Tamal Rojo con Carnitas

'Tis the season for tamales! You all have no idea how long it’s been since I promised myself I would post a tamal recipe. After our Super Mamas Tamal Party, I felt inspired and confident to give you a great recipe for all of you to share with your family and loved ones. I used one day old carnitas that I had purchased from Northgate and a can of Las Palmas Hot Enchilada Sauce to help with the spice and authentic Mexican flavor. I used their hot enchilada sauce, but the tamales were perfectly balanced (so don't shy away from their hot version). I think that sautéing the tomatoes prior to blending them with the sauce made a huge difference. I highly encourage you all to make this filling and bring it with you to your next tamal party. Or maybe host one of your own! My sister, friends and I had a blast. You can check out the pictures of our tamal party here.

Happy Holidays everyone. I can't wait to see all the pictures of how you recreate this recipe. Please don't forget to tag me and Las Palmas by using #LasPalmasSauces and #moleandmore.

Makes 15 Tamales

INGREDIENTS:

8-oz of Las Palmas® Hot Enchilada Sauce

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 large yellow onion, sliced

2 lbs red tomatoes, sliced

1 tbsp oregano

Dash cumin

3 garlic cloves

1 lb. shredded cooked pork (I used day-old carnitas)

Salt to taste

1lb masa prepared for tamales

15-20 dried cornhusks

COOKWARE:

Tamal steamer

1 masa spreader (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS:

Soak corn husk leaves for about 10 minutes in hot water until tender and easily bendable. You can use a plate or your mortar stone to weight them down

To prepare your filling:

In a pan, heat olive oil over high heat. Once hot, carefully pour onions and tomatoes into the pan. Stir for 2 minutes over high heat and bring the heat to medium low. Allow to cook for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a mortar, place the oregano, cumin, garlic cloves and 2 tablespoons of water. Grind until you have a pasty consistency. Set aside.

Pour half of the cooked tomato and onion mixture into a blender and blend with 8oz Las Palmas Hot Enchilada Sauce. Salt to taste and set aside.

Toss in the shredded cooked pork (or shredded carnitas) into the hot pan with remaining tomato and onion mixture, stir for two minutes over medium heat, season with salt. Stir in the mortar mixture into the pan until it has fully coated the entire shredded pork. Cook for another 5 minutes over high heat, stirring occasionally. Pour in the blended salsa and allow to simmer under low heat for 10 more minutes. Set aside and keep warm to fill your tamales.

To fill tamales:

Pat dry your cornhusks. Set one cornhusk down at a time, smoother side up and spread the masa vertically across the husk with the masa spreader. Fill up the left and right side of the husk completely, butremember to leave some room, about an inch, at top and bottom. Grab your filling with tongs and place it in the middle of the husk. Bring sides of the husk to meet over each other across and then fold the bottom part over the tamal.

Carefully place the tamales in your tamal steamer open side up and steam for about 35-40 minutes.

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Bricia Lopez.

The Perfect Enmoladas

Hi everyone! So excited to be back on the blog with yet another one of my favorite Las Palmas collaboration recipes. This one comes right in time for the holidays and pot luck season. Whether you are hosting a dinner party, taking a dish to your office holiday party or just taking a little something to your kids’ school potluck, these enmoladas are the perfect dish for all of this and more. Of course I used our Guelaguetza mole negro paste, but adding the Las Palmas sauce for an extra kick and authentic Mexican flavor made them absolutely perfect. I hope all of you enjoy. If you make it for dinner tonight or take it to your next pot luck dinner, don’t forget to tag me and Las Palmas Sauces using our hashtags, #laspalmassauces #moleandmore. Happy holidays!

P.S. This dish also works beautifully with shredded turkey, so feel free to make it with any leftover turkey you may have this Thanksgiving weekend!

INGREDIENTS

Serves 6

2 lbs. red tomatoes

1 cup water

8oz Guelaguetza’s Black Mole Paste

8oz Las Palmas Mild Enchilada Sauce

1 cup chicken broth

½ tsp salt

½ tsp brown sugar

21 corn tortillas

Shredded cooked chicken

Oaxaca cheese, shredded

½ white onion, thinly sliced rings

1 cup finely chopped parsley

1/2 cup cotija cheese

PREPARATION

Boil tomatoes with water over medium heat. Allow to cook, covered, for 20 minutes.

Remove from heat, remove the skin and use the food processor to blend the tomatoes.

