. Add all the remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.
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4. It's as simple as that. A yummy salsa perfect for tamales, eating with chip or putting on top of whatever you're eating!
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Tamale Dough (Masa)
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Mix all together to make a soft, sticky dough.
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Salsa Verde Tamales
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Tamale Dough
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Shreded chicken
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2 cups Salsa Verde
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10 to 40 green olives
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4 medium potatoes
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1. Remove the corn husks from the bag and place them in a pot of hot water. Continue to heat on low for at least 30 minutes. You want them to be pliable.
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2. Add your shreded chicken to a skillet and cover with about two cups of salsa verde.
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3. If you have large olives you will want to cut them in 1/2 or in 1/4. If they are small you might just want to leave them whole. I prefer to remove the pit but you don't have too, just watch out when you bit into the tamale. Place in small bowl and set aside.
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4. Cut the potatoes into small, thick strips. You don't have to remove the peel. I used red potatoes because that is all I had. Normally I would use regular old potatoes. Place in a small bowl, cover with water to previent them from turning brown and set aside.
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5. Now comes the fun part! Asembling the tamales! It is best to do this with a firend. My sister helped me since I am visiting her right now. Remove the soaked corn husks from the pot.
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6. Pick out the husk you want to use. Normally one big one is enough. If the are small you may have to use two, overlapping a bit.
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7. Spred about 2TBS of the dough across the bottom half of the husk, narrow end pointing away from you about 1/8 in thick. Going a little more than half way up, leaving a tiny bit of room on the sides.
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8. Now place a small amount of chicken in the middle of the dough. I can't remember the exact amount I used.
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9. Place a potatoe sclice in the middle of the chicken and an olive at the end.
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10. Fold in one side and then the other. Fold up the bottom. If you want you can tie them closed with a small strip of husk. I don't.
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11. In a large pot pour in a about two cups of water. Place as many tamales that will fit in the pot, open end facing up. Place the lid on the pot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, turn down the heat and steam for 30 to 45 minutes.
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12. Remove from the pot and enjoy!! You will know that they are done when the husk can be pulled away from the masa and not stick. I served mine with refried beans and rice. The rice recipe will soon to follow, hopefully! This recipe made almost 4 dozen tamales. They can be frozen to save for later. Simply let them defrost and steam until warm.
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About

Who doesn't love tamales? They are one of my many favorite Mexican foods. All that goodness wrapped into a delicious package. They, along with Pozole are a traditional Christmas food in Mexico. Who can wait all the way until then to eat them? I sure can't, tamales are one of those foods that you want to keep around in your freezer to heat up and enjoy all year round. I have helped make tamales many times but have always been disgusted by the massive amounts of lard that goes into them. Now I know lard can be a healthy fat if it's from a grass feed cow but I don't have that option so I don't use lard. Plus I don't really like how greasy it makes them. So I decided to dedicate a day to making salsa verde tamales con pollo (chicken tamales with green sauce). I thought that I would consume my entire day but it didn't! Of course I only made about 4 dozen, normally people make 100 plus. Since this was an experimental batch I didn't want to make very many. I hope you enjoy this yummy treat!!

So first off I started my morning off with roasting my chicken. I popped it into the oven and then went for a walk. When I walked in the door I was greeted by the intoxicating aroma of chicken mingling with garlic, onions and spices!

Yield:

4 dozen

Added:

Sunday, April 29, 2012 - 3:34pm

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