TAMALES CUBANOS RECIPES

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in large saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook and stir pork in hot oil until lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Pour 1/2 cup white wine into saucepan and bring to a boil while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
• Stir 2 cups water, 5 cloves garlic, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 beef bouillon cube, bay leaves, cumin, oregano, and black pepper to pork mixture. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce heat to low, partially cover the saucepan with a lid, and simmer until pork is very tender, 1 to 2 hours. Transfer pork to a bowl and reserve cooking liquid.
• Heat remaining olive oil in a deep pot over medium-high heat. Cook and stir chorizo and cooked pork in hot oil until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Stir onion, green pepper, and remaining minced garlic into chorizo mixture; saute until vegetables soften and onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add remaining white wine, olives, 1 tablespoon tomato paste, and remaining bouillon cube; cook, stirring frequently, until flavors combine, about 5 minutes more.
• Pulse corn and 1 1/2 cups reserved pork broth together in a blender or food processor until mixture has a thick and chunky consistency. Stir corn mixture into pork-chorizo mixture.
• Reduce heat to medium and stir masa harina, sugar, vinegar, and salt into pork mixture; cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture has a hearty cornmeal porridge-consistency. Season with salt and remove from heat.
• Make a pocket out of one corn husk and fill 3/4 full with pork mixture, leaving a top flap. Wrap another husk around the filled pocket. Fold top flap over the pocket. Tie twine length- and width-wise around the tamale several times so that packet is secure, but has room for filling to expand during cooking. Repeat with remaining husks and filling.
• Fill a pot with 2-inches of water; bring to a simmer. Place tamales upright in simmering water, cover the pot, and cook, adding water as necessary, until filling is hot and set, about 40 minutes. Cool tamales until completely set, at least 3 hours.

Steps:

• In a saucepan, add oil and begin to fry the pork, rendering its fat in the pan.
• In same pan with pork fat renderings, make a sofrito by frying the onion and red pepper at medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are translucent. Add garlic and continue to fry on low-medium heat for two to three minutes. Add tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes, until meat is cooked through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• While your meat simmers, process the corn kernels with either a mortal and pastel or a food processor with the butter until you have a chunky consistency. Add the corn mixture to the masa harina and chicken broth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Add the masa mixture with the meat mixture and stir until well combined, adding salt as needed.
• Use two cornhusks per tamale, folding each tamal in the traditional manner.
• Fill a large pot about half way with water and boil your tamales until a fork comes out clean, about one hour to one hour 30 minutes.