Hot Tamale!

Ok, so the lovely Jaime came over and helped me make tamales. By "helped" I mean she drank red wine and talked me out of bad ideas. Or at least tried to. In not very good at listening or taking direction. Which is why I now have a massive vat of corn dough leftover. I should have halved the recipe. Dangit! 

Anyhow, after making the filling and then the dough, it was time for the pain in the ass banana leaves. I searched all over the place for corn husks but everywhere was sold out. Fack. So I googled and got banana leaves as a substitute. 

The banana leaves are a pain in the ass and this better be worth it! Good lord. Each one is 3 feet long and frozen in a Z fold. Before they can be used they need to be cleaned and soaked in hot water. 

I was having trouble with them splitting, which was apparently entertaining to watch and entirely my fault. I'm not a gentle cook, obviously. Smashy Smashy! 

I loaded the steamer and set the timer for just over an hour.  I did an hour and change because I wanted to be sure they were cooked through even though the recipe only calls for an hour.

Once they were done we sampled one plain and with taquiero sauce. Tomorrow I'll try it with the sauce and vegan sour cream. I bet it will be amazing! 

The finished product!!! It's like opening a Christmas present!