Weekly Menu 9/21 - 9/25 and Tamales

Matt & I spent this Saturday morning filling our freezer with some homemade tamales. Matt thought the leftover smoked pork would make for the start of a great filling. We also had some sweet corn in the fridge to make the corn & cheese version.

We first made tamales last year when it was a Recipes to Rival challenge. We were really pleased with the results & how easy they actually were to make. The pork filling Matt made this time was so amazing I thought I'd share the recipe. It would also be good as a filling for tacos. Visit our original tamale post to get the recipe for the corn & cheese filling. The recipe for the masa dough & how to assemble & cook tamales is here. We freeze the tamales in freezer bags of two & them microwave them on high for 3 minutes when we want to eat them.


Red Chile Pork Filling

2 dried ancho chiles, seeded & roughly chopped
2 dried guajillo chiles, seeded & roughly chopped
2 c boiling water
3 T vegetable oil
2 medium tomatoes, peeled
1 small onion, finely diced
1/2 t ground cumin
1/4 t black pepper
1/4 t dried oregano
4 cloves garlic, peeled
2 - 3 c pulled pork*
salt to taste

Put the chiles in a bowl & cover with the boiling water. Let sit for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, straight sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tomatoes, onion, cumin, pepper and oregano. Let cook for 10 minutes stirring from occasionally & crushing the tomatoes with your spoon.

Put the soaked chiles, the soaking water & garlic into a food processor or blender. Process until smooth. Add to the onion & tomato mixture. Stir in the pork & salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer for about 30 minutes until reduced.

Makes enough filling for about 15 tamales.

(*If you don't have cooked pulled pork, sear a pork shoulder then braise until cooked about 1 1/2 hours. Shred & stir into the sauce.)

On to Menu Planning Monday...

Recipes to Rival Challenge (so I can't tell)

Dinner & a movie out

BLTs - Trying to enjoy the tomatoes while they last

Oven Fried Chicken & Hoecakes

Chicken Pot Pie

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