In a stock pot, pour the tomato puree and Guelaguetza’s Black Mole paste. Stir until fully dissolved. Add Las Palmas Mild Enchilada Sauce and chicken broth. Allow to simmer for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally

In a skillet, heat up the tortillas, until lightly crispy on both sides and set aside

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Spread 1/2 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 9- by 13-inch baking dish. Next, one at a time, lightly dip each tortilla into the sauce.

Set the sauce-soaked tortilla on a plate. Place the shredded chicken and cheese on each tortilla and wrap over. Place the tortilla seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat with the rest of the tortillas and pour the remaining sauce over the top.

End with a sprinkling of cotija cheese, onions and any remaining chicken you may have.

Bake the enchiladas for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle chopped parsley, and another sprinkle of cotija over the top and serve

Posted on November 23, 2016 by Bricia Lopez.

Garnachas con #LasPalmasSauces

I'm baaaaaaackkk!!! My goodness, it has been so so long since I was in the kitchen with a camera. Things sure do change. I have to say that I missed it dearly. And I must thank my friends at Las Palmas Sauces for re-igniting that fire inside of me and allowing me to get creative in the kitchen once again. I recently partnered with them to create three recipes that bring an authentic Mexican flavor and encourage us to prepare other types of dishes outside of the Enchilada - Not that there is anything wrong w a good enchilada dinner here and there, they are always a favorite - BUT there are soooooo many other things one can do with can of Las Palmas Enchilada sauce at home. Don't you think?

One of my favorite dishes in the collaboration has to be these Garnachas, typically from the Isthmus region of Oaxaca. I first had them at Zandunga (one of my favorite spots in Oaxaca) and I absolutely fell in love with the dish. I could never say they are as good as theirs, but they sure came pretty close. I actually served the garnachas pictured above to my husband and baby when they both got home tonight, everything was gone in minutes. I suggest you enjoy with a cold beer if possible. These little things are addictive and perfect for when entertaining guests.

If you do choose to make the dish, don't forget to tag me on IG with #moleandmore and #laspalmassauces. Provechito!

INGREDIENTS:

For the curtido:

1 Cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

2 carrots, finely sliced

1 tsp salt

¼ cup apple cider vinegar

4 ounces of one 28-ounce can of Las Palmas® Original Style Enchilada Sauce

for the meat:

2 Lbs. beef flank steak, cut into two equal pieces

¼ onion, thickly sliced

3 garlic

2 bay leaves

½ white onion, finely chopped

1 tbs. dried oregano

¼ cup olive oil

salt

for the sauce:

8 red plum tomatoes, smoked and roasted, peeled

24 ounces of one 28-ounce can of Las Palmas® Original Style Enchilada Sauce

4 garlic cloves, roasted

1 tsb salt

garnachas:

2 Lbs fresh corn masa for tortillas

1 cup high heat oil, like Safflower or Peanut

1 cup cotija cheese, finely grated

PREPARATION:

Combine the cabbage, salt, vinegar and ¼ cup of Las Palmas Hot Enchilada sauce in a large bowl and mix together. Allow to sit for at least three hours, stirring occasionally.

Put the flank steak, the thickly sliced onion, garlic, salt and bay leaves in a large pot and add water to cover. Bring to a simmer and skim off any foam that forms on the surface. Let simmer until the meat shreds easily, 20 to 30 minutes.

When the beef is tender, turn off the heat. Remove the beef from the broth and let it cool, refrigerate the remaining broth for another use. Trim off any excess fat from the beef. Add the meat to the food processor and grind until all the shredded pieces have been processed. Transfer the meat to a bowl and add the remaining onion, oregano, olive oil and salt to taste.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a blender (or food processor) and pulse. Salsa must have a thick consistency. Adjust salt for seasoning.

Make slightly thick tortilla on the tortilla press, about 3-inches in diameter. After the tortillas has been cooked on a comal or griddle, use fingers to pinch the outer edges to form a light rim.

Grab a separate sauté pan and heat up the high heat cooking oil, lightly fry the tortillas and set aside one by one. After all tortillas have been fried, rinse the pan and place it back on the stove. Grab some of the meat and carefully place it on top of each tortilla, then place the filled tortilla on the clean hot pan. After a few seconds, carefully top off the garnacha with a couple tablespoons of sauce while still on the pan. Make sure you are using a splatter screen.

Serve with the curtido and cotija on top

Posted on October 17, 2016 by Bricia Lopez and tagged Las Palmas Las Palmas Sauces.