Tamales

Tamale Filling:
1 1/2 pounds pork loin
1 large onion, halved
2 clove garlic
7 dried California chile pods
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 tsp. mexican oregano(make sure it is mexican oregano)

Tamale Dough:
4 cups masa
2 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/3 cup lard
roughly 35 or 40 corn husks


Place pork, onion halved into a crock pot or just pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the meat is cooked through, about 2 hours. Remove stems and seeds from the chile pods(its okay if you break apart the chiles for this part). Put chiles and garlic in a saucepan with 1 1/2 cups of water. Simmer, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes, then remove from heat to cool. Transfer the chiles and water to a blender and blend until smooth. Strain the mixture, stir in salt, and oregano and set aside. Shred the cooked meat and mix in the chile sauce.
Soak the corn husks in a bowl of warm water. In a large bowl, beat the lard with a tablespoon of the broth until fluffy. Combine the masa harina, baking powder and salt; stir into the lard mixture, adding more broth as necessary to form a spongy dough.
Spread the dough out over the corn husks to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Place some of the meat filling into the center. Fold the sides of the husks in toward the center and place in a steamer. Steam for 1 hour. Then they are ready to eat

We made a green salsa to put on ours with just a small can of tomatillo salsa, 1 serano chile seeded, a garlic clove, and cilantro and blending it in the blender.