Ingedients:
- (2)15 ½ ounce cans whole-kernel corn (drain and reserve liquid)
- 2 to 2 ½ cups masa harina (such as Bob’s Red Mill wholegrain masa)
- 1 Cup boiling water
- 1/3 cup Garlic Gold® (Nuggets in Oil)
- 2 Tablespoons light-flavored honey (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1-6 ounce package dried corn husks
Fill a large pot with water and heat to boil. Add corn husks and simmer for 10 minutes, covered. Set aside to cool; keep lid on.
Pour boiling water over masa harina; add reserved liquid from canned corn. Stir well; allow to sit and cool for 10 minutes. Put in a food processor and add Garlic Gold® (Nuggets in Oil), honey, sea salt, and baking powder; process for several minutes until well blended, scraping down the sides. the mixture should resemble cookie dough in texture, so if very dry and crumbly, add 1-2 Tablespoons more water.
Put mixture in large bowl and add drained corn; mixing in with spatula or with hands (I find hands work better) until corn is dispersed throughout.
Take out about 6 corn husks out of the water and tear strips of the corn husks to be used for tying tamales; you can start with 4 and then make more later as you are making the tamales, depending on how much you need.
Begin making each tamale by taking out one corn husk at a time from the water and filling with about 2-4 tablespoons masa down the middle, depending on the size of the corn husk, leaving 1-2 inches at each end to fold. Fold corn husks over the filing in middle so it forms like bundle that looks like a small cigar, with all of the masa wrapped tightly up in corn husks. Tie each end in a knot with a corn husk; set each tamale aside in a pile and cover with a damp towel until you have them all made.
Take a large saucepan and fill with 3 inches of water. Place in saucepan a collapsible vegetable steamer. Place prepared tamales upright in pan; you can repeat this process in another pan as well if one pan is not enough to fit all of the tamales. Heat on high until water id boiling, then turn down to simmer and simmer for 1 hour, checking water levels frequently and adding more water if necessary. Allow to sit, covered, and cool, for at least one hour, up to 4 hours.
Serve immediatly or place cooled tamales in Ziplock-style labeled freezer bags and freeze for future use. To warm frozen tamales, reheat on stove in vegetable steamer for about 30 minutes, until hot. Makes about 20 tamales.
*Serve as is like a steamed cornbread alongside a smokey bean or split pea type soup, or along with a salsa and guacamole and such, as an exciting chip alternative for an appetizer.
